The Line Painter … … Sven was hired to paint a white line down the middle of the highway. … … On the first day, he got off to a good start and he painted a white line 7 miles long. The next day, however, he painted a line only 4 miles long. On the third day, he was down to less than a mile. Finally, his boss asked him why he was doing less each day. Sven replied, “It takes me longer and longer to get back to da paint bucket each day.”