What's the rush?

IT pilot fish at a state agency gets the call from an office with network connectivity problems -- which is not exactly unusual for this office.

"If the wind blew too hard, we were on the phone with our network provider asking them to come fix their lines," fish grumbles.

So when the trouble ticket arrives -- email isn't connecting -- fish gets on the horn with the provider's customer service. But the response isn't what fish expects.

"Well, your bill is three months past due, so we need that paid up before we can restore service," service rep says.

Fish knows the bills are sent straight to the accounting department at the agency's headquarters. A call to Betty, who should be handling those bills, hits voicemail, so fish leaves a message, and sends an email too.

But given the nature of the problem, fish decides to phone a friend in the department. Any way of getting in touch with Betty?

"Oh, she left two months ago," fish's friend says. "We're still interviewing for her position."

What? Where's your supervisor? Who took over paying the accounts?

"My supervisor is on vacation for another two weeks, and the bills are stacked in the inbox on the empty desk. The task was never re-assigned."

Sighs fish, "Surprisingly, I was able to talk the network provider into turning our service back on by faxing them a letter on state letterhead, promising them payment as promptly as possible -- which I am sure was another three months down the road."

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