Liberty Bible Church will be hosting a panel discussion with questions and answers concerning the Y2K issue. This will be open to the public and is FREE. Representatives from the American Red Cross (cosponsor), Porter County Emergency Managment Agency (cosponsor), NIPSCO (gas & electric co.), GTE, First National Bank, and the Valparaiso, IN. Department of Water will be participating. Invite your friends to come with you on Tuesday, June 29, at 7:00pm. The representatives will provide information on the possible consequences that may result from Y2K failures, and offer advice on personal contingency planning in the event of disruption. Please call Liberty Bible Church, (219) 962-3038, to register for this evening. The address is: 824 N. Calumet Ave. Chesterton, Indiana. 46304

Good Morning to all, Being a night shift worker, I will be heading off to bed shortly after this is posted. In the process I will inadvertently wake up my wife who will remind me once again that I can't use her good metal colander, only the plastic one. (She says some damn strange things sometimes when she gets woke up). A note to Jackie Joy, the house mouse. The plastic ones work OK if you rub them with fur to get them charged up a bit first. All kidding aside... My wife and I will be attending the panel discussion listed above. If anyone here would care to suggest some poignant questions to be raised to the panelists, they would be greatly appriciated. All reasonable questions will be used... time permitting. If things get dull I'll throw out some of the less reasonable ones too. Needing more time and money to prepare, John F.

-- John F. (tinfoil hat @nd colanders.com), June 29, 1999

Answers

SP. Appreciated

-- John F. (tinfoil hat @nd colanders.com), June 29, 1999.

John,

LOL about the tinfoil hat. My wife has tupperware colanders also and forbids me to wear them. A few suggestions about questions to ask, primarily to NIPSCO. What amount of coal reserves have they stockpiled in case of rail road disruptions? Is their testing, not remediation, of code complete? Have embedded systems in natural gas pipelines been checked and tested? What contingency plans have been made in the event of a power grid failure. Can (and will) NIPSOC isolate itself from the power grid if necessary? Are brownouts to be expected? (Brownouts cause nasty problems with furnace and compressor motors) Can NIPSCO guarantee no disruptions? Have they established alternate forms of communications should the phone system have problems?

I have heard that NIPSOC began repairs in 1996 and is way ahead of most utilities, as the massive industry in NW Indiana requires lots and lots of power. A crash of power here means the huge BP-AMOCO refinery in Whiting is in dire straights also. If power is limited, will it be directed to critical industry and will the suburbs or outskirts be in the dark?

Just a few thoughts. Thanks for the post. Good luck and God bless.

-- trafficjam (judgementday@ahead.soon), June 29, 1999.

To traffic jam,

Thanks for the input. I'll try to post a brief summary of this evenings event.

John F.

-- John F. (tinfoil hat @nd colanders.com), June 29, 1999.