@alex An engineer, a physicist, and a mathematician are all at a defense conference in Vegas. Through a quirk of plot convenience, all three are alcoholics and chain smokers, and all three pass out in bed with a lit cigarette in their mouth.

The engineer wakes up because his bed is on fire. He jumps up, grabs the ice bucket, fills it up from the bathtub faucet, and dumps it out on the fire, putting it out. Now his bed is all wet, so he gets the spare blanket and pillow out of the closet, curls up on the floor, and goes back to sleep.

The physicist wakes up due to his own fire. He grabs the notepad and pencil off the desk and does some quick calculations. He then gets the coffee cup, fills it from the sink, and pours it out on the fire. With the last drop of water the fire is extinguished and his bed is dry, so he climbs back in bed and falls asleep.

The mathematician is woken up by his bed on fire. He, too, grabs the notepad and pencil and furiously scribbles down some calculations. He calculates that he can put out the fire, so he gets the spare blanket and pillow from the closet, sets them out on the floor, and passes out again.