If you're willing to let them run xp_cmdshell, but not just drop them in sysadmins?

Those steps will work. If you're only doing column add/drop you can make the changes without dropping the sub, but as soon as you need to alter a column you're...

Can you post your connection string (with password if any X's out)? You will get that error if the connection is denied (or credentials are wrong), or if the server...

Nice write up.

Good to also distinguish between char and varchar. Chars are fine if the data is really fixed width.

Try slipstick.com for Exchange/Outlook stuff, you might also look for an Access site.

Time measurement does work for some cases. Here's the difference. If Steve can do a task in 35 hours that would take a normal/average DBA like the rest of us...

I suspect he will have the conversation with them, but I think they have burned the bridge a little!

I think your definition of a manager is right on target and...

I'd add one more bit - a primary key can not have null values, but a unique index can have one null.

I saw several older (DAO) references via Google about tweaking the connection properties to set a default profile - might be worth digging into that angle.

Check the SQL Agent connection info - using a domain account? Correct server name? Have you made any changes recently? I dont think its surface area config.

You might also try...

The best team I worked on had three of in a remote office. We were all good at what we did, got it done ahead of time, and planned/worked towards...

When I run a job I get this as part of the trace:

EXECUTE msdb.dbo.sp_sqlagent_log_jobhistory @job_id = 0x2918E06B7641EC4385F600D3C40459C4, @step_id = 0, @sql_message_id = 0, @sql_severity = 0, @run_status = 1, @run_date...

Sorry, I should have been clearer, my first thought was that someone had applied a filter to the log viewer when you look at the job history in SSMS. If...

Sure you dont have a filter applied to the history view? Are you getting history logged from other jobs?