I've experienced a y2k glitch at work today. The Statements were totally out of balance. This is true, it actually happened. Here's a copy of the letter I sent out to my boss. Fortunately, she has a good sense of humor. ======================================================================

Person#1 has many changes he wants with the other project Im working on. Therefore, I looked into the customer statement problem because I didnt think it would take me too long, especially starting it first thing in the morning.

I determined what the problem was with the customer statements. But Im not happy with my findings. I originally thought I had a problem with the Omit Credits routine that I did for Person#2. This was the change I made 2 months ago.

As it turned out, that wasnt the problem at all, it was y2k related, but dont say it. We dont want to look like crackpots. I used the wrong cutoff date in the code. I needed to use y2k-cutoff-date (which has 500000 added to it) rather than cutoff-date (which looks normal for printing purposes). I would suspect that weve had this problem all along, ever since I did y2k work on the program. It looks like this occurs only when the credits are being tied to debits on the same line. So this would explain why the credits were missing. The cutoff date was less than the date in the system and they werent being picked up.

However, Im afraid to tell anyone, because I may look like a militia crackpot or a doom and gloomer if I state that this is the problem. I dont want federal agents storming my house and I certainly dont care to spend the rest of my life in a straight jacket. Besides, this y2k thing was just a matter of personal opinion from the get go. Yes, I really believe it now and this was just a hoax to make money. Originally, I thought there was actually something to this y2k thing. But, when Jan 1st came and went and the reporters stated that this was a non-event, I knew I was wrong. I mean these guys know more about programming than I do. Therefore, I would actually feel silly if I fixed this and I certainly feel stupid spending 3 hours on a non-eventful problem. Why didnt Person#2 tell us that this was y2k related? I wouldnt have even bothered looking into this.

I dont see any real reason to fix this since y2k is over. It is over because every PC professional Ive talked to has told me so. It was a non-event and really a non-issue from the beginning. If it is a non-event for everybody else, then it should be for me also. So the next time the totals dont match up on the customer statements, lets just say its y2k and tell that person to quit being a militia crackpot. Y2k is over for cripe sakes. Lets get out of that bunker mentality and get on with doing some real work. I think this is only fair dont you?

-- Larry (cobol.programmer@usa.net), January 12, 2000

Answers

Larry, I've got to hand it to you. This is the best laugh I've had in years.

-- Marie (pray4peace@compuserve.com), January 12, 2000.

Methinks your boss has a better sense of humor than any I've ever worked with...

-- I'm Here, I'm There (I'm Everywhere@so.beware), January 12, 2000.

So the next time the totals dont match up on the customer statements, lets just say its y2k and tell that person to quit being a militia crackpot

ROFL! Any clue as to what industry this is (or isn't, given that nothing, in fact, has happened here)?

-- (RUOK@yesiam.com), January 12, 2000.

Fortunately, SHE has a good sense of humor.....sez it all.....

-- consumer (shh@aol.com), January 12, 2000.

I would suspect that weve had this problem all along, ever since I did y2k work on the program.

Correction to the statement. This was a bug that was waiting to blow after 2000. The reason we didn't have a problem before is because 991231 (user end date) is greater than 490601 (database date), therefore the records were being picked up. Now that a user end date being used becomes 000106, the date 490601 will not be picked up because it is greater than 000106.

This is a case of a glitch sitting in the code, but not being activated until the program runs after the rollover.

I'm glad everybody else thinks y2k was a non-event. It never was for me.

This happened in an advertising agency.

-- Larry (cobol.programmer@usa.net), January 12, 2000.

Absolutely right Larry - The majority, the media and the government have spoken. Y2K never happened. As a distinct minority, we have no right to dispute that claim.

-- Guy Daley (guydaley@bwn.net), January 12, 2000.