The Slice: If her top’s down, temps must be up

Bill Wade regularly sees a woman with long, blond hair driving a black Porsche convertible on the South Hill. She’s attractive. But there’s more to his interest than that.

These sightings help Wade track the seasons.

“I refuse to believe Spokane’s summer is over until the top on that Porsche is up,” he wrote.

And earlier this week the top was still down.

Wade wonders what unofficial indicators other people use to gauge the arrival of fall/winter.

“Multiple choice: In Spokane, most couples’ real-life romances revolve around …

A) Consciousness raising and soul-baring. B) Doing the wild thing. C) A shared sense of humor. D) Worrying about money. E) Diapers. F) Watching favorite TV shows together. G) Other.

“Question for parents: Can you remember a specific day when you realized your child had stopped playing with stuffed animals — no more great adventures, no more creative dialogue, no more squeaky voices-by-proxy?

“Something a friend did: “Years ago, when my four children were small, my husband was out of work and times were tough,” wrote Cathy Fischer of Coeur d’Alene. “As Christmas Eve approached it became very evident that Santa Claus wasn’t going to be visiting our home that year, and I wasn’t sure how to explain it to my girls.”

Then Christmas Eve arrived. “Imagine our surprise when there was a knock at out door late that evening. When we opened it, there on our porch was a pile of brightly wrapped Christmas presents. There was no one in sight.”

Though they declined to confirm her suspicions, Fischer was certain the gift-givers were her neighbors.

“They didn’t want four little girls to be broken-hearted on Christmas morning.”

“Pet Peeves Department: It annoys Cherie Warber to read or hear “looking to find” or “looking to see.”

“Come on,” she wrote.

And Dave Moore has had it with indiscriminate use of “Blah, blah, blah.”

“I find this phrase perfectly acceptable when used to describe corporate or bureaucratic doublespeak,” he wrote.

But he’s tired of hearing it employed as a verbal shortcut by speakers too lazy to complete their statements.

“Blah, blah, blah is bad, bad, bad,” said Moore.

“Slice answer: In one way or another, several readers said the lifestyle statement made by their underwear collections is “G-rated.”

“This date in Slice history (1999): The map outline of Idaho and its resemblance to a goalie’s stick.

“Warm-up question (inspired by the real-life adventures of Slice reader Janet Salee): What wrong ingredient did you mistakenly use in a recipe and how did it turn out?

“Today’s Slice question: What’s the dumbest thing people in your household regularly argue about?