SPARTA News September 2002
September 2002
SPARTA Chapter President’s Corner
- by Brad Carson
If I said last month was busy, it was an understatement. We managed to relocate our QAAD LPAR from RTP to Burlington during the weekend of August 17. What a long, long weekend that was. We did have a little visit from Murphy, but still were able to complete the move (whew!!!).
During our QAAD move, we had a lot of fun using the ExHPDM product to stack our FDR backups on tape. Yes, we rebuilt this system via tape from RTP to Koury. We also had some fun with a corrupt ICF usercatalog (who needs test data sets). But we have weathered the storm and are moving on to other projects, some interesting and others not.
Due to some employee turnover, I received the honor of picking up the DB2 sysprog work. I guess I'll have to make some time to work with our DBA staff now alongside everything else. We still are looking a bringing in a system to handle some Linux server consolidation (I still have my fingers crossed for z/VM). Along with this, I'm currently working on converting our CICS regions to MRO, and trying to configure Enterprise Extender between our two systems (time to convert to APPN!!!). As always there is something to keep me busy here.
This month Tommy Thomas from LabCorp will be giving us a presentation on our conversion from CA-TLMS to IBM’s RMM. I look forward to seeing you all on Tuesday, September 24th, at LabCorp RTP. Pizza, drinks, and dessert will be provided.
Future Speakers
(subject to change)
Sept. 24 CA-TLMS to RMM Conversion by Tommy Thomas of LabCorp
Oct. 29 z/OS and OS/390 IBM Technical Conference by Pam Tant of DTS Software.
Nov. 26 TBA
We need ideas and volunteers for future speakers. Presentations don’t have to be fancy, just informative and interesting. Even a 5 or 10 minute talk can start an interesting interaction. Contact Duane Reaugh by phone or e-mail as noted below.
2002-2003 SPARTA
Board of Directors
Brad Carson - President
LabCorp 919-572-7504
1912 Alexander Drive
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Duane Reaugh - Vice President
DTS Software 919-833-8426
2913 Wake Forest Road
Raleigh, NC 27609-7841
Mike Lockey - Secretary
Guilford Co. Information Services 336-412-6235
201 N. Eugene St. 336-227-2021 (Home)
Greensboro, NC 27401
Tommy Thomas - Treasurer
LabCorp 336-436-4178
231 Maple Ave, Koury Ctr 3rd Fl. 919-572-7507
Burlington, NC 27215
Ed Webb - Communications Director
SAS Institute 919-531-4162
SAS Campus Drive 919-362-0232 (Home)
Cary, NC 27513
Meetings
Meetings are scheduled for the last Tuesday evening of each month (except no meeting in December), with optional dinner at 6:15 p.m. and the meeting beginning at 7:00 p.m.
These monthly meetings are held at LabCorp’s Center for Molecular Biology and Pathology (CMBP) near the Research Triangle Park (see last page). Take I-40 to Miami Boulevard and go north. Turn right onto Alexander Drive. Go about a mile or so. Then turn right into LabCorp complex and turn Left to the CMBP Building. In the lobby, sign in as a visitor to see Brad Carson. Brad will escort you to the conference room.
Call for Articles
If you have any ideas for speakers, presentations, newsletter articles, or are interested in taking part in a presentation, PLEASE contact one of the Board of Directors with your suggestions.
Newsletter Mailings
The SPARTA chapter policy is to mail a copy of the monthly chapter newsletter to each SPARTA member, NaSPA national, each advertiser, persons who have requested a copy, and to other chapters who send us a copy of their newsletter. The newsletter is mailed about the 20th of each month so you can prepare for the meeting. The mailing list is maintained by Mike Lockey at (336) 412-6235; if you have corrections or problems receiving your newsletter, call Mike.
Sept. 2002 CBT Tape Online
The directory and files from the latest CBT tape V451 (dated September 9, 2002) are available from www.cbttape.org.
If you need a complete tape, contact Brad Carson at LabCorp or Ed Webb at SAS (see Board of Director’s list for contact info).
Minutes of the August 27th, 2002 Meeting
•Meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Brad Carson, the Chapter President.
•Fourteen (14) people were present; all were members.
•Everyone in the room introduced themselves, told where they worked, and briefly described their job function.
•Minutes of the July 2002 meeting were accepted as published in the August 2002 newsletter.
•Tommy Thomas, the Chapter Treasurer, gave the Treasurer’s report. As of August 12, 2002, the balance is $958.68.
OLD BUSINESS
•Articles are needed for this newsletter. If you would like to write an article for this newsletter, please contact Ed Webb. Keep in mind that you don’t really need to write the article, it can be an article that you read that you would like to share with the membership.
•The SPARTA Web page is now available. To access the SPARTA Web page, point your Web browser to this site: www.netpath.net/~mlockey/sparta.html. Please send any comments or suggestions about the Web page to Mike Lockey (mlockey@netpath.net). Be sure to check the Web page every once in a while to see any new or changed information.
•Brad reminded everyone to keep the conference room clean; wipe off the conference table and remove all trash when the meeting is over.
NEW BUSINESS
•Future Speakers and Topics:
September 2002 - CA-TLMS to IBM RMM by Tommy Thomas of LabCorp
October 2002 - TBA
November 2002 - TBA
Other ideas:
- TDMF - Ken Frump
- WLM Goal Mode - Jim Horne
- UNIX Services for OS/390
- IBM New Announcements
- CICS Web Bridge
If you have suggestions about speakers and topics, contact Duane Reaugh.
•Food for the September 2002 meeting will be pizza, sodas, and dessert.
•The September SPARTA meeting will be held at LabCorp in RTP.
•Thanks to Brad Carson of LabCorp for hosting the August meeting.
•The business portion of the meeting ended at 7:40 p.m.
•Ed Webb of SAS gave a report on the August 2002 SHARE conference in San Francisco. Topics included:
z/OS Release Strategy Change
z/OS runs on G5/G6 processors thru V1R5
z/OS Bimodal Migration Accommodation
Sub-Capacity Licensing Changes in April 2002
IBM License Manager is Improving
Consolidated Service Testing and new RSU
ShopzSeries for Products and Service
ServerPac improves in September 2002
z/OS V1R4 Migration from OS/390 R10
SAS software pricing is negotiable
Hercules (S/390 emulator) Turnkey CD
Bootable Stand-Alone Editor on CBT CD
Post-SHARE news and rumors
Ed briefly discussed some of the SHARE sessions he attended and passed out a few handouts. See Ed or any SPARTA officer if you are interested in copies of the handouts.
•The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 PM.
Treasurer’s Report for September 2002
contributed by Tommy Thomas
The balance in the account is $ 924.12 as of September 16, 2002.
Financial Report
3/01/2002 through 9/16/2002
INCOME
Opening Balance 693.15
Dues 490.00
Misc. 11.00
TOTAL INCOME $1194.15
EXPENSES
Food 203.47
Petty Cash 160.00
Bank Service Fees 21.00
TOTAL EXPENSE $384.47
BANK BALANCE 809.68
PETTY CASH($160) 114.44
TOTAL CASH $924.12
Items of Interest
Letterman’s Top 10 Drawbacks to Working in a Cubicle
contributed by Chris Blackshire
Letterman's Top 10 Drawbacks to Working in a Cubicle:
10. Being told to 'Think outside the Box' when you're in a @#$%?*! box all day long.
9. Not being able to check e-mail attachments without turning around to who's behind you.
8. Fabric cubicle walls do not offer much protection from any kind of gunfire.
7. That nagging feeling that if you press the right button, you'll get a piece of cheese!
6. Lack of roof rafters for the noose.
5. The walls are too close together for the hammock to work right.
4. 23 power cords, 1 outlet.
3. Prison cells are not only bigger, they also have beds.
2. When tours come through, you get lots of peanuts thrown at you.
And the Number 1 Drawback to Working in a Cubicle:
1. You can't slam the door when you quit and walk out!
Things that make you go hmmm...
contributed by Chris Blackshire
I did not know:
1. The citrus soda 7-UP was created in 1929; "7" was selected because the original containers were 7 ounces. "UP" indicated the direction of the bubbles.
2. Mosquito repellents don't repel. They hide you. The spray blocks the mosquito's sensors so they don't know you're there.
3. Dentists have recommended that a toothbrush be kept at least 6 feet away from a toilet to avoid airborne particles resulting from the flush.
4. The liquid inside young coconuts can be used as substitute for blood plasma.
5. American car horns beep in the tone of F.
6. No piece of paper can be folded more than 7 times.
7. Donkeys kill more people annually than plane crashes.
8. 1 in every 4 Americans has appeared on television.
9. You burn more calories sleeping than you do watching television.
10. Oak trees do not produce acorns until they are fifty years of age or older.
11. The first product to have a bar code was Wrigley's gum.
12. The king of hearts is the only king without a mustache.
13. A Boeing 747s wingspan is longer than the Wright brother's first flight.
14. American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating 1 olive from each salad served in first-class.
15. Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise.
16. The first CD pressed in the US was Bruce Springsteen's “Born in the USA.”
17. Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up in the morning.
18. The 57 on the Heinz ketchup bottle represents the number of varieties of pickles the company once had.
19. The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets.
20. Most dust particles in your house are made from dead skin.
21. The first owner of the Marlboro company died of lung cancer.
22. Barbie's full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts.
23. Betsy Ross is the only real person to ever have been the head on a Pez dispenser.
24. Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike annually than all of the Nike factory workers in Malaysia combined.
25. Adolf Hitler's mother seriously considered having an abortion but was talked out of it by her doctor.
26. Marilyn Monroe had six toes.
27. All US Presidents have worn glasses. Some just didn't like being seen wearing them in public.
28. Walt Disney was afraid of mice.
29. The sound of E.T. walking was made by someone squishing her hands in jelly
30. Debra Winger was the voice of E.T.
31. Pearls melt in vinegar.
32. It takes 3,000 cows to supply the NFL with enough leather for a year's supply of footballs.
33. Thirty-five percent of the people who use personal ads for dating are already married.
34. The three most valuable brand names on earth: Marlboro, Coca Cola, and Budweiser, in that order.
35. It is possible to lead a cow upstairs...but not downstairs.
36. Average life span of a major league baseball: seven pitches.
37. A duck's quack doesn't echo and no one knows why.
38. The reason firehouses have circular stairways is from the days when the engines were pulled by horses. The horses were stabled on the ground floor and figured out how to walk up straight staircases.
39. Richard Milhouse Nixon was the first US president whose name contains all the letters from the word “criminal.”
40. The second? William Jefferson Clinton.
Diets and Dying
contributed by Duane Reaugh
1a) The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
1b) The French eat a lot of fat and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
2a) The Japanese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
2b) The Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
3a) The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
CONCLUSION:
Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.
Don’t Forget the Next SPARTA Meeting
Tuesday, September 24, 2002
Location: LabCorp in the RTP
Take I-40 to Miami Boulevard and go north. Turn right onto Alexander Drive. Go about a mile or so. Then turn right into LabCorp complex and turn left to the CMBP Building. In the lobby, sign in as a visitor to see Brad Carson. Brad will escort you to the conference room.
Free Food: Pizza, Drinks, Dessert
Program:
Conversion from CA-TLMS to IBM RMM
Speakers:
Tommy Thomas of LabCorp
SPARTA News
P.O. Box 13194
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-3194
First Class Postage
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