The Slice: The little girl next door will try to put Halloween costumes on your cat

It would be helpful if real estate fliers listed a few details about the neighbors.

I mean, you can see for yourself if the kitchen is updated or if the place deserves to be called a “Little charmer.”

But what about some real info on the neighborhood? That’s harder to come by.

You know. “The family to the west cooks out every night all summer. It will force you to snack relentlessly and you will gain 20 pounds.”

So if you were selling your house, what would your real estate flier say about the neighbors?

Back-in angle parking: Traffic control efficiency or a bridge too far for most Spokane drivers?

You make the call.

Meeting the neighbors: “Shortly after we moved into our new house in 1988, I was practicing my viola with the door open on a warm day,” wrote Margie Heller. “The neighbor across the street came over with her daughter to say hi and asked if I gave violin lessons. I looked at the 12-year-old daughter and replied, ‘Yes, do you babysit?’ It was the beginning of a wonderful relationship.”

On a slightly different note, The Slice heard from a longtime reader who said he suspected he would get along with a new neighbor when he saw him wearing a T-shirt adorned with the name of a local marijuana shop.

Slice answers: Most readers answering Thursday’s question said they called that knob on the steering wheel a “necking knob” or “necker’s knob.”

A couple of the accompanying anecdotes used the word “canoodle,” which is always fun.

Others grew up hearing it referred to as a “suicide knob,” a “Brodie knob,” a “knucklebuster,” a “cowboy knob,” a “spinner” or a “whiz knob.”

Warm-up question: How long does it take newcomers to learn that what we say to outsiders about Spokane and its residents is one thing, but what we say when it’s just us is quite another?

Today’s Slice question: What’s the strangest thing your boss ever asked you to do for him/her?

Claudine Muelken, who suggested that question, also provided the first answer.

“My boss asked me to take out his stitches.”

Kids, don’t try that at home.

Fully expecting her to say “Spokane,” I asked Claudine, who worked in a school administration office before retiring, where those stitches were located.

They were from a dermatological procedure on his face.

Write The Slice at P. O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. It’s your duty as a resident of the Great Northwest to be ready at all times to argue for the superiority of your favorite variety of apple or at least make a good case for your indifference.