My husband and I just got back from a cruise put on by singer Delbert McClinton. (Part of my Y2K strategy is eat, drink, and be merry.) Delbert announced that next years cruise will begin on January 2. I knew for sure that I wouldnt be signing up, but I wasnt going to mention Y2K to the other passengers. Much to our surprise, several people mentioned the bad choice of dates. They were vaguely aware that January 2 might not be a good time, since we wouldnt yet know for sure if that computer thing was going to be a problem. At that point my husband and I were more than happy to ruin their happy cruise experience with scary Y2K information. No one was openly contemptuous, and some were quite interested. One woman who had already signed up was very interested in what we had to say, and I told her that I didnt think the cruise would put her in any danger, since it simply wouldnt take place. All of those people flying to the Houston port on January 1 or 2 Aint gonna happen.

Ive read that many people hope to be cruising as the new year begins, in spite of fantastic price increases for millennium cruises. I can hardly think of a place Id rather NOT be than on a big ship in the middle of the ocean. Our ship ran out of fresh water and we had to drink desalinated seawater. Yuck. I wonder if the desalination equipment is dependent on non-compliant computer chips.

-- Pearlie Sweetcake (storestuff@home.now), January 17, 1999

Answers

Hi Pearlie Sweetcake,

How you like this Indiana weather lately. Been awhile since I seen you in here. Good to see you back.

Mike

-- flierdude (mkessler0101@sprynet.com), January 17, 1999.

Pearlie,

>I wonder if the desalination equipment is dependent on non-compliant computer chips.

I can't answer that, but I wish to point out that if there are Y2k-related failures in desalination equipment, the consequences might not be limited to thirsty ship passengers.

On the Westergaard Year 2000 site is a letter at http://www.y2ktimebomb.com/Special/Opinion/Readers/asumu9824.htm -- Westergaard Year 2000 Article Draws Attention: Adachi Susumu responds to Sunil Madhok's piece on Y2K and the United Arab Emirates. Perhaps you've already seen it -- it was published seven months ago. If not, let me quote the first paragraph [with my emphasis in bold]:

This lengthy letter is intended to remind my friends who are living in the oil producing countries on the Arabian Gulf of the fact that your life depends wholly on fresh water generated from the seawater desalination (or desalting) plants. In view of the Year 2000 Problems, desalination plants seem to be vulnerable to the Y2K threat because of their heavy reliance on computer and embedded systems. Once these plants malfunction, the effect is fatal or apocalyptic. It also means that all the people in the world whose life depends on the oil from the Gulf countries are being threatened by the functionality of the desalination plants there beyond Year 2000.

-- No Spam Please (anon@ymous.com), January 18, 1999.

Thanks No Spam - having worked in Saudi Arabia for 3 years I can attest to that - no oil will hit the US (and the rest of the world) for six.

Andy

Two digits. One mechanism. The smallest mistake.

"The conveniences and comforts of humanity in general will be linked up by one mechanism, which will produce comforts and conveniences beyond human imagination. But the smallest mistake will bring the whole mechanism to a certain collapse. In this way the end of the world will be brought about."

Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan, 1922 (Sufi Prophet)

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), January 18, 1999.