An inhibited engineer finally splurged on a luxury cruise to the Caribbean. It was the zaniest thing he had ever done in his life. Just as he was beginning to relax and enjoy himself, a hurricane roared into the area, capsizing the huge ship as if it were a child's toy. Somehow the engineer, desperately hanging on to a life preserver, managed to wash ashore on a secluded island. Outside of beautiful scenery, a spring-fed pool, bananas and coconuts, there was little else. He lost all hope and for hours on end sat under the same palm tree.

One day, after several months had passed, a gorgeous woman in a small rowboat appeared. “I'm from the other side of the island,” she said. “Were you on the cruise ship, too?”

“Yes, I was,” he answered. “But where did you get that rowboat?”

“Well, I whittled the oars from gum tree branches, wove the reinforced gunnel from palm branches, and made the keel and stern from a Eucalyptus tree.”

“But, what did you use for tools?” asked the man.

“There was a very unusual strata of alluvial rock exposed on the south side of the island. I discovered that if I fired it to a certain temperature in my kiln, it melted into forgeable ductile iron. Anyhow, that's how I got the tools. But, enough of that,” she said. “Where have you been living all this time? I don't see any shelter.”

“To be honest, I've just been sleeping on the beach,” he said.

“Would you like to come to my place?” the woman asked.

The engineer nodded dumbly. He went to her “house”, which was painted blue and white. There she asked him if he would like to shower. She also mentioned that as he had a beard, perhaps he'd also like to shave. He climbed the stairs to the second floor not even asking how she had running hot water. He showered and shaved and when done he descended the stairs. There the lovely woman had drinks and dinner ready. He was amazed. At the end of their meal he said that he thought everything was incredible, she was a genius and there was only one thing he desired. As they both had been on the island for quite a while, she thought he meant that nature should take its course. She said, “Well, I imagine I can help you carry out your fondest desires.”

He then looked totally astonished and said, “You mean you have a way I can check my e-mail?”