[Stuart]

Finally, after two months work, quite a lot of stress and a few near arguments at work, myself and two colleagues have finished the first version of a new system at work. It's basic (at the moment - we have a lot of ideas for functionality we can add to it), but it's ready for testing.

Also, it should eventually mean I can disable an old system that has (in many ways) been the bane of my life, and was used because while it didn't quite fit our needs, we needed something quickly, didn't have time to develop something from scratch (time we have now made) and it fulfilled most of our needs.

Actually, in fairness, the old system was fine for what it was designed for. It had a few flaws, but it was perfectly usable. Those flaws are, of course, not present in the new system.

The best part is that the department who we got the old system from (actually, one of our ex-staff members wrote it for them) possibly wants to use a copy of our new system, which could mean chargeable work (and therefore money) for me, and the two colleagues who I developed the system with. Apparently, they are in the same position we were. The old system works fine, and fitted their needs when it was designed, but doesn't entirely fulfill their needs now.

Now I just have the stress of letting users on to it..