Just a quick update to say: the "Charlie Foxtrot" documented below has apparently been (mostly) solved. It took just another three hours of discussion/being on hold with tech support in a three-way call with one of the administrative assistants at the client's headquarters, whose patience and ability to take a Zen-like approach to the whole mess made it possible for me to make it through the day without bursting into tears.


Tomorrow, I'm going to try and fix one of the other big problems in my life - my grad school's inability to clear me for graduation based on the fact that my "student number" has already been retired from the "system" when it's required for diploma generation. So, issue me another number and link it to my transcript? Too easy - so you know it can't be done for whatever reason. Restore the number? Nope, can't do that either. JUST ISSUE ME MY GD DIPLOMA! Sure...what's your student number?