Console app can select data but not update

Apologies if this is in the wrong forum.

I am having a small problem with a console app I am writing.

The problem is that I can select data using the different nopcommerce libraries (i.e OrderManager, CustomerManager etc).  While I can select, none of the update, delete or create statements seem to succeed.  Must I have an admin user logged in through code or something to accomplish this?  Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I start my program like this:

static void Main(string[] args)
        {

            // Initialise NOP
            NopSolutions.NopCommerce.BusinessLogic.Configuration.NopConfig.Init();

my app.config file has this:

<configSections>
    <section name="NopConfig" type="NopSolutions.NopCommerce.BusinessLogic.Configuration.NopConfig, Nop.BusinessLogic" requirePermission="false"/>
  </configSections>
  <connectionStrings>
    <add name="NopSqlConnection" connectionString="****" />
  </connectionStrings>
  <NopConfig>
    <SqlServer ConnectionStringName="NopSqlConnection"/>
    <ScheduleTasks>
      <Thread seconds="60">
        <!--do NOT enable ClearCache task if you have enabled tracking online users-->
        <task name="ClearCache" type="NopSolutions.NopCommerce.BusinessLogic.Caching.ClearCacheTask, Nop.BusinessLogic" enabled="false" stopOnError="false"/>
        <task name="PurgeOnlineUsers" type="NopSolutions.NopCommerce.BusinessLogic.Audit.UsersOnline.PurgeOnlineUsersTask, Nop.BusinessLogic" enabled="true" stopOnError="false"/>
        <task name="Emails" type="NopSolutions.NopCommerce.BusinessLogic.Messages.SendQueuedMessagesTask, Nop.BusinessLogic" enabled="true" stopOnError="false" maxTries="5"/>
        <task name="KeepAlive" type="NopSolutions.NopCommerce.BusinessLogic.Utils.KeepAliveTask, Nop.BusinessLogic" enabled="true" stopOnError="false" path="keepalive/ping.ashx"/>
      </Thread>
      <Thread seconds="600">
        <task name="DeleteExpiredCustomerSessions" type="NopSolutions.NopCommerce.BusinessLogic.CustomerManagement.DeleteExpiredCustomerSessionsTask, Nop.BusinessLogic" enabled="true" stopOnError="false" deleteExpiredCustomerSessionsOlderThanMinutes="43200"/>
        <task name="DeleteExpiredShoppingCarts" type="NopSolutions.NopCommerce.BusinessLogic.Orders.DeleteExpiredShoppingCartsTask, Nop.BusinessLogic" enabled="true" stopOnError="false" deleteExpiredShoppingCartsOlderThanMinutes="259200"/>
      </Thread>
      <Thread seconds="60">
        <task name="UpdateExchangeRates" type="NopSolutions.NopCommerce.BusinessLogic.Directory.ExchangeRates.UpdateExchangeRateTask, Nop.BusinessLogic" enabled="true" stopOnError="false"/>
      </Thread>
      <Thread seconds="3600">
        <task name="DatabaseMaintance" type="NopSolutions.NopCommerce.BusinessLogic.Maintenance.DatabaseMaintanceTask, Nop.BusinessLogic" enabled="false" stopOnError="false"/>
      </Thread>
    </ScheduleTasks>
  </NopConfig>

Its not the end of the world, I can create my own data model to alter the data directly.  Just seems like a shame as all the functionality is already in the nopcommerce libraries.