A highway construction crew's fog line painter wins the lottery and quits, so they put out a help wanted sign: "Fog line painter wanted."
A day later, a fellow named Bob comes in and takes the job.
The foreman takes him out to the where the last guy left off.
"Ok Bob, it's a pretty simple job...here's the brush, here's the bucket of paint. You just take the brush and paint this line down the side of the road, 4 inches wide. Wear your safety vest and keep an eye on traffic. Come see me at 5 o'clock when you're done."
"No problem," says Bob.
Bob paints all day. At 5 o'clock he goes and sees the foreman.
"Well, how'd it go? How far'd ya get?" asks the foreman.
"Not sure," says Bob. "I got 8 miles done."
"8 miles?!?!?!" Says the foreman. "That's great! The last guy never got more than 6! Come back tomorrow!"
Bob comes back and paints the whole next day. At 5 o'clock he goes and sees the foreman.
"Well, how'd you do today? Anther 8 miles?" Asks the foreman.
"No boss, I only got 4 miles today," replies Bob.
"Hmm, well, guess I can't expect 8 miles every day and 4 miles is still pretty good. Come back tomorrow," says the foreman.
Bob paints all the next day and at 5 o'clock, goes to see the foreman.
"Well, how'd ya do today?" asks the foreman.
"Hmm, not so good. I only got 2 miles done today."
"2 miles?!?!" says the foreman. "That's not very good. You're gonna have to do better. I'll give you one more try. Come back tomorrow."
Bob comes back, paints the whole day, at 5 o'clock goes and sees the foreman.
"Well, how about today?" asks the foreman.
"Really not so good, boss. Only got a 1/2 mile done today."
The foreman is perplexed. "What?? First day, 8 miles. Second day, 4 miles. Third day, 2 miles. Today only 1/2 miles? What's going on???" You're about to get fired!!"
Bob: "Well, boss, every day I took the brush and painted like you said, but I kept getting farther from the bucket."