Some science fiction writers I know always answer the question: "where do you get your ideas from?" (they get asked that A LOT) by saying: "from a Post Office Box in Schenectady."

Besides testing whether the interviewer can spell Schenecti--, Schanekta-- Skanechta-- that city, they make a good point. Many ideas are within us, and just have to be teased out.

Butcher: How many times a year does a large vehicle get barely caught under a bridge or overpass? How many of those situations are resolved with a decrease of the vehicle's height of a half inch or so?

I'm sure it has happened repeatedly. Is it only an urban legend because someone repeats it who wasn't there?

I offer this, with no pretense that it is true:

An air traffic controller in Chicago was really busy, and because of static didn't hear the ID of the flight asking for a time check. So he decided to answer all the flights he was following at the time:

PanAm 100, it's 22:00 hours.

American Flight 288, it's 10 PM.

Allegheny 345, the big hand is on the twelve; the little hand is on the ten.

North Central 281, it's, ah, Tuesday.

It doesn't make it any funnier to swear I was there.