This is the second time I have written to you, and I don't blame you for not

            answering me, because I sounded crazy, but it is a fact that we have a

            tradition in our family of Ice Cream for dessert after dinner each night.

            But the kind of ice cream varies so, every night, after we've eaten, the

            whole family votes on which kind of ice cream we should have and I drive

            down to the store to get it. It's also a fact that I recently purchased a

            new Pontiac and since then my trips to the store have created a problem. You

            see, every time I buy a vanilla ice cream, when I start back from the store

            my car won't start. If I get any other kind of ice cream, the car starts

            just fine. I want you to know I'm serious about this question, no matter how

            silly it sounds:

            "What is there about a Pontiac that makes it not start when I get vanilla

            ice cream, and easy to start whenever I get any other kind?" The Pontiac

            President was understandably skeptical about the letter, but sent an

            Engineer to check it out anyway. The latter was surprised to be greeted by a

            successful, obviously well educated man in a fine neighborhood. He had

            arranged to meet the man just after dinnertime, so the two hopped into the

            car and drove to the ice cream store. It was vanilla ice cream that night

            and, sure enough, after they came back to the car, it wouldn't start. The

            Engineer returned for three more nights. The first night, they got

            chocolate. The car started. The second night, he got strawberry. The car

            started. The third night he ordered vanilla. The car failed to start. Now

            the Engineer, being a logical man, refused to believe that this man's car

            was allergic to vanilla ice cream. He arranged, therefore, to continue his

            visits for as long as it took to solve the problem. And toward this end he

            began to take notes: he jotted down all sorts of data: time of day, type of

            gas uses, time to drive back and forth etc.

            In a short time, he had a clue: the man took less time to buy vanilla than

            any other flavor. Why? The answer was in the layout of the store. Vanilla,

            being the most popular flavor, was in a separate case at the front of the

            store for quick pickup. All the other flavors were kept in the back of the

            store at a different counter where it took considerably longer to check out

            the flavor. Now, the question for the Engineer was why the car wouldn't

            start when it took less time. Eureka - Time was now the problem - not the

            vanilla ice cream!!!!

            The engineer quickly came up with the answer: "vapor lock". It was happening

            every night; but the extra time taken to get the other flavors allowed the

            engine to cool down sufficiently to start. When the man got vanilla, the