The grass may be greener, but it's got bugs

Just about everybody conversant with technology is familiar with the term "bugs" when used in relation to computers and/or software. As a user of software myself, I'm well aware of how much fun it isn't when you experience a problem, like losing an entire file you just typed but hadn't yet saved, and which also wasn't saved for you since you turned off that annoying autosave feature.

The problem is that I also create software, and it's no more fun from where I sit to hear users of my systems complain.

It isn't because I'm not responsive to these issues, either. Unfortunately, due to government involvement in system changes since the days of Enron, a huge paper trail must exist to report on modifications to any internally controlled software packages that materially contain data on or affect financials. This means that requested changes, whether bug fixes or enhancements, must be listed in a website and tracked from start to finish, including programming effort, user testing, acceptance and implementation.

It's not easy to program an entire system. It's also not easy to hear one person, relatively new to the system itself and the business reasons behind why it does what it does, say things like "You know I'm just paranoid about this crappy system." Microsoft systems have bugs, to the point where people joke about new software releases. Of course, they have a lot more software than I do, and entire teams of people to work on them, whereas for years I was the sole person responsible for programming many of the systems, still in use today, that I continue to control. It's therefore impossible to separate the system from ME.

That's why I had to suppress the urge today to tell this person to feel free to take over the programming of said system and see how THAT went.

And people say I have no tact.