'Best ever' season at Schweitzer nearing end

How long does the average dollar bill last? 18 months, according to Secret Service agent Greg Ross, who was leading a counterfeit identification class Friday.

Other tidbits:

? There are counterfeit bills all around.

? Yakima, Wash., is the epicenter of counterfeit money in this region.

? Always check the bills you receive for change from stores and banks. Once you take possession of a counterfeit bill, it is yours.

? Check for the watermark on the larger denomination bills. If you can't see one, or it doesn't match up with the denomination of the bill, it is phony.

It's been a long time since I actually raised my voice at the television. Thursday night broke my string.

I thought for sure Gonzaga had a victory in hand versus UCLA. The Bulldogs totally dominated the Bruins for the first half. In the second half, the team collapsed at the very wrong time.

What a great ride, though.

In all this talk about a national championship, Adam Morrison's scoring title chase and national publicity, it's easy to forget that GU is a great university.

It was great to see all of the Go Zags clothing that appeared during the past basketball season. Gonzaga University is a great example of what an institution of higher education should be.

Go Zags … next season.

I don't know if anyone other than Eric Plummer and I noticed Adam Morrison has been on the cover of Sports Illustrated for three consecutive weeks.

His latest cover shot appeared in the mail. On Friday. On the day after the Zags were eliminated.

The magazine's headline proclaimed: "Sweet Surprises." Ouch, how true.

For those of you who believe in the Sports Illustrated cover jinx, add Adam Morrison to the list.

Don't cry for Gonzaga, though. The chances for GU to step into the national spotlight in a future without Morrison, Batista, Knight et al, won't be Few and far between.

The Schweitzer folks are smiling as a great season comes to an end.

I finished off my ski year last weekend with a great day on Sunday with my son, Austin.

We spent most of the day on the "backside" of Schweitzer in and around Stella and Little Blue.

As the day was winding down and I knew the ski year was nearly over, I decided to attempt Pucci's Chute. It was vertical run (or fall!), it was hard and took me a long time to get down.

Austin and I also made a couple of runs down Pend Oreille. This 10-year-old is starting to out ski his father.

He challenged me to a race down Pend Oreille for the last run of the day. Before I could answer or find an excuse to not do it, he was off.

Pend Oreille is a fun ride. It's fairly steep, usually unoccupied and challenging. He took the early lead and quickly sped away. He was headed straight down the mountain, while my 43-year-old mind forced my 43-year-old legs to carve into the snow to slow down a bit.

As Austin came to the drop-off to the very steepest portion of the run, he disappeared.

I came up over the ridge, slowed and spotted what is known in skier terms as a "yard sale." Austin's poles were 30 yards up the mountain from his spinning, sprawled out body and his skies were a good 20 yards away from him and going in opposite directions. He was eating more snow than my snowblower.

He was … smiling.

I collected his poles and a nice ski patrol volunteer showed up to grab one of the wayward skies.

We skied down together and enjoyed watching the sun disappear on a day filled with a lifetime of memories.

"Best ever?" I asked Austin.

"Best ever," he replied as he jumped into the 4Runner for a trip down the mountain.

That's what it is all about. Thanks, Schweitzer!

Lake Country Real Estate continues to do good things for our community. The Realtors recently passed the hat and donated $150 and some tangerines to the Bonner County Food Bank.

Every dollar is needed and appreciated. Those Realtors kicking in bucks or tangerines included: Marita Stewart, Jackie Suarez, Mario Palermo, Lu Ann Fouts, Nancy Schmid, Lorraine Cosgrove, Sarah Mitchell and Nancy Stapleton.

E-mail of the Week:

Billy Graham was returning to Charlotte, N.C., after a speaking engagement and when his plane arrived there was a limousine there to transport him to his home in Montreat, N.C. As he prepared to get into the limo, he stopped and spoke to the driver. "You know," he said, "I am 87 years old and I have never driven a limousine. Would you mind if I drove it for a while?"

The driver said, "No problem. Have at it."

Graham gets into the driver's seat and they head off down the highway. A short distance away sat a rookie state trooper when the limo went by him doing 70 in a 55 mph zone.

The trooper pulled out and easily caught the limo and got out of his patrol car. The young trooper walked up to the driver's door and when the glass was rolled down, he was surprised to see who was driving.

He immediately excused himself, went back to his car, and called his supervisor.

He told the supervisor, "I know we are supposed to enforce the law but I also know that important people are sometimes given certain courtesies. I need to know what I should do because I have stopped a very important person."

The supervisor asked, "Is it the governor?"

The young trooper said, "No, he's more important than that."

The supervisor said, "Oh, so it's the president."

The trooper said, "No, he's even more important than that."

The supervisor finally asked, "Well then, who is it?"

The young trooper said, "I think it might be Jesus — because he's got Billy Graham for a chauffer!"

? David Keyes is publisher of the Bee. His column runs weekly.