There's a hole in the bucket

Being a person who enjoys mathematical phenomena (I know, I really must get a life). I am always on the lookout for a good paradox and/or oxymoron. Recently, I was treated to both an oxymoron and a paradox on the same day.

I am sure that this is a common experience but as I was about to send a very urgent email, it was just not going through. Immediately, I picked up the phone and called the IT department. The IT department promptly informed me to send them an email with my query. This response reminded me of a primary school play that I watched many years ago.
The name of the play is, “There’s a hole in the bucket” and is about a husband and wife Lyzer and Henry.

Henry discovers one morning that their only bucket has a hole. Of course his wife promptly instructs him to fix it with straw, Henry informs her that the straw is too long, Lyzer replies that the straw must be cut with an axe. Henry replies the axe is blunt. Lyzer replies that he must sharpen the axe with a stone. Henry replies that the stone is too dry. Lyzer replies that he must wet the stone with water. Henry replies how should he fetch the water, Lyzer replies with the bucket, when Henry promptly replies but there’s a hole in the bucket.

You can then forgive me for shouting back to the IT guy, “There’s a hole in the bucket”. On hindsight, I realize that I never used the term, gig, meg, RAM, so the IT guys response shouldn’t have come as a surprise. His response was; well in that case Sir, don’t send me the email, send it to the maintenance department; we fix computers in the IT department not buckets.

That evening my son asked me for an example of an oxymoron. I must add that it was during the news when I saw our soldiers ‘running a mock’ (for lack of a better term) on the lawn of the union building. I wanted to say ‘military intelligence’, but the words ‘Efficient IT department’ came out of my mouth.