As a system administrator - and I'm speaking only for myself, although I suspect many would agree with me - I find that the tools I need are often few and/or inadequate. As a result, I often find myself "rollin my own," so to speak.

I was not hired as a programmer. I was hired to administer systems. If I write code, am I straying outside the boundaries of my assigned duties? Not if I'm coding a tool that will assist me in my administration duties. And, in order to learn how to write some of these tools, I sometimes have to screw around with seemingly unrelated scripts. It's all part of the learning process, which leads to tools to assist in the administration of these systems.

So, I call it training. On the surface, it may not seem related, but it will ultimately lead to better coding skills and, therefore, better tools. Wax on, wax off.

On an unrelated note, in response to BUU's comment on elitism: Programmer aren't special simply because of our abilities to reduce the complex to the simplistic. We're special because we are genetically superior beings. :-)

If things get any worse, I'll have to ask you to stop helping me.