Home Again in Boy-see!

My most recent travels took me to eleven states, including Idaho. I am finally, after 41 days, back in Boise. While I was on the road, I stayed in Lewiston for a week and decided to look up my old radio friend Mike Scott. Lewiston was his last known (to me) address. He wasn't in the phone book so I called a couple of radio stations and found someone who knew that he was living and working in Pasco, Washington. He was happy to hear from me and when I told him that the next week would have me near Spokane in a town called Cheney he abrubtly corrected me on the pronunciation. I pronounced it like the Vice President pronounces his last name: Chay-nee. Mike Scott said it was Chee-nee. I said fine, but he wasn't finished. He then went on a rant about how it was the home of Gonzaga University, he said that since I was always such a sports fan (still am) that I should know all about the Bulldogs and their success the last several years in the NCAA basketball tournament. I said that yes, I was familiar with the Gonzaga basketball program and assured him that I got the message that the town is Chee-nee, not Chay-nee.
The conversation ended soon after my tongue-lashing. I called him again while I was in Lewiston (Loo-iss-ton) and also the next week when I was just outside of Spokane (Spoke-ann). I left messages both times and he didn't respond. Either he was angry at me for mispronouncing Chee-nee or he was embarrased because Gonzaga is in Spokane, not Cheney. For the record, Eastern Washington University is in Cheney, Washington, and Mike Scott really needs to settle down.
While I was in Spokane, I contacted another radio friend named Pete Glarborg. I told him the story about our mutual friend Mike Scott and he thought it was funny, as do I. Having spent the better part of two days with Pete, I found him to be much more tolerant of any mispronounciations I may have uttered. Luckily, I have long-known how to pronounce Coeur 'd Alene or perhaps I would have been denied a dinner invitation on Sunday. Pete is married with a 13 year old daughter and is still very mellow and doing fine. He acted as my tour guide around the fine city of Spokane and we were buddies just as we had been 20 odd years ago as co-workers at KBLI in Blackfoot, Idaho or as he puts it "back when we were cool." He even showed me the new basketball arena at Gonzaga University as we drove through the campus. The visit was a good one all around. I'm just glad that I know how to pronounce Pend Oreille!