Fame and fortune are just around the corner for me, I’m sure! My picture of the poorly-worded sign at Littleton Hospital was posted to the “blog” of “unnecessary” quotation marks! (They must have quite a backlog of submissions, as I sent that to them in late August.) I’m so pleased!

Last week’s “CarTalk Puzzler” was quite good, and I thought I’d share it with NoodleFood readers:

How the Dispatcher Saved the Day

RAY: An old guy is driving home. It’s late at night. He’s be-bopping along the highway and he’s some considerable distance from home. Suddenly, he feels himself having a heart attack. He says, “Oh my God. It’s the big one.” Thinking quickly, he takes the first available exit.

As luck would have it, he winds up in a residential neighborhood. It’s very late at night. He pulls over to the side of the road behind some parked cars. He’s fading fast, but he has the presence of mind to pull out his cell phone and call 911.

He says to the dispatcher, “I need help. I’m having a heart attack.”

TOM: And she says, “Where are you?”

RAY: And the conversation goes something like this: “I don’t know where I am.”

“What exit did you take?”

“I don’t remember.”

“Were you going north or south or east?”

“I don’t remember.”

“Can you tell me what street you’re on?”

“I’m in the middle of the block. I’m parked. I didn’t see any street signs.” She says,

TOM: “Boy, are you screwed!”

RAY: Not quite. She says, “Start blowing the horn. Someone will come out of the house.”

No one comes out. She then asks him to do one more thing. Minutes later, an ambulance is on its way there and saves his life.

What did she ask him to do?

By the way, I wasn’t able to figure out the answer. I’ll post the answer tomorrow.

As an aside, there are only three podcasts I regularly listen to:

Diana’s Rationally Selfish Radio
Leonard Peikoff
CarTalk

Today’s “Spot the Difference” quiz features recent brain MRI scans from Diana and Paul. Can you tell the difference between the two?

Hint: Diana has a PhD in philosophy, which means she spends her days pondering deep thoughts about “the fundamental nature of existence, of man, and of man’s relationship to existence.”

Paul is a radiologist, which means he spends all day “looking at the pretty pictures!”

Diana’s brain:

Paul’s brain:

In just a few weeks, Paul and I will be at OCON 2009 — the summer conference of the Ayn Rand Institute — in Boston. Back in January, I mentioned that Paul and I would be not attend the closing banquet, as we prefer to have a private dinner instead. Here’s what I wrote:

As for the other events, Paul and I will be attending the opening banquet but not the closing banquet. We always go out to a fine dinner with friends instead of the closing banquet. We never much enjoy the random good-byes, the overly loud music, and the overpriced food of the closing banquet. Unfortunately, some of our usual friends will be otherwise occupied or absent from OCON. So, friends, if you’d be interested in dining with us on that July 11th, just drop me an e-mail sometime in the next few months.

I’m going to be finalizing plans for this dinner this week, so if you’d like to join us, please do e-mail me in the next few days.