Pondering the P-250

I just spent 16 hours cleaning water out of my basement. That's what we do after heavy rains in the Mississippi River Valley. At times, the foundation was taking on water faster than my pump, my wet-vac, my wife and I could get rid of it.

Much of the time, I was thinking about something that struck me as wildly stupid when I was a seaman. We had to take military exams for promotion.They were like rating exams, except stupid, mindless and capable of being passed by a golden retriever. The question that best exemplified the idiocy of these tests ran continually through my mind. While I may be exaggerating slightly, the gist of the question was this:

What is the capacity of the P-250 pump?
A. 250 gallons per minute.
B. 25 teaspoons-full per century.
C. 37 miles per gallon.
D. One coupon per customer.

I've been laughing at that one for almost forty years, but I assure you I wasn't laughing last night.

No--I was wishing for a P-250 pump.