[texhax] dagger

[Heiko Oberdiek]

On Wed, Apr 28, 2010 at 04:58:34AM -0400, Victor Ivrii wrote:

> "Two guys were flying on the balloon above clouds and could not find
> out their location. Suddenly there was an opening and they asked to a
> man staying on the hilltop - 'Where are we?' Thinking few seconds the
> man answered - 'On the balloon!' - 'This guy is a mathematician' -
> said one of the travellers - 'as he answered after consideration, his
> answer was absolutely precise and completely useless in the same
> time'".

There is an extended variant of the joke:

http://www.villines.com/Internet/engineer.htm

| A man is flying in a hot air balloon and realizes he is lost.  He reduces
| height and spots a man down below. He lowers the balloon further and
| shouts: Excuse me, can you help me? I promised my friend I would meet him
| half an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."
|
| The man below says: "Yes. You are in a hot air balloon, hovering
| approximately 30 feet above this field. You are between 40 and 42 degrees
| N. latitude, and between 58 and 60 degrees W. longitude."
|
| "You must be an engineer" says the balloonist.
|
| "I am" replies the man. "How did you know?"
|
| "Well" says the balloonist, "everything you have told me is technically
| correct, but I have no idea what to make of your information, and the fact
| is I am still lost."
|
| The man below says "You must be a manager."
|
| "I am" replies the balloonist, "but how did you know?"
|
| "Well", says the man, "you don't know where you are, or where you are
| going. You have made a promise which you have no idea how to keep, and you
| expect me to solve your problem. The fact is you are in the exact same
| position you were in before we met, but now it is somehow my fault."

Yours sincerely
  Heiko Oberdiek