So I was making another stab at replacing the green glass walls holding back the aquifer with clear glass. (I lost the first attempt to a .10 military crash.) Here's a blueprint:
===PPP===
=~~~~~~~=
=~XXOXX~=
P~XZZZX~P
P~OZZZO~P
P~XZZZX~P
=~XXOXX~=
=~~~~~~~=
===PPP===
= sand wall
X glass wall
O glass portal
P pump on level above, drains elsewhere
Z up/down stairs
The stairs are the only entrance to what will eventually be my main fort, and currently my only source of stone, and indeed ANY building materials. (I embarked on a desert and clear-cut it ridiculously fast.) The plan is to sink the stairwell straight down until it hopefully intersects the first cavern layer, at which point I'll REALLY start to build this fort. The pumps are fully automatic, powered by windmills. The plan is to install switches for the doors and pumps so I can flood the stairwell at will. Being impatient, I've already got my miners working on the sublevels. They're getting a bit damp, but the floor space expands fast enough to prevent flooding.
I had 3 gaps in the wall with masons braving (or not-so-braving, as the case tends to be) the ankle-deep water to finish the walls. I also noticed that I had nothing for my lazy mechanic to do, so I started him installing levers and gears for the various irrigation systems. May as well start the work on the pumps' off switch as well.
Me: I just have to remember to suspend construction on the key gear when it reaches 'nearly done'...
Dorfs: Oh noes, the water is too deep!
Me: Where did all these blue sevens come from?
Mechanic: *smug*
Legendary Miner: (Five levels below.) Where did everyone go?
This is literally twenty seconds after I gave the mechanic seven different jobs to do. The one dwarf I could depend on to go On Break between each and every job finally got down to business on the one thing I didn't really want done.
Luckily, I had installed hatches on the stairs, so the only effect was a temporary work stoppage while I sent the mechanic back to tear the gear out. (He went On Break first.)