There was an engineer who had an exceptional gift for fixing all things mechanical. After serving his company loyally for over 30 years, he happily retired. Several years later the company contacted him regarding a seemingly impossible problem they were having with one of their multi-million dollar machines. They had tried everything and everyone else to get the machine fixed, but to no avail. In desperation, they called on the retired engineer who had solved so many of their problems in the past. The engineer reluctantly took the challenge. He spent a day studying the huge machine. At the end of the day, he marked a small "x" in chalk on a particular component of the machine and proudly stated, "This is where your problem is". The part was replaced and the machine worked perfectly again. The company received a bill for $50,000 from the engineer for his service. They demanded an itemised accounting of his charges. The engineer responded briefly: One chalk mark: $1 Knowing where to put it: $49,999 It was paid in full and the engineer retired (again) in peace. I was going to be an engineer.... Aerospace but it just didn't fly. Aeronautical but I couldn't keep my head above water. Bio-Medical but I was rejected. Chemical but the job really stunk. Civil but I couldn't make the grade. Computer but I got stuck in a loop. Electrical but it was all current events. Genetic but I only wore Levis. Industrial but I couldn't get off the floor. Management but I wasn't a team player. Materials but I didn't have the fiber. Mechanical but I got shafted. Metallurgical but I couldn't get the lead out. Nuclear but I didn't have the glow. Power but it went to my head. Verily, I say unto you, marry not an engineer for the engineer is a strange being possessed of many devils; yea, he speaketh eternally in parables, which he calleth "formulas", and he wieldeth a big stick which he calleth a slide rule, and he hath but one Bible...a handbook. He talketh always of stresses and strains, and without end of Thermodynamics. He showeth always a serious aspect and seemeth not to know how to smile; and he picketh his seat in the car by the springs therein and not by the damsel beside him; neither does he know a waterfall except for its power, nor the sunset except for her specific heat. Always he carieth his books with him, and he entertaineth his maiden with steam tables. Verily though his damsel expecteth chocolates, when he calleth he openeth the packages to disclose samples of iron. Yea, he holdeth his damsel's hand, but only to measure the friction, and kisses but to test viscosity. For in his eyes shineth a faraway look which is neither love nor longing, but a vain attempt to recall a formula. There is but one key dear to his heart, and that is the Tau Beta Pi key; and one love letter for which he yearneth, and that an "A"; and when to his damsel he writeth of love and signeth with crosses, mistake not these symbols for kisses but rather for unknown quantities. Even as a young boy he pulleth a girl's hair to test its elasticity, but as a man he discovers different devices; for he would count the vibrations of her heart strings and reckon her strength of materials; for he seeketh ever to pursue the scientific investivations, and inscribeth his passion in a formula; and his marriage is a simultaneous equation involving unknowns and yielding diverse answers. I recently sent this memo to our engineering department at the hospital: Our toilet sear in the employees lounge slids WEST everytime you sit down. WEST is confirmed by Dr. Schug. Thank-you, Ruth, ER. This was their reply: To: Dr. Schug and the ER staff From: Bill Phillips, Plant Operations Date:March 23,1999 Re: Toilet Seat Reply..... Based on your configurations, we determined that the toilet seat was sliding actully 130 degrees S.E. magnetic with an elevation beam of 15 degrees. Bsaed on the rotation of the earth and the earth tilt on axis, we determined the correct solution/adjustment to the toilet seat and made the corrections needed. We tested the pitch and thrust of all bodily functions and determined that you will hit dead center of the bowl every time. If requested, we could install a GPS system to track any slight movement (bowel or otherwise) for your sitting pleasures. Please do not hesitate to call if questions. Two engineering students were walking across campus when one said, "Where did you get such a great bike?" The second engineer replied, "Well, I was walking along yesterday minding my own business when a beautiful woman rode up on this bike. She threw the bike to the ground, took off all her clothes and said, "Take what you want." The second engineer nodded approvingly, "Good choice; the clothes probably wouldn't have fit." To the optimist, the glass is half full. To the pessimist, the glass is half-empty. To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be. What is the difference between Mechanical Engineers and Civil Engineers? Mechanical Engineers build weapons. Civil Engineers build targets. Normal people ... believe that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Engineers believe that if it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet." An engineer was crossing a road one-day when a frog called out to him and said, "If you kiss me, I'll turn into a beautiful princess". He bent over, picked up the frog and put it in his pocket. The frog spoke up again and said, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful princess, I will stay with you for one week." The engineer took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it and returned it to the pocket. The frog then cried out, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a princess, I'll stay with you and do ANYTHING you want." Again the engineer took the frog out, smiled at it and put it back into his pocket. Finally, the frog asked, "What is the matter? I've told you I'm a beautiful princess that I'll stay with you for a week and do anything you want. Why won't you kiss me?" The engineer said, "Look I'm an engineer. I don't have time for a girlfriend, but a talking frog, now that's cool." An architect, an artist and an engineer were discussing whether it was better to spend time with the wife or a mistress. The architect said he enjoyed time with his wife, building a solid foundation for an enduring relationship. The artist said he enjoyed time with his mistress, because of the passion and mystery he found there. The engineer said, "I like both." "Both?" Engineer: "Yeah. If you have a wife and a mistress, they will each assume you are spending time with the other woman, and you can go to the office and get some work done." REASONS TO DATE AN ENGINEER They are user friendly No need to call a handy man Learn how to use the other buttons on your calculator Homework help without the guilt They will make lots of money Not all of them wear dark blue jeans They know how to push the right buttons They understand heat-transfer They are used to pulling all nighters High starting salary. Can calculate head pressure. Help you with your math homework. Parents will approve. We know how to handle stress and strain in our relationships. The world *does* revolve around us... we pick the coordinate system. Reasons _Not_ to Date a Male Engineer T-Shirt & Jeans are their formal dress. Hot dog and a 6-pack is their seven-course meal. The only social life known of is to post and talk on the net. Flames like a monster and speaks like a pussy cat. Works from 6:30 am to 7:30 P.M., daily. No morning kisses and no evening walks. No matter how hard you yell and how loud you yell, he just sits there calmly discussing your emotion in terms of mathematical logic. Listens to classical rock only. Hates everything from Bach to Prince. Touches his car more than you. Talks in Aonym. Can't leave that damn pencil off his ear for a minute. Will file a divorce if you call him in the middle of debugging. Why Engineers Don't Write Recipe Books Chocolate Chip Cookies: Ingredients: 1.) 532.35 cm3 gluten 2.) 4.9 cm3 NaHCO3 3.) 4.9 cm3 refined halite 4.) 236.6 cm3 partially hydrogenated tallow triglyceride 5.) 177.45 cm3 crystalline C12H22O11 6.) 177.45 cm3 unrefined C12H22O11 7.) 4.9 cm3 methyl ether of protocatechuic aldehyde 8.) Two calcium carbonate-encapsulated avian albumen-coated protein 9.) 473.2 cm3 theobroma cacao 10.) 236.6 cm3 de-encapsulated legume meats (sieve size #10) To a 2-L jacketed round reactor vessel (reactor #1) with an overall heat transfer coefficient of about 100 Btu/F-ft2-hr, add ingredients one, two and three with constant agitation. In a second 2-L reactor vessel with a radial flow impeller operating at 100 rpm, add ingredients four, five, six, and seven until the mixture is homogenous. To reactor #2, add ingredient eight, followed by three equal volumes of the homogenous mixture in reactor #1. Additionally, add ingredient nine and ten slowly, with constant agitation. Care must be taken at this point in the reaction to control any temperature rise that may be the result of an exothermic reaction. Using a screw extrude attached to a #4 nodulizer, place the mixture piece-meal on a 316SS sheet (300 x 600 mm). Heat in a 460K oven for a period of time that is in agreement with Frank & Johnston's first order rate expression (see JACOS, 21, 55), or until golden brown. Once the reaction is complete, place the sheet on a 25C heat-transfer table, allowing the product to come to equilibrium. Engineers Explained People who work in the fields of science and technology are not like other people. This can be frustrating to the non-technical people who have to deal with them. The secret to coping with technology-oriented people is to understand their motivations. This chapter will teach you everything you need to know. I learned their customs and mannerisms by observing them, much the way Jane Goodall learned about the great apes, but without the hassle of grooming. Engineering is so trendy these days that everybody wants to be one. The word "engineer" is greatly overused. If there's somebody in your life who you think is trying to pass as an engineer, give him this test to discern the truth. ENGINEER IDENTIFICATION TEST You walk into a room and notice that a picture is hanging crooked. You... A. Straighten it. B. Ignore it. C. Buy a CAD system and spend the next six months designing a solar-powered, self-adjusting picture frame while often stating aloud your belief that the inventor of the nail was a total moron. The correct answer is "C" but partial credit can be given to anybody who writes "It depends" in the margin of the test or simply blames the whole stupid thing on "Marketing." SOCIAL SKILLS Engineers have different objectives when it comes to social interaction. "Normal" people expect to accomplish several unrealistic things from social interaction: *Stimulating and thought-provoking conversation *Important social contacts *A feeling of connectedness with other humans In contrast to "normal" people, engineers have rational objectives for social interactions: *Get it over with as soon as possible. *Avoid getting invited to something unpleasant. *Demonstrate mental superiority and mastery of all subjects. FASCINATION WITH GADGETS To the engineer, all matter in the universe can be placed into one of two categories: (1) things that need to be fixed, and (2) things that will need to be fixed after you've had a few minutes to play with them. Engineers like to solve problems. If there are no problems handily available, they will create their own problems. Normal people don't understand this concept; they believe that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Engineers believe that if it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet. No engineer looks at a television remote control without wondering what it would take to turn it into a stun gun. No engineer can take a shower without wondering if some sort of Teflon coating would make showering unnecessary. To the engineer, the world is a toy box full of sub-optimized and feature-poor toys. FASHION AND APPEARANCE Clothes are the lowest priority for an engineer, assuming the basic thresholds for temperature and decency have been satisfied. If no appendages are freezing or sticking together, and if no genitalia or mammary glands are swinging around in plain view, then the objective of clothing has been met. Anything else is a waste. LOVE OF "STAR TREK" Engineers love all of the "Star Trek" television shows and movies. It's a small wonder, since the engineers on the starship Enterprise are portrayed as heroes, occasionally even having sex with aliens. This is much more glamorous than the real life of an engineer, which consists of hiding from the universe and having sex without the participation of other life forms. DATING AND SOCIAL LIFE Dating is never easy for engineers. A normal person will employ various indirect and duplicitous methods to create a false impression of attractiveness. Engineers are incapable of placing appearance above function. Fortunately, engineers have an ace in the hole. They are widely recognized as superior marriage material: intelligent, dependable, employed, honest, and handy around the house. While it's true that many normal people would prefer not to date an engineer, most normal people harbor an intense desire to mate with them, thus producing engineer-like children who will have high-paying jobs long before losing their virginity. Male engineers reach their peak of sexual attractiveness later than normal men, becoming irresistible erotic dynamos in their mid thirties to late forties. Just look at these examples of sexually irresistible men in technical professions: * Bill Gates. * MacGyver. * Etcetera. Female engineers become irresistible at the age of consent and remain that way until about thirty minutes after their clinical death. Longer if it's a warm day. HONESTY Engineers are always honest in matters of technology and human relationships. That's why it's a good idea to keep engineers away from customers, romantic interests, and other people who can't handle the truth. Engineers sometimes bend the truth to avoid work. They say things that sound like lies but technically are not because nobody could be expected to believe them. The complete list of engineer lies is listed below. "I won't change anything without asking you first." "I'll return your hard-to-find cable tomorrow." "I have to have new equipment to do my job." "I'm not jealous of your new computer." FRUGALITY Engineers are notoriously frugal. This is not because of cheapness or mean spirit; it is simply because every spending situation is simply a problem in optimization, that is, "How can I escape this situation while retaining the greatest amount of cash?" POWERS OF CONCENTRATION If there is one trait that best defines an engineer it is the ability to concentrate on one subject to the complete exclusion of everything else in the environment. This sometimes causes engineers to be pronounced dead prematurely. Some funeral homes in high-tech areas have started checking resumes before processing the bodies. Anybody with a degree in electrical engineering or experience in computer programming is propped up in the lounge for a few days just to see if he or she snaps out of it. RISK Engineers hate risk. They try to eliminate it whenever they can. This is understandable, given that when an engineer makes one little mistake, the media will treat it like it's a big deal or something. EXAMPLES OF BAD PRESS FOR ENGINEERS * Hindenberg. * Space Shuttle Challenger. * SPANet(tm) * Hubble space telescope. * Apollo 13. * Titanic. * Ford Pinto. * Corvair. The risk/reward calculation for engineers looks something like this: RISK: Public humiliation and the death of thousands of innocent people. REWARD: A certificate of appreciation in a handsome plastic frame. Being practical people, engineers evaluate this balance of risks and rewards and decide that risk is not a good thing. The best way to avoid risk is by advising that any activity is technically impossible for reasons that are far too complicated to explain. If that approach is not sufficient to halt a project, then the engineer will fall back to a second line of defense: "It's technically possible but it will cost too much." EGO Ego-wise, two things are important to engineers: * How smart they are. * How many cool devices they own. The fastest way to get an engineer to solve a problem is to declare that the problem is unsolvable. No engineer can walk away from an unsolvable problem until it's solved. No illness or distraction is sufficient to get the engineer off the case. These types of challenges quickly become personal -- a battle between the engineer and the laws of nature. Engineers will go without food and hygiene for days to solve a problem. (Other times just because they forgot.) And when they succeed in solving the problem they will experience an ego rush that is better than sex--and I'm including the kind of sex where other people are involved. Nothing is more threatening to the engineer than the suggestion that somebody has more technical skill. Normal people sometimes use that knowledge as a lever to extract more work from the engineer. When an engineer says that something can't be done (a code phrase that means it's not fun to do), some clever normal people have learned to glance at the engineer with a look of compassion and pity and say something along these lines: "I'll ask Bob to figure it out. He knows how to solve difficult technical problems." At that point it is a good idea for the normal person to not stand between the engineer and the problem. The engineer will set upon the problem like a starved Chihuahua on a pork chop. A salesman and an engineer happened to meet each other as they were going into the men's room. The salesman walked straight to the urinal and started to pee but the engineer first walked over to the handbasin and washed his hands. They both finished their respective tasks and the salesman then went over to the handbasin to wash his hands while the engineer went over to the urinal to pee. They left the men's room together and as they were leaving the salesman said to the engineer, "I understand that the nature of your work makes it necessary to wash your hands before you pee but don't they teach you guys to wash your hands afterwards as well??" The engineer replied "No, they teach us not to piss on our hands" An engineer was busy at work in his cubicle, when he couldn't find his favorite pen. He decides to go over to the next cubicle, and ask this technical writer, if she had an extra pen he could borrow. He goes over to the next cubicle and asks of the tech writer, a gorgeous woman, "E...E...excuse me miss," in a really nerdy voice, "Would you happen to have an extra pen I can borrow?" It was pretty late and no one else was around, and she was pretty horny. She rips open her blouse, revealing two of the firmest, most beautiful breasts anyone has ever seen. Then she says to the engineer, "How would you like to borrow these?" The engineer responds, "H...Hey, I asked first!" Reasons given as to why they attended Engineering School. I wanted everyone to think I was smart. I thought the free body diagram was a good deal. I thought the LaPlace Transform would make me better looking. To get more dates. I thought "dweeb" was a term of respect. I went to the wrong room during orientation. I have a strong desire to graduate with a low GPA. I wanted to learn how to program my VCR. If I flunk out of engineering school, I can always go to the business school. I have always wanted to drive a train. In some foreign country a priest, a lawyer and an engineer are about to be guillotined. The priest puts his head on the block, they pull the rope and nothing happens -- he declares that he's been saved by divine intervention -- so he's let go. The lawyer is put on the block, and again the rope doesn't release the blade, he claims he can't be executed twice for the same crime, and he is set free too. They grab the engineer and shove his head into the guillotine, he looks up at the release mechanism and says, "Wait a minute, I see your problem..." Three engineers were sitting around discussing what kind of engineer God was. The mechanical engineer said: "The human body is such a mechanical marvel with all its joints and muscles. God is surely a mechanical engineer." The electrical engineer stated, "The nervous system is a mind boggling electrical network. God would have to be an electrical engineer to develop our nervous systems." The civil engineer said, "I wish I could be as enthusiastic, but what self-respecting civil engineer would put the entertainment center right next to the waste treatment facility." Engineers' Terminologies 1. A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT APPROACHES ARE BEING TRIED - We are still pissing in the wind. 2. EXTENSIVE REPORT IS BEING PREPARED ON A FRESH APPROACH TO THE PROBLEM - We just hired three kids fresh out of college. 3. CLOSE PROJECT COORDINATION - We know who to blame. 4. MAJOR TECHNOLOGICAL BREAKTHROUGH - It works OK, but looks very hi-tech. 5. CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IS DELIVERED ASSURED - We are so far behind schedule the customer is happy to get it delivered. 6. PRELIMINARY OPERATIONAL TESTS WERE INCONCLUSIVE - The darn thing blew up when we threw the switch. 7. TEST RESULTS WERE EXTREMELY GRATIFYING - We are so surprised that the stupid thing works. 8. THE ENTIRE CONCEPT WILL HAVE TO BE ABANDONED - The only person who understood the thing quit. 9. IT IS IN THE PROCESS - It is so wrapped up in red tape that the situation is about hopeless. 10. WE WILL LOOK INTO IT - Forget it! We have enough problems for now. 11. PLEASE NOTE AND INITIAL - Let's spread the responsibility for the screw up. 12. GIVE US THE BENEFIT OF YOUR THINKING - We'll listen to what you have to say as long as it doesn't interfere with what we've already done. 13. GIVE US YOUR INTERPRETATION - I can't wait to hear this bull! 14. SEE ME or LET'S DISCUSS - Come into my office, I'm lonely. 15. ALL NEW - Parts not interchangeable with the previous design. 16. RUGGED - Too damn heavy to lift! 17. LIGHTWEIGHT - Lighter than RUGGED. 18. YEARS OF DEVELOPMENT - One finally worked. 19. ENERGY SAVING - Achieved when the power switch is off. 20. LOW MAINTENANCE - Impossible to fix if broken. THINGS ENGINEERING SCHOOL DIDN'T TEACH YOU There are at least 10 types of capacitors. Theory tells you how a circuit works, not why it does not work. Not everything works according to the specs in the databook. Anything practical you learn will be obsolete before you use it, except the complex math, which you will never use. Always try to fix the hardware with software. Engineering is like having an 8 a.m. class and a late afternoon lab every day for the rest of your life. Overtime pay? What overtime pay? Forget an engineering career, just try to keep a job. Managers, not engineers, rule the world. If you like junk food, caffeine and all-nighters, go into software. Dilbert is a documentary. You Might Be An Engineer If... If you introduce your wife as "[email protected]" If your spouse sends you an e-mail instead of calling you to dinner If you can quote scenes from any Monty Python movie If you want an 36X CDROM for Christmas If Dilbert is your hero If you can name 6 Star Trek episodes If the only jokes you receive are through e-mail If your wrist watch has more computing power than a 486DX-50 If your idea of good interpersonal communication means getting the decimal point in the right place If you look forward to Christmas only to put together the kids' toys If you use a CAD package to design your son's Pine Wood Derby car If you have used coat hangers and duct tape for something other than hanging coats and taping ducts If, at Christmas, it goes without saying that you will be the one to find the burnt-out bulb in the string If you window shop at Radio Shack If your ideal evening consists of fast-forwarding through the latest sci-fi movie looking for technical inaccuracies If you have "Dilbert" comics displayed anywhere in your work area If you carry on a one-hour debate over the expected results of a test that actually takes five minutes to run If you are convinced you can build a phazer out of your garage door opener and your camera's flash attachment If you don't even know where the cover to your personal computer is If you have modified your can-opener to be microprocessor driven If you know the direction the water swirls when you flush If you own "Official Star Trek" anything If you have ever taken the back off your TV just to see what's inside If a team of you and your co-workers have set out to modify the antenna on the radio in your work area for better reception If you thought the concoction ET used to phone home was stupid If you ever burned down the gymnasium with your Science Fair project If you are currently gathering the components to build your own nuclear reactor If you own one or more white short-sleeve dress shirts If you have never backed-up your hard drive If you are aware that computers are actually only good for playing games, but are afraid to say it out loud If you truly believe aliens are living among us If you have ever saved the power cord from a broken appliance If you have ever purchased an electronic appliance "as-is" If you see a good design and still have to change it If the salespeople at Circuit City can't answer any of your questions If you still own a slide rule and you know how to work it If the thought that a CD could refer to finance or music never enters your mind If you own a set of itty-bitty screw drivers, but you don't remember where they are If you rotate your screen savers more frequently than your automobile tires If you have a functioning home copier machine, but every toaster you own turns bread into charcoal If you have more toys than your kids If you need a checklist to turn on the TV If you have introduced your kids by the wrong name If your wife thinks your taste in ties is bizarre If you have a habit of destroying things in order to see how they work If your I.Q. number is bigger than your weight If the microphone or visual aids at a meeting don't work and you rush up to the front to fix it If you can remember 7 computer passwords but not your anniversary If you have memorized the program schedule for the Discovery channel and have seen most of the shows already If you have ever owned a calculator with no equal key and know what RPN stands for If your father sat 2 inches in front of your family's first color TV with a magnifying lens to see how they made the colors, and you grew up thinking that was normal If you know how to take the cover off of your computer, and what size screw driver to use If you can type 70 words a minute but can't read your own handwriting If people groan at the party when you pick out the music If you can't remember where you parked your car for the 3rd time this week If people hound you for pocket protectors at Halloween time If you did the sound system for your senior prom If your checkbook always balances If your girlfriend says the way you dress is no reflection on her If your wristwatch has more buttons than a telephone If you have more friends on the Internet than in real life If you thought the real heroes of "Apollo 13" were the mission controllers If you think your computer looks better without the cover If you think that when people around you yawn, its because they didn't get enough sleep If your wife hasn't the foggiest idea what you do at work If you spend more on your home computer than your car If you know what http:// stands for If you've ever tried to repair a $5.00 radio If you have a neatly sorted collection of old bolts and nuts in your garage If your favorite part of the 6 o clock news is comparing their latest satellite weather picture with yours If your three year old son asks why the sky is blue and you try to explain atmospheric absorption theory If your 4 basic food groups are: 1.Caffeine 2.Fat 3.Sugar 4.Chocolate Buying flowers for your girlfriend or spending the money to upgrade your RAM is a moral dilemma Everyone else on the Alaskan cruise is on deck peering at the scenery, and you are still on a personal tour of the engine room In college you thought Spring Break was a metal fatigue failure You are always late to meetings You can't write unless the paper has both horizontal and vertical lines. You comment to your wife that her straight hair is nice and parallel. You forgot to get a haircut ... for 6 months You go on the rides at Disneyland and sit backwards in the chairs to see how they do the special effects You have never bought any new underwear or socks for yourself since you got married You spent more on your calculator than on your wedding ring You wear black socks with white tennis shoes (or vice versa) You're in the back seat of your car, she's looking wistfully at the moon, and you're trying to locate a geosynchronous satellite You know what the geosynchronous satellite function is You've already calculated how much you make per second If you have no life, and you design, implement, and test your proofs to show it. If you enjoy never sleeping. If you like the effect of your body collapsing from exhaustion. If you know vector calculus but you can't remember how to do long division. If you've actually used every single function on your graphing calculator and have a computer program which does even more. If when you look in a mirror, you see an engineering major. If it is sunny and 70 degrees outside, and you are working on circuits. If you frequently whistle the theme song to "MacGyver." If you always do work on Friday and Saturday nights. If you think in "math." If you CAN'T do simple addition and subtraction on a regular basis If you use "scientific findings" to explain how you feel. If you've calculated that your mental facilities decay exponentially. If whenever you look at something you see a better way of designing it. If you have a car named after a scientist. If you laugh at jokes about "computer science" majors. If you get arrested for designing AND building a "potentially dangerous weapon." If you can translate English into Binary, C++, and hex. If you're the next-to-last person to leave the building. (right before the security officer) If you have to bring a jacket with you, in the middle of summer, because there's a wind-chill factor in the lab. If you wear clothing with electric insulation on a regular basis. If you live on caffeine and get no more than 3 hours sleep a night. If you consider ANY non-science course "easy." If when someone asks you where your work is, you claim to have accidentally determined its momentum so precisely, that according to Heisenberg it could be anywhere in the universe. If you've thought of AND written a computer program which will cause your student loans to "disappear." If the "fun" center of your brain has deteriorated from lack of use. If you'll assume that the cafeteria food is "organic" in order to make the lab analysis easier. Your favorite TV show is "Mr. Wizard" instead of "Baywatch." When your family is expecting, you are more interested in the ultrasound equipment than the test results. When someone asks "What's new?" you answer "C over lambda". You know Bill Gates' e-mail address, and don't remember your own. You find your head nodding up and down every time you read Dilbert. Your pocket is full of too many mechanical pencils. If you go to the air show and start calculating how fast the sky divers are falling, you may be an engineer; If you start telling all the people around you, you definitely are. If you need a spreadsheet to figure out who owes what for lunch. If you plan your family vacation on a Gantt chart. If you pre-plan your route on a map of the exhibits through the annual computer show. If you read PC World and Popular Mechanics while on vacation. If you know the altitudes at which you must turn off electronic devices on an airplane, and why. If on a camping trip, your spouse starts complaining about bug "bites" and you respond that "Yes, we do need more memory in our computer." If you understood all of these indicators. |
|