I seem to remember chuckling heartily over an article in Oracle Magazine sometime in the late '90s (??) or possibly slightly later, with the title, "A Day in the Life of a DBA." The article chronicled a "typical" DBA calmly and methodically performing a series of manual tasks that should just as well have been automated (all with OEM of course). If any packrat on the list has this issue sitting around I'd love a scan of the article so that I can cite it in something I am working on. TIA to anyone who can send it my way. Jeremiah Wilton ORA-600 Consulting http://www.ora-600.net -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l