Don't Knock It Till You Try It.

So some goofballs turned off the California state domain the other day, which is silly.  But its even sillier that it took them so long to turn it back on after it happened.  TechDirt, who I normally follow unquestioningly said:

"Apparently, it happened around noon Pacific Time which is 3pm back on the east coast.  Sure, I can understand time zone differences... but 3pm isn't exactly quitting time."

I'm not trying to defend anyone here (well maybe myself) but back off.  3pm is a perfectly acceptable quitting time.  It just means that I'm warming up my desk chair while you're still snoozing at 4 in the morning.  And by the time you stumble out of the Starbucks with a nonfat-extra-caf-I-don't-care-achino I'm fightin off a post-lunch power nap.

What you really have a problem with is inept service, and while I wouldn't endorse it, I can certainly understand how someone who could accidentally disable and entire domain and leave work wouldn't be available for contact at all hours as his contract most likely stipulates.  Some industries have more leeway in response time, while tech service does not.  Yes, someone should have been able to handle the request nearly immediately, but don't rail about 3pm just cause of some staffing issues.

• Techdirt: Feds Accidentally Turn Off California Gov't Websites