Pr3++yG33kyTh1ng

What broke yesterday?
Everything that broke yesterday can be traced back to a lack of communication.
Here is a sample chain of events:

1. A bank branch in rural Texas loses connectivity to the internet.
2. A support analyst here calls the site to discuss fixing it.
3. Someone at that branch calls in and reports that the mail server is unresponsive.
4. The analyst she speaks to about the mail server can't find a problem and asks if the internet is working from that location.
5. The problem with connectivity to the internet is identified and a fix is applied.
6. The other person (who will see the mail server in a moment either way) requests that the mail server be powered down and restarted to "fix it".
7. Internet connectivity to the branch is restored.
8. Once the server comes back around, that user can see it (duh) and assumes their quick thinking saved the day - instead of that their jumping the gun caused an enterprise-wide mail outage in the middle of the afternoon.
9. I listen as my concern level makes a loud whistling noise on its way down. After all, the people working on both issues were sitting in the same freaking room.

I have decided to put the "Stab Someone in the Face Over the Internet via RPC" project on hold in favor of developing something that could be the next big internet application. I'll assume that neither of the readers of this blog will steal my idea.
My idea is about a communications method that is kind of like mail, but electronic.
Someone with information or an idea could type something and then "send" it across the internet. The bandwidth would be pretty minimal for "electronicalized mail" as I am calling it.
If such a means of communication existed it would save just this company countless hours in repeated work.
Some exciting things happened relating to the account I've mentioned a few times (not company name deleted to comply with the non-disclosure agreement, but the bank) and the way we charge them for our time. And by "exciting" I mean I'd like to smash someone with a keyboard a lot.
Like anything else, longer contracts cost less per month. Due to some kind of flailing fit before I came to work here, this customer switched to month-to-month and threatened to leave. They pay the same per month as a customer on a 36 month contract. Also, they use us all the time, taking out "fully managed" contracts on the stuff that needs constant babysitting so they never have to pay extra and can break whatever they want.
Contract re-negotiations broke down yesterday morning and the announcement was made that any work we do for them has to be approved by their CIO directly and in writing. So. One of their tech people calls us with a mail emergency. We call the CIO and leave a message. She calls back when she gets out of a meeting. We miss the call supporting someone else, someone who pays. We call back. She says "HOLY CRAP JUST FIX IT!!!!"
We request that in writing and wait to receive it.
That was pretty funny, but only lasted about two hours.
The "Vice President of Sales" announced that (even though we lose thousands of dollars a month in technical hours) we need to "show some love" or lose the account.
"Show some love?" That is NOT in my job description. Why would we struggle to provide service for a customer who knowingly abuses us month after month and pays us less than we spend?
Regardless, not being "Vice President of Kicking People in the Neck" myself, I'm resigned to the proclamation that we are now to jump through every hoop they toss at us for the next month and not bill them AT ALL. At the end of the month, the sales people can write it all up (and pad it) and say, "Look what we saved you last month! Renew your contract!"
So I'm doing tech work on spec. Nice.
Must remember . . . The word is "Mercenary."