It appears to me that there are a lot of people out there who are impatiently waiting for a disaster to happen.

When can we call it quits and return to a "normal" life?

-- sick_puppy (puppy@aol.com), January 05, 2000

Answers

Whenever you wish! You hold the key.

That's the great part about living in a big country-you can live pretty much whatever kind of life you want, believe what you want, eat, pray to, speak to (and of) any kind of thing you want.

You just do whatever makes you happy, as long as it doesn't hurt others. We all choose our lives, according to our wants and needs. Decide what yours are, and GO FOR IT!! Don't let anyone here or elsewhere live your life for you.

Good luck. Happy trails.

-- Simpleminded (nope@wont.never), January 05, 2000.

Quite honestly, I think you have a perception problem. I do not see "a lot of people out there who are impatiently waiting for a disaster to happen."

By al means do return to your own normal life as quickly as possible. I never gave up my USUAL life--I don't know quite what you mean by "normal."

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), January 05, 2000.

http://hv.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=001AdE

[snip]

Government's top Y2K expert predicts failures for weeks, months

July 30, 1999
Web posted at: 12:06 PM EDT (1606 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Don't expect the Year 2000 technology problem to disappear after Jan. 1. President Clinton's top Y2K expert said failures could extend well beyond New Year's Day.
 

Although John Koskinen predicts there will be a national "sigh of relief" in the early hours of Jan. 1, he also anticipates scattered electronic failures over the first days, weeks and even months of the new year.

Koskinen, chairman of the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion, said in an interview Thursday with The Associated Press that some failures may not become obvious until the end of January, the first time after the date rollover that consumers review their monthly bank statements, credit-card bills and other financial paperwork.

"It won't evaporate until after that," Koskinen said. "Clearly, this is more than a January 1 problem." But he also slightly hedged his predictions: "None of us are really going to know until after January 1."

Unless repaired, some computers originally programmed to recognize only the last two digits of a year will not work properly beginning in 2000, when those machines will assume it is 1900.

Some computer systems may shut down quickly with obvious failures, and others may gradually experience subtle problems or degraded performance that may take weeks to notice.

"The more difficult problem will be where the system looks like it's doing it correctly but it's doing it all wrong," Koskinen said.

Some failures won't be recognized until the work week starts Monday, Jan. 3, as employees return to their offices and turn on their computers for the first time.

Repaired computers also will need to recognize 2000 as a leap year, even though most years ending in "00" don't need to adjust for Feb. 29, he said.

A new $40 million Information Coordination Center being organized down the street from the White House will operate until March, sharing information about failures with states, federal agencies, corporations and foreign governments.

[snip]

-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), January 05, 2000.

That's funny -- it appears to me that there are a lot of people out there who in midstream are impatiently declaring no Y2K-related disaster will ever happen. Personally I don't think we'll see a disaster, but how could I possibly come out and declare this as an absolute or near-absolute at this juncture?

But, you know what? They never seem able or willing to give a reason for their "ex cathedra" positions. It just seems to be a feeling they have. I've personally asked about their positions on the supply chain issue on several different threads and I either get no response or a sarcastic brushoff. I guess they don't even seem to understand or care that they just lose credibility this way.

-- eve (123@4567.com), January 05, 2000.

We should all be relieved that our infrastructure held up and that we have experienced no major problems. I was watching a newscast last night and they were interviewing a lady whose neighborhood had been devastated by the recent tornadoes. She said she was very upbeat because she had been preparing for Y2k and so had plenty of water, food, etc. to help get them through this disaster.

And, thats as it should be. People should be prepared for any contingency. To tell you the truth, I fear the economic consequences of downsizing, rightsizing, and unemployment almost as much as I feared Y2k.

-- Teague Harper (tharper@cyberhighway.net), January 05, 2000.