It looked like a normal day. The cars where smoking, the birds where coughing and the daily caffeine war had already begun. "Coffee making is an art" read the sign on the footpath. Then why is a machine making it? The users don't care, as long as it tastes good.

The security guard nods at my ID, the elevator beeps pleasantly when I wave the card under its nose. The door clicks when I show it my ID. Sit, insert smart card, apply password.. I'm in.

The Boxes have done a good job. The Mail Box has destroyed all the SPAM but due to the laws of thermodynamics, it converted them into WAM (Work SPAM). Read, archive, read, archive, until finally the inbox is empty. The File Box, is still up, loaded with the by products of WAM, the internal Data Boxes are all good. "How's Prod?" I ask. "Normal" comes the reply. It looks like a normal day.

"Today isn't it?"
"Yes it is."
"Ready?"
"Ready"

I have tested the Script within an inch of its life, but I still get the feeling the something is not quite right. I connect to the Source Box, browse to the Script, check that no one else has modified it and finally open it. I check the worthiness of it once more..

Check implicit transactions option is set to OFF
Check transaction nesting and commit points
Check that the script is repeatable

I am sick of the sight of it and it of me. From the Development Box to the Integration Box to the Test Box to the PreProduction Box, it has performed as expected, but its final hurdle, the Production Box always feels different and always gets us nervous.

The elevator down to the Production Support Box is uneventful.

"Morning Jenny"
"Morning Dave, are you ready?"
"Yes"

The 3 screens in front of us look busy. The Screen on the right is a remote desktop with the Profiler running, listing stored procedure execution across the whole Box.

"Filter for Database 1, 3 and 7 please Jenny"
"Done... CPU's are at 15%, execution rate at about 2000 a minute.."
"Has the Maintenance Window been activated?"
"Yes, it is has been up for 10 minutes, but the users ignore it."

I sit down and use the Middle Screen to open QA. I open the Script.. The F5 key changes colour from grey to red. Did that just happen or has my colour perception deteriorated further?

It's a normal day.