Awkward db2 SQL syntax

I'm continually frustrated by the awkwardness of SQL syntax in DB2 (I do database work on an IBM iSeries). You can't do an update on a joined table; you can only update one table, so you have to do a subselect, typically expressing exactly the same subselect in two places in the same query. See Brett Kaiser's helpful example. I keep shying away from doing them this way because it seems so wrong, but I keep coming back to it as my best alternative. A language should not make you say the same complicated thing twice in once sentence. Anaphora is your friend, IBM!