Yes of course you discuss divorce. In my country ( I now live in USA ) we had an anti nuptial contact drawn up for such matters. Not sure how it works here.
The "plane going down" analogy was brought up after 9/11 (sad fact) so in actual fact Ive been working with my current programmer for nearly 8 years.
I think the industry has a very bad wrap and this is caused by instances such as customers being hijacked by programmers. Its not really up the programmers to get with the program "so to speak"
I believe it is up to the companies like AMX or Crestron to get the right model. I have tons of friends in the residential field who want automated systems but when they are faced with these issues they just dont want to get involved. AMX or Crestron should have their dealers put all programs in an "escrow" account and based on their discretion should value each case on a by case basis. If the customer has not paid for his stuff then thats a different story.
None of what I have is absolutely necessary (once again Im not a business) I do it all for fun and for me its more of a hobby. When it stops being that I will stop adding or upgrading.
Dont get me wrong my programmer and I have often had really big arguments about certain stuff. But in the end its a business relationship. He charges me by the hour, I want what I want and I pay him for it.
SIMPLE..I think.