Re: Smoking jacket and pipe time....
"Quick google maps check: There is a Tarmac site not far south of the drop off area. Anybody want to give them a call and see if they've recently had some new IT kit delivered.....?"
If they've been anywhere near a Tarmac site they would be seized solid. I worked with some guys contracted to service some comms kit for Tarmac. Inevitably the kit got located under a conveyor belt carrying the dry cement mix, the fans hoovered up the dust and after a damp spell the fans seized and the kit died of heatstroke. The kit couldn't be repaired, it was now just another piece of reinforced concrete, so it got replaced. The guy who negotiated the contract had got his bonus and was not interested in telling them to be a little more careful with the kit and all that could be done was to bill them full price of the replacement plus the engineer's time at 'dirty rate' plus a hefty 'handling fee' for disposal... until finally someone at Tarmac queried the large bills and terminated the contract (hooray!)
Biting the hand that feeds IT
