O.K people, this is the question to end all questions! I want to hear your thoughts on this, not computer stats or analazizations.
(as you know they are the reason we are in this mess to begin with)Do you belive there will be more problems caused by mass hysteria
or by actual BUG itself?
The Chef
Every day I pass a hardware store with a huge yellow banner six feet high: “Are you ready for Y2K? Generators to run your home!”
January 2, 2000, I’m going to go to that store and shove that banner down the owner’s throat.
I think the USA will be OK. I wonder about the rest of the world though. Like Russia etc.
Any thoughts???
Mass hysteria. It’s an important milestone, but when it comes down to it, it’s just a day. I will celebrate it, because I wasn’t around for the last millenial celebration, and I won’t be around for the next, but I myself am not too worried about the technical trouble people are predicting.
Consumer’s sent a nice letter with one of my recent bills. It said that they were going to be keeping an eye on things around the world, just to see what happened, and fix any problems that may occur ASAP. They say they’re Y2K compliant, though. Makes me feel a little better, knowing I’ll have heat on January 1st. It gets cold here in January.
Come on peple think! If we all go to take are money,(from the bank) there is not enough for all of us!
Don`t you think this will FREAK PEOPLE OUT,
Not having access to there money!
A study I read while researching an article on this exact subject, which can be found at http://www.rab.com/rst/990727.html#R2 (i.e. is consumer reaction to Y2K hype likely to cause more damage than the bug itself) said that 11% of US consumers plan to close their bank accounts in anticipation of Y2K. This amounts to about 17 million people, more than enough to put a serious hurtin’ on the US financial industry.
Live a Lush Life
Da Chef
I’ve checked with my bank already, and they swear that they’re Y2K compliant. I’m not going to close my account, but I may cash a check or two instead of depositing it, just in case there actually is a problem. It doesn’t hurt to take a few precautions, but I’m certainly not going on a full-tilt freakout. I’ll make sure I’ve got a full tank of gas, an oil change, candles, and at least a week’s worth of food. I know that water is not a problem, because I work for our local water department, and I know what we’ve done to get ourselves ready, and we ARE ready.
I am wondering, though, what the people who really think that this is the end of the world are going to do. I don’t want to wake up on January 1st, turn on the news, and see that thousands or millions of people are dead because they thought it was the end. That would be a crappy way to start the millenium.
This whole thing burns my ass. First of all, Y2K has three characters. 2000 has four characters. Who is the lazy son-of-a-gun who decided that 2000 had too many characters and an abbreviation was in order? What comes next, Y2K+1 instead of 2001?
As far as commerce goes, I suppose that if there’s a big crash at the regional power grid, most stores that want my business will take my check. If not, I suppose nothing else electrical will be working and I’ll be free to steal my beer.
As far as Russia and China goes, they’re just as likely to blow us up on 1-1-00 as any other day.
And one more thing. Which is correct; saying “two-thousand-one” or “twenty-oh-one”? In 1901, I believe they said “nineteen-oh-one”, rather than “one-thousand-nine-hundred-one”.
Thanks for letting me vent.
Therealbubba
Oh, the same sorts of things they’ve always done. Y2K is a nice excuse, but there have been end-of-the-world predictions every few years for as long as I can recall, along with rationalizations of why we were all going to die in 1983 (or whatever).
The entirety of my Y2K preparations will be: Fill my gas tank. Have $50 on hand, and a week’s supply of food. That’s it.
I’m more worried about paranoid overreactions than the actual problem. Oh, sure, there will be some hugely publicized glitches. But overall, the power company’s generators will keep spinning, the water will keep coming out of your tap, the natural gas will keep being supplied to your furnace, and believe me, computer glitches notwithstanding, the utility companies will find a way to bill you. You need not worry about that part.
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peas on earth
When did people first start thinking about this problem? I don’t recall a single reference to Y2K, under that or any other name, before 1998. I can’t believe no one in the computer industry was thinking about it before then.
You’re missing the point. “Y2K” has only three syllables!
Christi wrote:
Don’t be too gullible. Reread that notice more carefully. I have read a bazillion of these notices, and not a single one guarantees that they’ll be okay. They swear up and down that they are working diligently on the problem, and that they expect no problems. But they guarantee nothing.
Well, actually I have seen some banks promise that your money is safe. But they don’t promise that you’ll be able to get any of it on January 1. You might have to wait a few days or weeks, and it will all still be there.
Some of them even admit to the major problems in this area. You’d expect Citibank to be all ready and everything, wouldn’t you? I think they’re the largest bank in the USA. Check out their Y2K page at http://www.citibank.com/y2k/consumer_stage.html
Their final paragraph reads
“taking steps”, “adequately prepared”, “no one can predict”, “we hope”, “we plan”, “minimize the risk”.
Caveat emptor!
I agree with bantmof. Some cash, some food, a full tank of gas. I’ve noticed a big decrease in the hype though over the last few months. Have you? I mean the inflammatory-type scarey news stories and etc. We’re not planning on going anywhere-rent some videos and etc. For once I’d like to go to a big, loud, exciting party for New Year’s.
I saw a sign at our local Quality Farm and Fleet (like Tractor Supply Company) that said “Notice: Any generator bought before February 1, 2000 will NOT be returnable. This is a temporary policy”. I thought it was very smart of QF&F to watch their heiny like that. I can just see all the morons that have bought a generator through fear trying to return it after the new year. Poor vendor would be screwed. Anyone else have any good ones like that?
Yeah, it probably would, if it were true. Extra money (about $500 per person) will be printed to cover the expected demand. The excess will be destroyed soon after the Y2K hysteria has ended. Believe it or not, madchef, you are not the only one who has thought of this issue. It has been considered and addressed. There will be a sufficient money supply.
[quote]
Chef Troy:
11% of US consumers plan to close their bank accounts in anticipation of Y2K. This amounts to about 17 million people, more than enough to put a serious hurtin’ on the US financial industry.
[quote]
The overwhelming majority of people have more than the average (mean) number of legs. – E. Grebenik
You’re missing the point. “Y2K” has only three syllables!
Year-two-thou-sand has four. Again, who is the lazy son-of-a-gun who decided all this was necessary?
“Y2K” is a unique designation. Everyone knows that “Y2K” means “The year-2000 problem caused by wraparound on two-digit year designators”.
As to worries – heck, the first time it bit was back in the 70’s, at 2000-01-01 minus 9999, when IBM mainframe files marked “Retain for 9999 days” started being discarded. IBM came up with a twofold patch: first, “Retain for 9999 days” was reinterpreted as “Retain until 99-12-31” and “Retain until 99-12-31” was reinterpreted as “Retain forever”. (Files that just naturally happen to time out on that date will have to be killed by hand, I guess.)
John W. Kennedy
“Compact is becoming contract; man only earns and pays.”
– Charles Williams
Keeves, I do agree with you about being gullible about what they say. That’s why I’m going to cash a check or two before the 1st, just in case they really aren’t ready.
And BunnyGirl, I’ve noticed the same thing about the hype. I haven’t seen anywhere near the technical mayhem predictions that I saw earlier this year.
I have a technical question, though. I have heard about this “embedded chip” thing, that will supposedly make my VCR & microwave quit working on January 1st. My VCR & microwave are both pretty old, so it probably wouldn’t hurt to replace them regardless. But if I don’t, will they really stop on me? I’ve got cable & a stove that work just fine, so I’ll be able to eat & watch TV. Just curious about this one. 
I ain’t doin’ nuthin’ at all, ‘except sittin’ back and watchin’ every one else panic, then laugh at themselves for panickin’ when they see it’s just another day…
Brian O’Neill
CMC International Records
rockuniverse.com/cmc/cmc.html
ICQ 35294890
AIM Scrabble1
Yahoo Messenger Brian_ONeill
When January 2 comes rolling around there will be quite a few used, or unused, generators for sale in the classifieds. People will not have to do any shopping for a week or two and the extra water that was stored for the emergency will get poured down the drains. I do think there may be a few glitches here and there but for the most part I’m not worried, then again the farm has a nice big backup generator and a small generator to keep things in the house running.
Some VCR’s have calendars, but does your microwave have any idea what the date is? And if it does, does it matter if it’s wrong? I doubt it would stop cooking the food if it’s calander is set wrong.
And even if your VCR, by some chance, has a calendar that can’t be set beyond 2000, you can just fake it out by setting it to a different year.
My VCR (a 6 year old Mitsubishi) is settable up to 2005, so 2000 isn’t a problem. After 2005, I plan to keep using it though through the cunning tactic of lying about what year it is. My VCR is not smart enough to know I’m misleading it
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peas on earth