Friday, May 22, 2020

“Hitting The Engine With A Hammer”



A luxury cruise liner is about to leave port. When the engine broke down. Every mechanic on staff tried everything they can think of to get it running, but no luck. Desperate, the captain begins asking passengers if there's any mechanics on board. A retired old salt steps forward and says

"I have 50 years experience as a Navy Engineman, maybe I can help."

They show him the engine, and after looking it over for a few minutes, he grabs a ball peen hammer, walks over to one of many pipes jutting from the engine and taps it with the hammer. The engine roars back to life, humming like the first day it was used. The captain thanks the man profusely and says


"Just write up a bill and I'll personally see to it you're compensated for saving this voyage".

The old salt scribbles on a slip of paper and hands it to the captain. It says: hit engine with hammer- $10,000.

The captain is outraged.


"I appreciate what you've done, but how can you possibly justify that price for just hitting the engine with a hammer?"

The old salt grabs the paper, scribbles some more and hands it back. Now it says:

Hitting engine with hammer - $5.
Knowing exactly where to hit engine with hammer - $9,995.



2 comments:

  1. Thats the way it works.... As an Electrician's Mate I relied on the PFM (PureFuckinMagic) principle often

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    1. We learned that in "EM" "A" school. I went to RTC in Great Lakes and then across the street to AIT which, for me, was a guaranteed Electricians billet. Out of ICman, CE or EM, I got the EM. Last on my list. I wanted the CE for a civilian job when I got out. Oh well, that was back in 1974. They told us in EM A school in the final weeks of school (Transistors) that if you didn't understand the theory behind transistors, it was PFM!!!!

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