Well said, wil

My situation is very similiar, but my current boss is also a programmer... He never did anything similiar to my tasks, but he knows what is it (programming) all about, so our contacts are often very technical... We both learn from each other ;-)
Although my co-workers (non-programmers) are 'different' in all meanings of this word... Sometimes they call me and ask the same questions every 2-3 days, becouse they try to get to the same point through a different way and of course blow their data away :-) but none of them has read the manual. When i come back to my desk with a stupid smile on my fece, by boss simply says "Yup! I love them... PEBKAC"... If can't find even a few minutes to DO THEIR JOB FOR THEM they are very dissappointed, but I'm curious, if they would the leave their tasks to do something for me?! I don't think so...

My oppinion: the best solution is to have a programmer as a boss, then it's much easier to survive in non-programmers nevironment :-) Of course what you've pointed out in your node is very helpful... especially the feedback.

Greetz, Tom.