What is it about engineers?

So...let's get something out of the way: I'm married to an engineer. That fact, in and of itself, IMHO qualifies me to comment on the particular personality types that seem to gravitate to that profession.

Take today for example. I have been craving lemonade all summer. I drank it by the gallon while I was pregnant with Little Boy and there's something about it I just love. What I don't love about it is that it's full of calories and that the only diet lemonades I have been able to find are sweetened with aspartame. I can't explain why but aspartame gives me terrible migraines. Any time it enters my diet (whether I know it or not), a migraine ensues. So, obviously, I do not consume aspartame if I can help it.

So...I found a vendor online who makes a diet lemonade that is sweetened with Splenda. I ordered it over the weekend and was elated when it showed up today. I couldn't wait to make a big icy cold pitcher of it and was terribly disappointed when I realized that we don't actually own a pitcher. My husband pointed out that we have an old Brita filter pitcher that we don't use anymore (now that the refrigerator produces filtered water) and that it would probably work ok if I wanted to use that. I dug it out of the cabinet and got to work.

The directions on the lemonade package said, "Add 1 level scoop of powder to 1 quart of water while stirring." No problem, right? Well...the Brita pitcher didn't have any indication on it of how much water it could hold. Big E and I guessed 2 quarts...but we weren't sure. I found an empty 2 liter bottle that was labeled "2 liters. 2.1 quarts") and decided to use it to fill the pitcher. I figured that once I knew where the water level hit the pitcher for 2 quarts using the 2 liter bottle, I could always eyeball it to that level to fill it up in the future.

Big E wasn't sure if 2 quarts was going to fit though. And this is where it gets weird...
My inclination was to put the 2 scoops of powder in the pitcher, fill up the two liter and try to dump it in. If it didn't work, I'd throw it out and start over but I was pretty sure it was going to be ok. Not Big E though...he thought the best idea was to fill the two liter bottle and pour it into the pitcher without any lemonade mix to "test" and see how much water was going to fit. UGH! Of course, I had to admit that his idea was probably smarter and safer than mine but...harrumph...what a waste of time! If my way works, I have a pitcher of lemonade ready to go in 5 minutes. If it doesn't, I have to invest more time and effort. With his way, I'm sure that the pitcher of lemonade is going to turn out right when I make it...but I waste a lot of time up front preparing.

Needless to say, we did it his way. :) And I had to laugh at the amount of consternation the additional 2-3 minutes caused me...but I just had to wonder: is it normal to be that thorough and methodical about something like lemonade? And really...what is it with engineers?