A vacationing city banker is strolling down the village street when he suddenly remembers he had promised to meet a friend at 5.

Unfortunately, his watch has stopped, and he can’t tell if he is late. He notices a carpenter outside his workshop and approaches him: "Pardon me, sir, but do you have the time?"

"One moment!" says the carpenter as he turns to look up at the sun. He then picks up a stick and gets on his knees to push it into the earth. He pulls out a spirit level, and assures himself that the stick is perfectly vertical.

With a compass, he then locates north and with a steel ruler, measures the precise length of the shadow cast by the stick.

Withdrawing a slide rule from his pocket, the carpenter calculates rapidly, then turns to the banker and says, "It is now exactly 4:39 pm."

"That was remarkable!” the banker exclaims. “But what would you do on a cloudy day when the stick casts no shadow?" 

The carpenter rolls up his sleeve, holds up his wrist and says, "I suppose I'd just look at my watch."

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