What is it about physicists? The other day I came across an xkcd comic that sums it all up.
Have you heard that one horse racing joke? It pretty much goes the same way. There's a breeder with a stable of race horses and he's looking for a plan to make them winners. So he asks a biologist, a chemist, and a physicist if they can come up with a solution.
The biologist says, "Yes, I can develop a breeding technique to give you the fastest and most powerful horses! In a couple of horse generations you'll have a stable full of winners."
The chemist cuts in and says, "My solution is much faster than that. I can concoct a drug for you to give to your horses. It will increase the speed of your horses by 10%, with the side effect that the lifespan of your horses will decrease by 10%."
The physicist looks up from her notebook and says, "I've got the solution! Okay, guys, let's first assume that each horse is a perfectly round sphere..."
I love those scientist/engineer/mathematician stereotype jokes. If you have a good one, send it along! :)