jjatwork said:
This journey started with me hearing about an opening and mocking up a simple 'LOOKUP/EDIT/DELETE' mySQL db with a terminal-based UI in python
Actually, though not identical, it was similar for me. I was doing mainframe work and my boss told me about an Access DB being used to track computer assets. At the time, we were in the 600-700 system count and a fellow named Gene (not known to this forum) had cobbled together something to track what we had and build reports. I had done some formal DB study on the mainframe using an ORACLE system that was our BE package and a mainframe-based FE package called SmartStar. The boss said he wanted someone to back up Gene because he was floundering.
Like you, I was aware that the more you did for the boss, the more he would do for you when review-time came around. So I took over and started fixing a GOD AWFUL MESS of a database for which the term "relational" applied only because the description on the back of the original software box used that word once or twice. Got it to work, cleaned it up, made sense of it, Gene left, and then a year later the government took it over. The guy who took it from me claimed to know Access but at the time I saw no evidence to support the assertion. So, I moved on, pooch got screwed, project fell into the dirt due to the negligence of the government person who now owned it, and time passed.
But here is ANOTHER lesson to be learned. Your reputation follows you. So the boss had ANOTHER project suitable for Access and remembered my name. Sort of like a criminal record that follows you around, so to speak. (Which is why I NEVER admitted to understanding COBOL!)
To make the boss happy, I took that one on doing a similar sort of thing to the first one but with more emphasis on security than resources. Also by this time the site had reached 1200-1500 servers across 60-80 projects (the dashes representing growth of the site over six years). Oh, I learned a lot. Including the old adage, "no good deed goes unpunished."
The down side is working with people who didn't know what they wanted and trying to second-guess them. The up side is that my career with the Navy as a contractor lasted a total of 28 1/2 years of steady, reasonably lucrative employment until I was ready to retire. Just walk into the melee with your eyes open and your mouth shut.