null

It's disturbing how many calls I get that equate out to: "Hey, null. How's it going? Haven't talked to you in ages; probably since the last time we needed something from you, but we're trying to sound friendly anyway. Hey, we, as employees of this or that company, are having trouble doing 'x' technical thing for the company. Would you mind spending twenty minutes on the phone helping us fix this problem? You won't be compensated, but we're going to ask anyway because you maybe once worked here or we sort of know you. Thanks."