Quite a while back now, I was a major player in the construction industry
I won't mention the name of the company I was working for - the whole thing is tied up in red tape, and I could get into a lot of trouble. Anyway, we found ourselves being approached for a government job. Again, I won't mention which government, as I've already caused them untold embarrassment. They wanted us to do some work for them, and the money was great. It would have been the most lucrative contract in our history. The terms were agreed quickly, I was installed as project manager, and we got started on site.

At the time, I didn't know exactly what the facility was for, but after the fact a little research told me that it was a major military complex. Work went well, and we managed to finish on schedule and within our budget. We all managed to get ourselves a tidy bonus, and the site was operational almost immediately afterwards.

However, back then the construction industry was riddled with corruption, and I'm not proud to say it, but I was involved in some pretty shady deals myself. As with other buildings I worked on, it wasn't quite built to specification, and I cut some corners in the security systems so that I could pilfer some of the budget for myself. Because of this, a bunch of kids were able to break onto the site, and cause a huge amount of damage to the structure. Basically, it was irrepairable.

Normally, this wouldn't have been an issue. We had an excellent legal team, and this kind of thing would have been foreseen, and we'd be unnaccountable. However, in their haste to get things wrapped up (everyone was eager to get started - as I mentioned before, it was a huge contract), a few loopholes in the contract slipped by them, and we found ourselves having to stump up the cash for development on another site. It was a monumental fuck up - it left the company near bankruptcy, and I found myself without a job.

The company was then left to start the project from scratch. To their credit, they managed to assemble an outstanding team to build it, and found themselves nearing completion way ahead of schedule. However, before it was finished, it was completely wiped out by (it still sounds fucking stupid, even as I type this) by a highly organised group of hairy midgets.

Anyway, my money saving advice is this: if ever you find yourselves building an intergalactic death laser/space station, take a bit of time to cover the exhaust port with some cast iron grating. It'll cost you a few bob initially, but any bombs will simply bounce off it, and you'll save yourself millions.
(Keiths Dad, Fri 11 Nov 2011, 18:55, Reply)