Sort of came back once..
I worked a job about 13 years ago where I took care of POS equipment. (in both senses of the acronym) When I started, there were two of us taking care of about 70 restaurant units. I used to drive 3,000 miles a month. I didn't really mind it as it was one of my first IT jobs, I had an earlier background as a restaurant manager, and I liked the people, who were always glad to see me when I'd come to rescue them from whatever IT issue. I also liked to drive and got very nice mileage reimbursement checks for my personal vehicle, which was a nice little perk at the time. The machines ran Linux or SCO and were antiquated before I started the job.
Eventually they laid off my counterpart, and I assumed his area as well. (things started to be less fun) A year later, they laid me off, and were supposedly going to get our vendor to support them remotely and by shipping any needed equipment. Our layoffs were partially political, as the market director (who was having an affair with the CEO) hated us. The tide changed a few years later (she told the CEO's wife she was having an affair with him when he threatened to break up with her, and was subsequently fired)
I was working a different IT job then and was invited to come back and help them as an independent contractor. I accepted and did random jobs for the next few years, billing them for every penny I thought it was worth. Instead of having their vendor maintain things as they were supposedly going to do, I found the situation that I had taken care fairly well IMHO had degenerated into a nightmare mess of everything half working. I finally stopped doing jobs for them when the company went through bankruptcy and was split up and sold off. In retrospect I can't say I miss it, but it was one of those rare experiences in life that kind of leaves you with a sense of completion in a weird way, perhaps like seeing your childhood home demolished as an adult.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
