In the spirit of sharing

For the non-technical side of living with Steamboats, videos and general pictures.
Post Reply
User avatar
Lopez Mike
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead
Posts: 1903
Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2011 6:41 am
Boat Name: S.L. Spiffy
Location: Lopez Island, Washington State, USA

In the spirit of sharing

Post by Lopez Mike » Fri May 15, 2020 2:04 am

What with being cooped up and faced with a multitude of projects and every one of them being some sort of 'infinite regression' (meaning that sixteen other things have to happen first), I felt that it's time to share this story of disaster and hubris.

=============================

An old guy walks into a pet shop and notices that there are two parrots for sale that look identical but have wildly different prices. One for $25 and one for $500. He asks and the owner tells him that the expensive one is a rare subspecies that has a slightly shorter beak and thus is much desired among pet fanciers. A one millimeter difference.

The old guy says, “Sell me the cheap bird and I’ll file down his beak and make a lot of money.” The shop owner answers, “Can’t be done. there’s a nerve just below the end of the beak and if you hit it the bird dies.”

The old guy say, “ I know what I’m doing. I have a steam boat. I just set the valve gear last week. I do fine work with a file every day. Sell me the cheap bird.”

The next morning he is back waiting for the shop to open. “Got any more of those $25 birds?”

“Aha!”, says the owner. “Filed too far?”

“No. It’s embarrassing. I crushed his head in the vise.”
If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.
Dalai Lama
Post Reply