I have been a Senior DBA for many years and the one thing I have learned the hard way is "CYA" at all times...I have seen too many talented and hard-working DBA's get fired because they did not pay enough attention to this. The DBA is a high-paying enviable position that many in companies today both managers and co-workers sometimes try to you knock out of the position. If  a lower-payed developer has sights on becoming a DBA themselves, or a manager trying to make points with the CEO, will often attempt to make you look bad by any means they can find, particularly if you are caught in the middle of mistake... They will throw you under the bus in a heartbeat if they can mileage out of it. It may not be right, but that is just the way it is.. IT departments tend to be very "political" work places and your elaborate and extensive skill set doesn't always help you in these situations. I have often found in this job that 1000 atta-boys don't get nearly enough attention as 1 "aw crap!" Always have an out prepared and back it up with e-mail.. Don't ever rely on verbal commands from anyone in this job. When you are sitting in front of CEO explaining why you did something on someone else orders, always be able to back it up with e-mail. Otherwise, the other party that told you to do it in the first place always tends to get amnesia at these times, thus leaving you out on a shaky branch. E-Mail quickly resolves someone's memory problem much later and can often mean the difference of whether you are around the next week too. I have seen it happen too many times. That is why I am still around after 20 years of doing this.  Travis.

Senior Database Administrator