We heard the sound today that no computer administrator ever wants to hear--the sound of water spraying out from a broken pipe above the server room ceiling.

The calamity had started 30 seconds or so before I arrived on the scene. One of the air conditioners in the server room had been dripping the day before (enough of a scare) and a young man from the air conditioner company was fixing it today. Or, he thought he was until the end of one of the pipes broke off while he was working on it.

When I arrived, our system admin was scooping water up in a plastic dustpan and frantically shoving it away from the server racks. One person was fetching trash cans, another towels and blankets, another a mop and bucket, and I ran for the wet/dry vac. I tried to help, but Pat kept saying, "Just let the guys do the work, Dorinda." So I sat at my desk and watched as they spread tarps, ran the vacs, tore up the carpet tiles, removed the floor of the server room, and snapped insurance photos.

Praise God that none of the servers suffered any damage!