RAY: A few weeks ago, Tommy calls me up and tell me that our sister Lucille is sick. He says, "I'll make her some chicken soup if you will deliver it to her." So, after work, I show up at Tommy's house.

When I get there, Tommy's pouring chicken soup into a plastic container and mumbling that he can't find the right cover for it.

We try one, and it pops off. We put another cover on. It pops off. I tried to put tape on the cover, and the tape won't stick to the plastic.

So, I very carefully carry the chicken soup out to my Dodge Colt Vista...

TOM: Is this the automotive part of the puzzler?

RAY: You bet. I put the soup on the floor. With great trepidation, I pull away from the curb.

I realize as I'm driving that my house is between Tommy's house and Lucille's house, and I should stop off at home, see the wife and kids and the hounds, and maybe have supper.

So, I stop at home. I have supper. I sit in front of the TV, and I fall asleep watching "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Hours later, I wake up —

TOM: Remembering that our sister is probably clawing at the front door, looking for the chicken soup.

RAY: Right. And I go back to sleep. I wake up again at 1:30. I hurriedly grab a few old National Geographic magazines and some fruit that we were going to throw away. I jump in the car and drive to her house, which is several miles from my house—never once concerned that I'm going to spill the soup. And, in fact, I don't spill a drop of it.

TOM: But, you were concerned when you left my house.

RAY: Right, but why wasn't I concerned this time?

[ Car Talk Puzzler ]