Rather like buses...

It's not that I hold any special fondness for that particular mode of public transport, nor for that matter do I have anything against it. Anyway, I'm rambling already - all will become clear shortly. "Who are you calling shortly?" (OK, I'll get on with it)

Work today proved to be full of surprises. Not the long overdue pay review or the promise of staff replacement, but the prospect of an interesting new challenge over the next few weeks.

We are in the process upgrading the computer system from our antiquated AS400 to the much loved and admired (!) SAP. The more the project unfolds, the more time it consumes and it's suddenly quite apparent where the name SAP comes from. I knew from the outset that I would be involved to a certain extent but following some unfortunate news one of my colleagues received this morning, I have now been upgraded from "Key User" to "Power User". I did ask, but apparently it doesn't involve me wearing a lycra outfit (huge sigh of relief from anyone who knows me).

What's involved? Largely co-ordinating team actions rather than just taking part, lots more distractions from the usual nine to five (nine to five? - I wish) but most importantly, the chance to influence the way we change our business processes rather than just being told what's going to happen (how naive is that? We'll see in a few weeks).

Ironically, I successfully bid for a Linguaphone PDQ Portuguese course last night (bargain - less than a tenner) on the off-chance that there may be some business requirement for it and today I learn that the above responsibility involves spending a full week at our Portuguese site. Two weeks later, we're all back again for another week. So as the heading would suggest, I waited thirty nine years for a trip to Portugal then three come along at once...