On This Day Pre-Y2K
Confused by any of the jargon you see below? Check the Y2K Glossary!
March 26, 1999 Permalink
Ran into a proprietor of an antique store that I’d shopped at few years ago at a different location than where she now had a store. I had to wait for her for about 30 minutes to speak to her while she was on the phone to her credit card/bank/line of credit company (don’t know which one). She was quite upset when she finally got off the phone after talking to one level of bureaucracy between long holds to another level.
When she got off the phone she exclaimed, “Computers!!”
Seems that she had paid off an upper 5 digit account which she had verified earlier that day that she now had that money available for credit. But now a couple of hours later it seems that the funds were not available to her. Could be a greed of the company/bank or just a snafu.
I just said, “You might not have to worry about computers after the year 2000..”
She flashed her eyes at me and said rather abruptly, “What do you mean?”
“Oh, you know, Y2k”
She intently said, “So, what are you supposed to do?”
Instead of murmuring small talk and blowing it off (like I will from now on), I told her she might consider getting some land or something.
Angrily she said, “We’re not going back! We can’t live without computers. We just can’t leave.”
The woman is quite well off and could prepare quite nicely...probably nicer than I can. She just doesn’t want to be inconvenienced.
I just said, ok, commiserated with her on her difficulties with her finances and left. Of course, as I was leaving one of her employees stopped me to ask more about “this Y2K business”.
It’s going to be a hard fall for some...or should I say many?
—Texan, Time Bomb 2000 Forums (LUSENET), 03/26/99
There remain so many questions that are still unanswered and will remain so. Certainly, we want to know as much as we can regarding Y2K, including that which we won’t be able to know until events play out. It occurs to me though that regardless of this, we do know that we need to prepare to our maximum possible extent, for as many potential problems as we reasonably can. The goal here is working towards being as self-sufficient as possible.
There is a difference between need and want. I am suggesting that while we may want to know and understand many more things about Y2K and its impact, we need to know two basic things: That we should prepare to the maximum extent possible, and that we keep current on what is happening. Preparation is based on our abilities to prepare as well as our expectations of what the potential problems are. The reason I feel that keeping current is also a “need to”, as opposed to a “want to”, is so we can revise our expectations and possibly even our preparation priorities as we learn more. This froum is one of many great resources to help you keep up with Y2K, and learn specifics for how to prepare and what to prepare for.
I post this because it is so easy to burn out on Y2K. Remember that there is this difference between need and want, and most Y2K aware folks are fortunate since they are taking care of “need to’s”. To me this is of some comfort. No matter how frustrated we may sometimes get over what we want to understand, what we need to understand, as described above, we already do. Is this an oversimplification? Yes, it is. My intent here is to just point out the difference between what it is we need, and what it is we want, in the hopes that some will read this and take heart because they are taking care of what needs to be done, to whatever extent they can.
Sometimes we forget this and drive ourselves crazy. Need versus want: Prepare to the max that you can and stay tuned. That is what we need to know, that is what we need to do.
—Rob Michaels, Time Bomb 2000 Forums (LUSENET), 03/26/99
Been going to my local Walmart in Charlotte, NC for some time now. I usually pick up a bottle of lamp oil when I’m there, so I pretty much know what the usual stock looks like. Usually they have around 10-20 lamps and slightly more oil.
Today, I wnt backto get 2 more lamps. The spot where they normally are was jammed with them and lined up along the top as well. I turned the corner and there was another huge pallet along with a pallet of oil prominantly facing the center aisle. I was VERY surprised.
When I was checking out, I happened to look at the wall at the front of the store that normally displays charcoal, and big stock items. There, on the wall, were approximately 150 - 200 more oil lamps and oil.
This store has gone from stocking around 20 lamps to around 300+ in the last month. The price has also risen from 5.97 to 6.97 in that same time frame.
What gives? Are people here starting to take note?
—Roland, Time Bomb 2000 Forums (LUSENET), 03/26/99
