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http://www.theunionleader.com/

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-- Anita Evangelista (ale@townsqr.com), August 01, 1999

Answers

Shoppers avoiding Y2K rush By SHAWNE K. WICKHAM Sunday News Staff Exactly five months from today, New Hampshire will wake up to find out whether all those predictions of doom collectively summed up as the "Y2K Bug" have come to pass, or were nothing more than a kind of mass paranoia. Plenty of Granite Staters apparently are taking the Y2K threat seriously. Retailers report doing a brisk business this summer in commodities that will become precious as gold should skeptics' worst fears come to pass. Generators, flashlights, batteries, woodstoves, bottled water and ready-to-eat food items are already among some of the hottest-selling items, and most predict sales will pick up even more this fall. Heather Makere, owner of Mickey Finn's Army/Navy in Manchester, is having a special banner made, designating her store as "Y2K Headquarters," to attract customers. "I don't mean to take advantage of people's fears, I guess, but I'd be a fool not to do this, because people are looking for this stuff," she said. Makere already has had numerous customers stocking up, most buying freeze-dried food, flashlights, sleeping bags, even military chemical suits. "It looks like a camouflage jacket and pants, but they are treated on the inside," she explained. "That's what you would wear in case of a gas attack, but these are also really warm and they're cheap, and that's what people are buying them for." Shane Duquette, manager at Abundant Life in Chichester, said woodstove manufacturers report sales this year are up 200 percent "right across the U.S." He said woodstove sales at his store have been "cranking" even during these normally slow summer months. "Usually we're sitting around here twiddling our thumbs, but this year it's been pretty steady." Duquette said Y2K is only part of it; also contributing to it are the violent storms New Hampshire has experienced recently that have left many without power. "I think it's part Y2K and part the weird weather we've been having up here," he said. Whatever the cause, Duquette isn't complaining. "I think this is going to be a good year for the woodstove and wood companies." It's also a super year for anyone selling generators. Several big retailers are selling out stock as quickly as they can get them in. Nault's Honda in Manchester has been selling on average seven generators a week, according to Paul Nault, the son of owner Dick Nault. Like Duquette, Nault believes there's more to the "phenomenal" sales than simply Y2K fears. "It has a lot to do with the storms we've had this summer, the wind storms we've had, the thunderstorms, people losing their power. And I'm sure Y2K has contributed to it," he said. Nault planned ahead in anticipation of Y2K sales, and expects to have plenty of generators for its customers. "I placed my order a year and a half ago," he said. The company will hold a Generator Open House on Oct. 23, and he anticipates a lot of business that day. He's already fielding about 30 calls a day, and has decided to videotape his own home's generator setup to save himself having to explain the same thing over and over to customers. "That's how many people are coming in," he said. Most homeowners want to keep their well pump, heating system, refrigerator and freezer, and other key appliances going in the event of a power outage, Nault said. His company sells Honda generators priced from $1,200 to $2,700, depending on how much power is needed. Using a generator to power a home's electrical circuits isn't as simple as buying one and plugging it in somewhere. Homeowners also will need something called a "transfer switch box," Nault explained, which needs to be installed by a licensed electrician. "That way it won't overload your circuit panel, and won't overload your generator, and most importantly, it won't hurt any linemen that are up there on the pole," he said. Indeed, local power companies want to know about it if any of their customers have generators. Public Service Company of New Hampshire's website (www.psnh.com) has special instructions about safe installation of generators; you can also call PSNH at 634-2312. But Martin Murray, spokesman for PSNH, said the power company is not recommending people purchase generators. "One of our observations, and indeed our concerns, would be that people may do things because of their fear of Y2K that are really unnecessary." "What we are advising customers is that they should treat next New Year's Eve and Y2K as they do any day of the year," he said. And that means being prepared as they would for any New England winter, he said. "We have ice storms, we have snowstorms, or sometimes a vehicle accident that could knock power out. We advise people every storm season it's a smart move to have extra batteries on hand, and a supply of water on hand." "We don't expect any power outages associated with Y2K, but if there are any, we'll be ready to respond to that," Murray said. "We are not advising people to buy generators; we are not buying generators." Stephen F. Tomajczyk of Loudon, author of "101 Ways to Survive the Y2K Crisis," estimated only five to 10 percent of the U.S. population is actually prepared for what may happen. "That leaves about 90 percent of the population that's put it off," he said. "Most of the people I've talked to put it off because it's summertime and they just want to enjoy life. But there are another 200 million people in the country doing the same thing. We're going to be seeing a lot of people doing it in the fall."

By then, he said, there may be shortages of some critical items. Already, he's talked with one New Hampshire firewood dealer who has gotten calls from as far away as Boston  and has begun charging $200 to $250 a cord. Tomajczyk cautions people not to panic about the Y2K bug. Instead, he advises people to follow the federal government's own poorly publicized recommendations for readiness. The key item to have on hand is seven day's worth of food and water, he said. "The easiest way to go about doing that is simply to make up a menu for your family, sitting everyone down and finding out what people's tastes are. The idea is to buy what you are going to eat." That way, if the bug goes bust, you haven't lost anything. "If nothing happens, then one, you're prepared for a natural disaster, or two, have a party, or three, give it away to charity and take a deduction. There are no negative drawbacks," Tomajczyk said. He said now is a good time to shop for sales on items that will keep, canned goods such as ham, tuna and vegetables. Tomajczyk has heard the federal government plans a publicity campaign this fall about preparing for Y2K. "They've been focusing so much on whether or not the computers were ready that they forgot to tell the public to get ready," he said. "Everyone does anticipate problems; they just don't know how serious and how long." His book is filled with practical advice about protecting your house, family, pets, property, investments, finances and supplies. Among his suggestions: Make sure you have adequate supplies of all medications; make sure you have a way to stay warm; get copies of your credit report, financial records, and Social Security earnings and benefits statement; keep credit card receipts; back up all computer data files on disk and make hard copies of crucial accounts. "Y2K isn't necessarily about computers stopping," Tomajczyk said. "It's about their ability to perform correctly, and they may end up spewing out incorrect data about you. You need to have hard copies; they're not just going to take your word for it." Tomajczyk said it's none too early to get prepared for whatever may happen. "For people who start preparing in September, I think they're going to be pretty surprised by how backlogged everything is," he said.

Return to Today's News.

-- FYI (Readit@here.Now), August 01, 1999.

Shoppers avoiding Y2K rush

Shoppers avoiding Y2K rush By SHAWNE K. WICKHAM Sunday News Staff

Exactly five months from today, New Hampshire will wake up to find out whether all those predictions of doom collectively summed up as the "Y2K Bug" have come to pass, or were nothing more than a kind of mass paranoia. Plenty of Granite Staters apparently are taking the Y2K threat seriously. Retailers report doing a brisk business this summer in commodities that will become precious as gold should skeptics' worst fears come to pass.

Generators, flashlights, batteries, woodstoves, bottled water and ready-to-eat food items are already among some of the hottest-selling items, and most predict sales will pick up even more this fall. Heather Makere, owner of Mickey Finn's Army/Navy in Manchester, is having a special banner made, designating her store as "Y2K Headquarters," to attract customers. "I don't mean to take advantage of people's fears, I guess, but I'd be a fool not to do this, because people are looking for this stuff," she said. Makere already has had numerous customers stocking up, most buying freeze-dried food, flashlights, sleeping bags, even military chemical suits.

"It looks like a camouflage jacket and pants, but they are treated on the inside," she explained. "That's what you would wear in case of a gas attack, but these are also really warm and they're cheap, and that's what people are buying them for." Shane Duquette, manager at Abundant Life in Chichester, said woodstove manufacturers report sales this year are up 200 percent "right across the U.S." He said woodstove sales at his store have been "cranking" even during these normally slow summer months. "Usually we're sitting around here twiddling our thumbs, but this year it's been pretty steady."

Duquette said Y2K is only part of it; also contributing to it are the violent storms New Hampshire has experienced recently that have left many without power. "I think it's part Y2K and part the weird weather we've been having up here," he said. Whatever the cause, Duquette isn't complaining. "I think this is going to be a good year for the woodstove and wood companies." It's also a super year for anyone selling generators. Several big retailers are selling out stock as quickly as they can get them in. Nault's Honda in Manchester has been selling on average seven generators a week, according to Paul Nault, the son of owner Dick Nault.

Like Duquette, Nault believes there's more to the "phenomenal" sales than simply Y2K fears. "It has a lot to do with the storms we've had this summer, the wind storms we've had, the thunderstorms, people losing their power. And I'm sure Y2K has contributed to it," he said. Nault planned ahead in anticipation of Y2K sales, and expects to have plenty of generators for its customers. "I placed my order a year and a half ago," he said. The company will hold a Generator Open House on Oct. 23, and he anticipates a lot of business that day. He's already fielding about 30 calls a day, and has decided to videotape his own home's generator setup to save himself having to explain the same thing over and over to customers. "That's how many people are coming in," he said.

Most homeowners want to keep their well pump, heating system, refrigerator and freezer, and other key appliances going in the event of a power outage, Nault said. His company sells Honda generators priced from $1,200 to $2,700, depending on how much power is needed. Using a generator to power a home's electrical circuits isn't as simple as buying one and plugging it in somewhere. Homeowners also will need something called a "transfer switch box," Nault explained, which needs to be installed by a licensed electrician. "That way it won't overload your circuit panel, and won't overload your generator, and most importantly, it won't hurt any linemen that are up there on the pole," he said. Indeed, local power companies want to know about it if any of their customers have generators. Public Service Company of New Hampshire's website (www.psnh.com) has special instructions about safe installation of generators; you can also call PSNH at 634-2312.

But Martin Murray, spokesman for PSNH, said the power company is not recommending people purchase generators. "One of our observations, and indeed our concerns, would be that people may do things because of their fear of Y2K that are really unnecessary." "What we are advising customers is that they should treat next New Year's Eve and Y2K as they do any day of the year," he said. And that means being prepared as they would for any New England winter, he said. "We have ice storms, we have snowstorms, or sometimes a vehicle accident that could knock power out. We advise people every storm season it's a smart move to have extra batteries on hand, and a supply of water on hand."

"We don't expect any power outages associated with Y2K, but if there are any, we'll be ready to respond to that," Murray said. "We are not advising people to buy generators; we are not buying generators." Stephen F. Tomajczyk of Loudon, author of "101 Ways to Survive the Y2K Crisis," estimated only five to 10 percent of the U.S. population is actually prepared for what may happen. "That leaves about 90 percent of the population that's put it off," he said. "Most of the people I've talked to put it off because it's summertime and they just want to enjoy life. But there are another 200 million people in the country doing the same thing. We're going to be seeing a lot of people doing it in the fall." By then, he said, there may be shortages of some critical items. Already, he's talked with one New Hampshire firewood dealer who has gotten calls from as far away as Boston  and has begun charging $200 to $250 a cord.

Tomajczyk cautions people not to panic about the Y2K bug. Instead, he advises people to follow the federal government's own poorly publicized recommendations for readiness. The key item to have on hand is seven day's worth of food and water, he said. "The easiest way to go about doing that is simply to make up a menu for your family, sitting everyone down and finding out what people's tastes are. The idea is to buy what you are going to eat." That way, if the bug goes bust, you haven't lost anything. "If nothing happens, then one, you're prepared for a natural disaster, or two, have a party, or three, give it away to charity and take a deduction. There are no negative drawbacks," Tomajczyk said. He said now is a good time to shop for sales on items that will keep, canned goods such as ham, tuna and vegetables.

Tomajczyk has heard the federal government plans a publicity campaign this fall about preparing for Y2K. "They've been focusing so much on whether or not the computers were ready that they forgot to tell the public to get ready," he said. "Everyone does anticipate problems; they just don't know how serious and how long." His book is filled with practical advice about protecting your house, family, pets, property, investments, finances and supplies. Among his suggestions: Make sure you have adequate supplies of all medications; make sure you have a way to stay warm; get copies of your credit report, financial records, and Social Security earnings and benefits statement; keep credit card receipts; back up all computer data files on disk and make hard copies of crucial accounts.

"Y2K isn't necessarily about computers stopping," Tomajczyk said. "It's about their ability to perform correctly, and they may end up spewing out incorrect data about you. You need to have hard copies; they're not just going to take your word for it." Tomajczyk said it's none too early to get prepared for whatever may happen. "For people who start preparing in September, I think they're going to be pretty surprised by how backlogged everything is," he said.

-- Spring surprise (cutitand pasteit@the wish.ofothers), August 01, 1999.