A man in a hot air balloon realized that he was lost.  He reduced altitude and spotted a man below.  He descended a bit more and shouted, “Excuse me, can you help?  I promised a friend that I would meet him over an hour ago, but I don’t know where I am!”

The man below replied, “You are in a hot air balloon, hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground.  You are between 49 and 51 degrees north latitude and between 120 and 125 degrees west longitude.”

“You must be an engineer,” said the balloonist.

“I am,” replied the man on the ground.  “How did you know?”

“Well,” answered the balloonist, “everything you told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to make of your information and, the fact is, I am still lost.  Frankly, you’ve not been of much help so far.”

The man below responded, “You must be in management.”

“I am,” replied the balloonist, “but how did you know.”

“Well,” said the man on the ground, “you don’t know where you are or where you are going.  You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air.  You made a promise which you have no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to solve you problems.  The fact is you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it’s my fault.”

Theres alot of truth in that one [:)]

As a licensed Civil Engineer, I can assure you that this little story has a LOT of truth in it.  I spend a lot of time designing things the way some "big shot" wants them instead of what I know is the right way.

Great story!

BBURN