How long does half hour quartet take

[Megan]

You would think obvious answer is half an hour.
But Professor W.J. Baumal pointed out. A half hour quartet calls for the expenditure of two man hours in its performance, that is, each person takes half an hour, so you multiply 4 x half an hour which is 2 hours.

[Peter]

Reminds me of the French story of the madame complaining to the cook - 'Why did you cook the eggs for 9 minutes, everybody knows it takes 3 minutes to boil an egg' - 'But Madame, there are 3 eggs and 3 times 3 make 9!'.

[Chris]

You would think obvious answer is half an hour.
But Professor W.J. Baumal pointed out. A half hour quartet calls for the expenditure of two man hours in its performance, that is, each person takes half an hour, so you multiply 4 x half an hour which is 2 hours.

Something to keep in mind if you ever need to hire a string quartet!

[Peter]

Reminds me of the French story of the madame complaining to the cook - 'Why did you cook the eggs for 9 minutes, everybody knows it takes 3 minutes to boil an egg' - 'But Madame, there are 3 eggs and 3 times 3 make 9!'.

Actually I find 6 minutes is right for a medium sized boiled egg, so I don't know where 3 comes from - must be very small eggs!

[Symphony7]

Hard boiled or soft boiled? And from cold, or putting the egg into already boiling water?

[Peter]

Hard boiled or soft boiled? And from cold, or putting the egg into already boiling water?

Soft boiled in already boiling - 6 minutes and the white is firm and the yolk runny - 3 minutes and the whole thing is runny! 3 minutes for poached eggs though!

[Quijote]

I'm like Beethoven (according to the famous story): if they aren't done right, I'll lob them (throw them) at you!
I'm keen on steak tartare : raw beef (hopefully filet [de boeuf]), chopped herbs, spring onion, tabasco sauce and ... topped with a raw egg !! And the egg has to be bio (= "eco") or free-range.

[Quijote]

You would think obvious answer is half an hour.
But Professor W.J. Baumal pointed out. A half hour quartet calls for the expenditure of two man hours in its performance, that is, each person takes half an hour, so you multiply 4 x half an hour which is 2 hours.

Sounds like they got in some sort of "time & management consultant", Megan. The more our world is run by such consultants (and other such "bean counters" ergo accountants ...), the poorer we are.
I tell you, come the revolution, I have my list ready.