IN THIS ISSUE

Vol. 13, No. 18, October 30, 2000

 Web Fun

[Contributed by The Earl of Smiles, Earl Falk]

Once upon a time, there was a shepherd tending his sheep at the edge of a country road, when all of the sudden a brand new Mercedes SUV appears out of nowhere and screeches to a halt next to him.

The driver, a young man dressed in a Brioni suit, Cerrutti shoes, Ray-Ban glasses, Tag Heuer watch and a Bhs tie gets out and asks the shepherd: "If I guess how many sheep you have, will you give me one of them?"

The shepherd looks at the young man, then looks at the sprawling field of sheep and says: "Okay."

The young man parks, connects his notebook and wireless modem, enters a NASA site, scans the ground using his GPS, opens a database of 60 Excel tables filled with algorithms and prints a 150 page report on his high tech mini printer. He then turns to the shepherd and says: "You have exactly 1,586 sheep here."

The shepherd answers: "That's correct, you can have your sheep."

The young man takes one of the animals and puts it in the back of his vehicle.

The shepherd looks at him and asks: "Now, if I guess your profession, will you pay me back in kind?"

The young man answers: "Sure."

The shepherd says: "You're a consultant."

"Exactly! How did you know?" asks the young man.

"Very simple," answers the shepherd, "First, you came here without being called. Second, you charged me a fee to tell me something I already knew. And last but not least, it's obvious you don't understand anything about my business ... I'd really like my dog back.