listen, this is serious stuff! if something should happen b/c of y2k, then you should stop, drop, and roll.
And if nothing happens because of Y2K, we should stop, drop in their tracks all of the people who’ve spent the last three years kvetching about it, and roll their lifeless bodies to get back some of the money that we squandered on Y2K breath spray.
Incidentally, and without wishing to minimize what is doubtless a serious situation, I wonder how many of those who suffered through the recent 'quake in the Southwest ended up tapping into the supplies that they bought with Y2K in mind?
Before you ask the question, be certain that you want to know the answer.
I’m an IT consultant– Akatsukami
So, if I’m unclear about my gender I should come to you? Bwahh ha ha!
Seriously folks, I’ve read hype and hyperbole about Y2K. What am I doing? I’m ready for a big winter storm. It’s happened here in Salt Lake. We had snow so damn deep we had to call out the National Guard to help. That’s what I’m ready for.
I have enough food, water, lights, heat and other shit to last me and my animals for about a month. Panic mode? No. I ALWAYS have that much in reserve during the winter. I always have a flashlight ready. I always have a plan of action if some kind, ANY kind of disaster, occurs. It isn’t just Y2K. It’s being the bit of the boy scout. Be prepared. Don’t freak out and build a bomb shelter (remember the 50’s anyone?) Just have your shit together. Know where your towel is!
The moon looks on many flowers, the flowers on but one moon.
Byzantine had the misfortune to write:
Oh, yes, absolutely.
I feel confident that I can not only divine this information, but convey it to you in a fashion that will leave you utterly convinced.
Before you ask the question, be certain that you want to know the answer.
Akutsami:
Greetings from the Southwest (Anaheim, CA). If the recent earthquake you refer to is the one that took place in the early morning hours of October 16, I thank you for your concern. As the quake’s epicenter was out in the desert far from any significant population centers, I am happy to report that we experienced no damage other than some minor power outages (mine lasted for about twelve hours, but I’m philosophical about that; after all ,I’m about as far from Disneyland as you can get and still be within city limits. Anaheim is itself the vendor for electric services, and I can’t see them placing a higher priority on the convenience of me than that of Mickey Mouse. But I’m not sorry anymore about tripping the little rat at a Main Street Electrical Parade in 1986 ;)). There was one death attributed to the quake (an elderly woman, of a heart attack, I understand), but I’m not sure where. When you consider how many OTHER earthquake sites had deaths in the thousands during the past few months, we got off lucky).
You say “elitist” as though that’s a BAD thing.
Are you all so sure that that the governmental Y2K Preparedness Memo mentioned in the OP was originally an Earthquake Preparedness Memo? Maybe, just maybe, the gummit knows that the year 2000 will definitely bring fire and earthquakes – not because of a computer bug, but because. . . of Armageddon!!!
Akatsukami – I feel confident that I can not only divine this information, but convey it to you in a fashion that will leave you utterly convinced.
Great! Lay it on me old wise one! FTR I’m CERTAIN that I want to know the answer!
Of course, Byzantine. Please come over here, so that I can investigate the matter with the thoroughness that it deserves.
“Never tease an old dog; he may have one bite left.” – Robert A. Heinlein
“Spare eyeglasses.”
…presumably because the the Y2K bug will infect my supply of contact lenses, rendering them unusable and me legally blind…
…or maybe my eyes themselves aren’t Y2K compliant!! I was programmed in, let’s see, 1975!! The clock turns to midnight and my retinas detachn and my corneas elongate… (WARNING: horrid pun approaching) I can see it now!
Sucks to your assmar.
At the ICU where I’m a nurse, everyone who isn’t scheduled to work on New Year’s Eve has to come in anyway, in case the world ends to the point where all the ventilators malfunction. With the extra staff, we can bag the ventilator patients by hand. My questions:
1.If the backup generator and/or ventilators stop working, isn’t there a pretty good chance the hospital oxygen supply will malfunction, too? If so, it wouldn’t do any good to bag those people.
2.If a crisis large enough to shut down the hospital and all its equipment occurs, where do you suppose I’d rather be: at work, trying to save the lives of a bunch of people I don’t know who are going to die anyway, or at home with my family? (Gee, Honey, I know the world is ending right this minute, but I must get to work. If I don’t, I’ll probably get written up and you know that goes on my permament record.)