The Herd is getting nervous.....

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Two interesting events for me today. First, the Philadelphia Inquirer ran a long front page story on Y2K legal issues at: http://www.phillynews.com/inquirer/98/Oct/12/front_page/COMP12.htm First serious story from a paper known for its investigative reporting. It seems the city government has been quietly stockpiling stuff including generators!!

Second interesting event out of the blue was a conversation with a nurse. The following is a reasonable reconstruction of the conversation. ======================== "Dr H, I know you know a lot about computers and I wanted to ask you a question". Sure, ask away.

" Well my mother is terribly upset about this Year 2000 stuff. She saw some news program that said she could lose her savings account in the bank!"

Hmm, what news program told her that?

"I'm not sure. I think it was Peter Jenning's. Anyway, what do you think about all this and what should I tell my mom? She wants to get all her money out and put it under her bed!!"

Well, putting thousands of dollars under a bed has a lot of risks. Has she talked to anyone at the bank?

"Yes, she called several people and they said they were 'working on it' but couldn't tell her definitely about anything. Do you know much about Year 2000 things?"

I guess its reasonable to say I know a lot about the issues involved. In fact, I did some consulting for ***** bank several years ago when they installed the ATM's. Look, try to keep your mom from keeping that much cash in the house. In Philadelphia, anything could happen. If she is really worried, then convert the savings account to US treasury savings bonds and keep them locked up in a safe. Or consider putting some of the money into gold bullion. But you have to lock it up! However, I do think having one month's worth of cash in Dec 99 is a good idea because the banks may well have some problems.

"You sound like you are worried too.."

Lets just say I expect some serious problems. How bad is anyones guess, but no major bank is ready yet for Year 2000. I'm sure you are going to hear more and more stories as the time gets closer. You know, the electric utilities also have problems. You might want to consider how you will heat your house in January if (God forbid) the power goes off for a few days.

"Oh, my husband already thought of that and we're getting something for our fireplace. I guess I could bring my mom over if necessary". ================================================================

I think the Herd is starting to move ever so slowwwwly. Never been in a stampede before.

-- R. D..Herring (drherr@erols.com), October 12, 1998

Answers

I like being a cowboy, instead of a cow. Head for higher ground.

-- Bill (bill@microsoft.com), October 13, 1998.

My mother-in-law, the biggest sheep of the herd, told me she was going to start storing water. This after a year of "they will fix it." Her AARP newsletter convinced her. The more the mainstream media gets ahold of this story, the faster the supplies will disappear.

-- Dave (dave22@concentric.net), October 13, 1998.

Not sure about the herd getting nervous, but they ARE getting laid off. That makes ME nervous:

http://www.msnbc.com/news/204684.asp

-- Gayla Dunbar (privacy@please.com), October 13, 1998.


The panic will come; there's no way to stop it. All we can do is get out of the way. In a way, it doesn't matter whether Y2K is really bad or not. If enough people think it's gonna be bad, that'll take the banks down, and if the banks go down, a lot more will follow.

When the American people watch the evening news and see people standing in long lines at their banks in Asia, then in Eastern Europe, then in Western Europe and in South America

-- cody varian (cody@y2ksurvive.com), October 14, 1998.


The panic will come; there's no way to stop it. All we can do is get out of the way. In a way, it doesn't matter whether Y2K is really bad or not. If enough people think it's gonna be bad, that'll take the banks down, and if the banks go down, a lot more will follow.

When the American people watch the evening news and see people standing in long lines at their banks, fighting with each other, in Asia, then in Eastern Europe, then in Western Europe and South America, they'll be down at their bank the next morning. And when this happens, the fractional reserve banking system will fall. then in Western Europe and in South America

-- cody varian (cody@y2ksurvive.com), October 14, 1998.



Yep, and when people lose confidence and start running the banks, they will start running the grocery stores. It could get real ugly!

-- Dave (dave22@concentric.net), October 15, 1998.

YOU GO GAYLA....right on. Hubby just got first check since hours have been cut, anyone know how to plan on $198.00 bring home per week for family of 5????????? MORE LAYOFFS TO FOLLOW and yes it will get ugly.

-- carrie (private@aol.com), October 15, 1998.

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