To everyone out there, I am the OP. As I claimed I would, I walked away. I don't want to give too many details to possibly reveal my identity. I walked away with no immediate job prospects, not that I want a new job right now. I need to tend to my health for a few months.
I have worked in bursts of 12+ hour days before for months at a time depending on deadlines on projects at previous jobs, but this job took it to a whole new level. Pretty much mandatory 12 hour days EVERYDAY. I was burned out after 6 months. 6 freakin' months....! My contract required me to stay for a year. The job took a toll on my health, hence the reason to take a few months off to recover and enjoy the holidays with friends and family and not stress out over that non-stop pager.
My departure was not meant to screw over my teammates even though it probably did. The thing is, I stopped caring once I realized MC didn't care about me. The environment was a true toxic sweatshop. If you don't take care of yourself, the company you work for certainly won't.
This job falls under learning experience and worse job ever. In my 20+ year IT career, I have noticed 2 things - you are either typically underpaid or overpaid. (I know, a real revelation.) When underpaid, which was most of the time, it was because it was a 'privilege' to work for the company and to put their name on your resume. When you're overpaid, you're expected to sacrifice everything to tow the company line. And I do mean everything.
Take care everyone and peace out!
(In regards to being over/under paid..... beggars can't be choosy in the IT industry. You take what you can get and keep looking for something better. Out of my 7 jobs in IT, I have been laid-off 4x and left horrible work environments 2x.)