> A rather inhibited engineer finally splurged on a luxury cruise to the 
> Caribbean.  It was the "craziest" thing he had ever done in his life.
>      
> Just as he was beginning to enjoy himself, a hurricane roared upon the 
> huge ship, capsizing it like 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 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.  She expertly rowed them around to her side of the
> island, and tied up the boat with a handsome strand of hand-woven hemp 
> topped with a neat back splice. They walked up a winding stone walk 
> she had laid and around a Palm tree.  There stood an exquisite 
> bungalow painted in blue and white.  "It's not much, but I call it 
> home." Inside, she said, "Sit down please; would you like to have a 
> drink?"
>      
> "No, thanks," said  the man. "One more coconut juice and I'll throw up!"
>      
> "It won't be coconut juice," the woman replied.  "I have a crude still 
> out back, so we can have authentic Pina Coladas."
>      
> Trying to hide his amazement, the man accepted the drink, and they sat 
> down on her couch to talk.  After they had exchanged stories, the 
> woman asked, "Tell  me, have you always had a beard?"
>      
> "No," the man replied, "I was clean shaven all of my life until I 
> ended up on this island."
>      
> "Well if you'd like to shave, there's a razor upstairs in the bathroom 
> cabinet."
>      
> The man, no longer questioning anything, went upstairs to the bathroom 
> and shaved with an intricate bone-and-shell device honed razor sharp. 
> Next he showered -- not even attempting to fathom a guess as to how 
> she managed to get warm water into the bathroom -- and went back 
> downstairs. He couldn't help but admire the masterfully carved 
> banister as he walked.
>      
> "You look great," said the woman.  "I think I'll go up and slip into 
> something more comfortable."
>      
> As she did, the man continued to sip his Pina Colada.  After a short 
> time, the woman, smelling faintly of gardenias, returned wearing a 
> revealing gown fashioned out of pounded palm fronds.  "Tell me," she 
> asked, "we've both been out here for a very long time with no 
> companionship.  You know what I mean.  Have you been lonely....is 
> there anything that you really, really miss?  Something that all men 
> and woman need? Something that would be really nice to have right 
> now!"
>      
> "Yes there is!" the man replied, shucking off his shyness. "There is 
> something I've wanted to do for so long.  But on this island all 
> alone, it was just...well, it was impossible."
>      
> "Well, it's not impossible, any more," the woman said.
>      
> The man, practically panting in excitement, said breathlessly: 
> "You mean you actually figured out some way that we can check our 
> e-mail???!!!!