It was a big box. It weighed in at 444,000 pounds. It was needed to put the off ramp for the new bridge in place. At first glance it looked to be an impossible job since it was on a ship in the harbor and needed to go across town. It was soon nicknamed The Monster.

"Well, I can do it", the Chief Engineer said. "I have to design and build a special rig to do so. Going to cost a mint."

"We don't have the funds for that! We're already over budget. We're using illegal aliens now to get back on budget", the Project Manager told him.

"Well, then you have a second choice, You can leave it in the harbor. Maybe it'll become a tourist attraction or something."

"No, can't do that. Guess I can cheat the illegals some on their pay. Go ahead."

The Chief Engineer designed and had built a special rig. It had twelve axles that turned independently. He claimed he could maneuver it around anything. Each section had independent steering and a driver. The rig was setup with instant communication. This wasn't going to be a "hey, turn right" situation. This was going to be a marvel.

People came from all over the area to watch the night they were going to move it. Some were placing bets on how long it would take. Some were taking bets on whether it would get there at all. The Chief Engineer laid a hundred on not making it. The Project Manager wasn't thrilled at that.

After the cranes got it off the ship, which almost jumped onto the dock when the weight was taken off it, and loaded onto the rig the tie down started. The last thing anyone wanted was having this monster fall off. After some sweating and grunting and swearing it was ready to roll.

The foreman took a roll and found two men missing.

"Well, either they took off or they got crushed underneath The Monster. From the looks of those names, they seem to be illegals anyway. Forget about it. Let's roll!"

Not exactly roll. It took five minutes to get it moving anywhere. They had to straighten out all the rig sections and make sure everyone knew his part. Then they went through the gate to the cheers of most of the crowd. The ones who had bet it wouldn't move weren't too thrilled.

The rig did fine. It came out the gate and turned towards the end of the bridge. Each section turned right at the exact time it should and the whole rig was moving down East Bay Street at one mile an hour. The crowd, getting bigger and more excited, cheered them on. All the drivers waved. It was like a parade.

Then they came to the underpass. It was 17 feet, 3 inches high. It was an inch too low for the rig. The Chief Engineer looked at his plans and found he'd used a wrong figure in his calculations. Guess this overpass has to go. The crowd would get a great show. The next day's morning rush hour would be a nightmare but the Chief Engineer wouldn't be in it so he didn't worry about it.

They only had one real bad turn to make. That's why the rig had so many sections independent of one another. By going slowly, which was all they could do, they could make the turn with a minimum of disruption. The huge old oak tree went down but can't worry about some stupid tree. That house wasn't in good shape anyway. Those cars should have been moved out of the way. They would have been if they hadn't been on blocks although they weren't on blocks now.

There! They were at the ramp. They only had to put it in position. The Chief Engineer was proud. Proud of himself, proud of his crew, proud of the ones who made the ultimate sacrifice to get this job done. Heck, after we finish I'll take them for a beer, he thought.

Everyone who was anyone was supposed to be there. The Governor, the Mayors of the two cities, the state senators and reps. The Department of Transportation taking bows for something they had nothing to do with. The Project Manager wasn't there yet. He must have had a flat tire or something. No one was there yet.

The Chief Engineer's cell phone rang. It was the Project Manager.

"What's going on? You should be here by now. What's the hold-up?"

"Uh, what are you talking about? We're here. Where are you? For that matter, where are all the bigshots. They were supposed to be here to be seen at this."

"They're all here waiting for you. You're way behind schedule. I can't even see you yet."

"I'm done. It's in place. Where exactly are you?"

"What do you mean? I'm on Coleman Boulevard waiting for you to get that beam over here."

"There? What there? I'm on East Bay Street and I'm done"

There was a long pause. A long pause. Then the Project Manager came back on the line.

"Yea, you're done alright. You must have been looking at the plans upside down. You're on the wrong side of the bridge!!"

After thinking that over a while he said, "I guess I win the bet."