Tech is indeed a small world.

The first story speaks to another issue: How long do I stay in order to guarantee a smooth transition, when the project I'm working on is two years old with no end in sight? (And is generally a god-awful mess, both from a technical and project-management point of view?)

I feel like I'll be dinged for leaving them "high and dry" but... my employment is specifically at will. I'm tempted to terminate it from my end, and get on with my new career.