Dear Reader,
By her own admission, my Aunt Teresa is a terrible driver. She's so bad, in fact, that after she built an impressive history of driving mishaps, my Uncle Tony imposed The Teresa Rules, a series of conditions meant to minimize the risk of future "incidents." If memory serves, The Rules were as follows:

#1) Drive only "if absolutely necessary."
#2) Know exactly where you're going and chart the course ahead of time.
#3) Only drive forward (this rule was imposed after two separate incidents while backing up).
#4) Do not park in a space next to other cars (imposed after an unfortunate incident while pulling into a mall parking space).
#5) Do not get gas (imposed after pulling away from a gas pump without removing the hose).
#6) Do not park in the garage.

I clearly remember the day rule number 6 was added to the list; I was at my aunt and uncle's house that snowy Sunday afternoon. As I played a board game with my cousins and my uncle sat reading the Sunday paper, we heard the garage door open. Seconds later, a loud engine roar was immediately followed by an impact that shook the house, dislodging a heavy shelf full of trinkets that crashed on top of the family television, destroying both. I don't think what happened really sunk in until I saw the front third of my cousins' car buried in the garage wall, but I knew my uncle had a temper, so I cautiously peered up to see his reaction. Much to our surprise, Uncle Tony got up, neatly folded his newspaper, laid it on the chair on which he'd been sitting and calmly announced, "Kids, your mother is home," before retiring to his bedroom. My brother and I did not stick around to see what happened next.

In this month's issue of SAS Training Report, you’ll discover your own version of Teresa’s rules, without the overbearing Italian patriarch. For starters, we’ve just published the 2011 SAS Education Catalog. The catalog provides you a roadmap of SAS training by job role, allowing you to chart your course, know where you’re going and how you’ll get there (Teresa Rule #2). You’ll also learn about new courses in Data Quality, Platform Administration, and a new e-course for JMP®9, training that can only move your business and your career forward (Teresa Rule #3). Finally, you’ll learn how to get more mileage out of your training dollars with our SAS® Enterprise Guide® Training Package, allowing you to get more EG training between fill-ups (Teresa Rule #5).

Here's to safe driving and happy training,

Thanks for reading,
Larry LaRusso
Editor, SAS Training Report