So I am now the official unofficial database wrangler for our engineering issues database. Note that I did not say "administrator". Essentially this means that I am in charge of constructing queries and reports on demand, making sure that the database existing fields are used properly, and updated as the status of the various issues change. What I cannot do is create any new fields or make changes to the database itself. I can request changes which are then reviewed by a committee and accepted or rejected some time in the future. Meh. It's not that bad. I get SQL, and I understand how to structure the queries from what the upstream folks request, so I actually am the logical person to do this. My only hangup is that it's "hidden" work, it's infrastructure and maintenance that has no percieved product-value-added and is therefore discounted as "not real work".