"We talk to the contractors and have the plans reanalyzed. The architects swear that, by their measurements, everything should work as originally planned, with the longest run being only 280 feet. The electricians still swear that the lines are going to be too long."

Turns out the electricians decided on their own to save costs and labor by changing where the cables would run. And now they need to find -- and pay for -- a way to get data between the server room and the phone room.

And it's only a month before the clinic in the new addition is scheduled to open.

"The electricians offer to run a fiber line between the rooms," fish says. "A week later they decide that would cost them too much. Another week goes by and the ultimatum is given: Either pay for the fiber, buy a switch and run copper line, or rerun every data line as per the original plans.

"The next week I go into the server room and see a fiber line hanging from the ceiling, waiting to be put to use. Apparently they decided it's cheaper to install that than buy the necessary switches or rerun all 70-plus data lines."