On This Day Pre-Y2K
Confused by any of the jargon you see below? Check the Y2K Glossary!
January 2, 2000 Permalink
On New years day I marveled at the obivious lack of disaster,My stomach was turning and my first thoughts were how will I face all those who I had harangued with my personal y2k messages for 3 years, First the telephone calls started and suprise, the calls were from those friends I had e-mailed literally thousands of pages of information and other than my brother,NONE were to ridicule. Breathing a great sigh of relief I then went to bed and slept the best dreamless sleep I’d had in over three years. When awakeing I felt like a convict who had just recieved a pardon from death row. So I began a personal inventory of what I’d accomplished with my preps, I have had two successful organic gardens. I have met so many savy people who showed their concern for their neighbors. I have learned animal husbandry, I have recieved at least A PHD in system analysis, I understand the interactions of business,industry,and banking and the strengths and fragility of our IT systems. I have made personal changes in philosophy,realizing that family and neighborhood are the abiding strengths of our society. As a non investor I have studied the market and could now partipicate with out fear. I have refreshed my emergency medical knowledge and emergency medical kit, I installed a solar electric system that has cut my electrial bill by 60%. I have studied Ham radio and will soon take the test. I have renewed my interest in National Sovereignty in the face of assaults of Internationalists (unelected). I have become an information junkie and feel better informed than at anytime in my life.I have read many books on various subjects. I have spent 2,000 dollars on non perishables and have a wonderful emergency store for at least the next 5 years(come war,famine plague,or pestilance)we are prepped. My nightly bible reading has assured me that I will not fall for the Revelationist paranoias---FOR NO MAN KNOWS THE TIME OR PLACE! I have enjoyed the extra time spent with family and friends. And most of all I thank all the participants of this forum for the computer education and enlightening inputs both pro and con!As for the folks who were so sure that all would be OK , at least to Feb. I am sure their lives have changed very little, fear is a Great teacher, and for this wild ride I am most thankful. I can face the new century with optimism and hope and with confidence that I am personally ready for most anything----Can our pollie friends say as much?
—merek, Time Bomb 2000 Forums (LUSENET), 01/02/00
I don’t think Koskinen will have much trouble defending the money that was actually spent on remediation; he can find more than enough IT managers who will eloquently describe what horrors would have occurred if they had NOT spent the money.
Perhaps he (and Clinton et al) will be criticized for having spent $50 for a high-tech bunker to monitor the situation -- but this is relatively small potatoes compared to other political expenditures.
From the various comments you can see on this forum, it appears that the most sensitive issue is that of PERSONAL preparations. Even people who were genuinely concerned about Y2K are somewhat prone to say “Gee, maybe I should not have ‘wasted’ my money buying those cans of tuna fish.” (That’s the mild version -- you should see some of the email I’m getting!!).
So, if Koskinen had recommended that people study the Y2K problem and consider stocking up for two weeks, or a month, or three months -- as several Y2K activists were recommending -- THEN he would have been in trouble. And of course, it was just that political risk that he and the other gov’t leaders were concerned about all along. Mind you, I still think it’s possible for the Y2K situation to deteriorate to the point where some of us WILL be eating our spam and tuna fish sometime later this year -- but by then, no one will blame Koskinen for having failed to recommend stronger preparations.
What a strange world we live in...
—Ed Yourdon, Time Bomb 2000 Forums (LUSENET), 01/02/00
