Re: ALL my calls from shouty men
The joys of dedicated, long-term government service:
1) Most senior civil servants become instant uncivil arseholes when there is a chance of blaming someone who is one or more grades below theirs.
2) The higher their grade the bigger and more important the IT problem is.
3) Likewise the requirement that you fix it NOW. Delivered in a calm and infinitely nasty manner.
The third most memorably on a date forever emblazoned into my mind: 16th October 1987 ("not a hurricane") where I had to struggle across London at 6am to 'rescue' an IT system which had experienced a power failure. It was not sufficient to mention that nearly all of London had no power either.
It helps to remain quiet and to have a boss who is way senior than any of them, has almost direct control of their budgets and can inflict considerable damage upon their long-term career prospects, including their being dropped from consideration for the News Years/Birthday honours lists - something that matters a lot to UK public servants.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
