THE INVOICE
There was an engineer who had an exceptional gift for fixing all things
mechanical. After serving his company loyally for over 30 years, he happily
retired. Several years later his company contacted him regarding a seemingly
impossible problem they were having with one of their multi-million dollar
machines.
They had tried everything and everyone else to get the machine fixed, but
to no avail. In desperation, they called on the retired engineer who had
solved so many of their problem in the past.
The engineer reluctantly took challenge. He spent a day studying the huge
machine. At the end of the day he marked a small "x" in chalk on a particular
component of the machine and stated, "This is where your problem is." The
part was replaced and the machine worked perfectly again.
The company received a bill for $50000 from the engineer for his services.
The accounting department demanded an itemized statement of his charges.
The engineer responded briefly:
One chalk mark: $1
Knowing where to place it: $49999
