This pilot fish has been working under contract for a school, trying to keep things limping along until some major improvements can be made. And finally, after several years, it looks like that's going to happen.

"The school is putting up a brand-new building," says fish, "and the budget includes a new server room and network structure. Woo-hoo!

"I am asked to meet with the contractors and explain the needs of the client. During the meeting, I learn that the new server room will be in the basement of the new building. This has me concerned, so I request a raised floor with water sensors and a sump pump, just in case."

Flash forward about a year: Fish is now working on a different contract out of state, and the school building is all but complete. That's when fish runs into the new contract IT guy, who has just returned from the new building.

"He reports what he found," fish says. "Sure enough, there's a server room in the basement of the building. Great, I say, so how is the flooring?

"He says that, yes, they have a raised floor. Unfortunately, the contractor's idea of a 'raised floor' is a concrete platform four inches in height!

"And to top it off, they have penetrations in the walls below grade for the cabling conduit -- holes that are already dripping water."