A man was driving through a desert valley in which the only inhabited structure was an insane asylum that had been installed on a reconstructed ranch.

The road passed right by the main building, and right in front of the building was a cattle guard.

So he crossed the cattle guard and awakened a jackrabbit that bolted across the road.

He swerved instinctual to the left onto the shoulder, and hit a primordial spur that was half buried in the dirt.

His tire blew out with a bang.

He came to a stop, took off the hub cap, took off all the nuts and put them in the hub cap, took off the tire, put on the spare, stepped back to get the first nut -- and stepped on the edge of the hubcap, catapulting all of his nuts down the cattle guard.

He was dumbfounded.

And then he was despairing.

He said, "What am I going to do? I'm trapped in the middle of the desert, and all I have are three tires!"

All this time a guy was watching him through the bars.

And now he said, "Why don't you take one nut off each of the other three tires? That'll hold the tire on until you get to town, where they can give you the extra nuts and tighten it all up with an air hammer."

The guy did a double take and realized: "That's it. That's the only solution."

He asked, "What are you doing in there? You're smarter than people I meet on the street everyday."

The guy answered. "I'm in here because I'm crazy, not because I'm stupid."