The Slice: When your medical test finds a surprise

Ever undergone a diagnostic exam in which the medical team looked for one specific problem but found something else altogether?

Let’s move on.

Cheney’s Hank Tiffany said I’m wrong: He can, in fact, remember the last time he used a 50-cent piece. “I use them, along with dollar coins, when I leave a tip at restaurants.”

The heart of Spokane: “The Heart of Spokane is beating loud and strong at the Union Gospel Mission,” wrote Sue Teague.

Marilyn Ray wrote, “I’d say the place to find the heart of Spokane is in its generosity to help people. The charities, housing for the homeless, all the free meals provided, all the different funds to help people, etc.”

Tami Leigh shared this. “I nominate Riverfront Park to be the Heart of Spokane. Not just because it’s a park in the middle of our wonderful city, but also because of how hard the park’s staff works to make everyone feel welcomed and safe.”

And Rich Clift said, “I think it would be where the marmots gather.”

Slice answer: “The best surprise party I ever had was when my sixth-grade class at Comstock Elementary totally shocked me with a bridal shower,” wrote Ginny Semler. “I was so ‘in love’ that a room full of 32 wonderful 11- and 12-year-olds totally planned, decorated, and carried off such an event in secrecy. (I’m certain that their parents and the principal played a big part of it.)

“All that is left of Comstock is a cement slab and happy memories at the south end of Comstock Park, but next month my husband and I will celebrate our 44th wedding anniversary.”

Describing the scene: I once wrote about how it did not take much activity to prompt my late father to characterize the South Hill retirement community apartment he shared with my mother as being “Like Grand Central Station.”

A number of readers subsequently told me my dad was not alone in saying that.

So OK, here’s another one. How many households have someone who echoes a scene in “Planet of the Apes” by using the “madhouse” line?

Today’s Slice question: How many times have you started driving, realized something was not quite right and only then remembered the emergency brake was still engaged?

Write The Slice at P. O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. In the matter of unexpected academic pairings, one reader got a bachelor’s degree in studio art and then an MBA in finance.