1. Wtf does any of your, "Ohai, haven't seen you in a while, how's the wife and kids? Oh sure, coffee? When are you free, is Saturday good?" have to do with the server failing.
2. Neronian, fix your sig!
3. The server is indeed failing. Exhibit A: Can't connect.
4. They have a seperate thread, stickied even, to report server crashes/anomolies.