Minimalist poet, minimalist lifestyle

A woman who plays cards one night a month with a group of friends was concerned that she always woke up her husband when she came home around 11:30.

One night she decided to try not to rouse him. She undressed in the living room and, purse over arm, tiptoed nude into the bedroom - only to find her husband sitting up in bed reading.

"Dammit woman!" he exclaimed. "Did you lose everything?"

I was waiting for the bus last night and it didn't stop for me. It wasn't late, and it wasn't full; the driver just completely ignored me. Fortunately, I only had to wait five minutes for the next bus.

Did the first bus driver know that the second bus was only a few minutes behind him? I don't know.

Yep. It was the brakes all right. A motorist whose brakes were "acting strange" and wanted them checked drove through the front window of a tire store when the brakes failed as he was pulling into a parking slip, Longview police Officer Erik Hendrickson said.

No one was injured in the Monday morning incident at a Les Schwab store on Longview's Ocean Beach Highway, although "six or eight feet of the car was inside the store," Hendrickson said.

The driver of the Cadillac DeVille was able to stop by throwing the transmission into park, Hendrickson said. No citation was issued because the driver was seeking assistance for the problem and there was no intent to cause harm, he said.

The car was towed to another shop for repair.

"This is probably the third time in 15 years" that a car has crashed through the store's front window, Les Schwab manager Ken Millus said with a chuckle. "It's pretty much the same spot, too. When you hear it, you're not even surprised anymore."

Insurance would cover the cost of repairs, estimated at $4,000 or $5,000, Millus said.