Has anyone else out there seen the January 22, 1999, Kiplinger letter on Y2K? It's a laugh a second!

Here are some of the more memorable quotes from these astute watchers of the business world. I'll start with their intro:

Don't fall for gloom & doom talk about year-2000 computer bugs. Sure, there'll be some foul-ups and disruptions a year from now. But not widespread chaos, threatening to paralyze our economy and throw business for a loop. Take such stories with a grain of salt.

But wait, it gets much better!

Financial-service firms will be OK, including banks of all sizes... You'll have no problem getting loans or cash or checking your balance....

Now let's see how the Fortune 500 companies are doing, according to Kiplinger:

Big corporations are on the ball... Their concern is whether business partners and suppliers will be ready.

Moving on to the country's infrastructure:

Same for utilities and transportation industries... Scattered problems...no massive breakdowns, meltdowns, doomsday scenario.

For all of you that are worried about embedded chips, breath easier; Kiplinger says they're no problem at all:

Concern over "embedded chips" is overblown... Fact is, VERY few are vulnerable...

Being based in Washington, Kiplinger must have some inside information on the status of the government, don't you think?

Federal gov't is finally getting its act together...IRS, VA, Social Security Adm. and Small Business Adm. have their ducks in a row. Pentagon, Energy, Justice and Health and Human Services are behind schedule, but will catch up by this fall....

Now, that they've established that the U.S. won't have any serious problems, let's take a quick look around the world:

The worst Y2K headaches will be overseas. Everywhere from Russia to Latin America, businesses and gov'ts are less prepared than in the U.S. So you can look for some problems in foreign trade and transportation.

There you have it folks... We can all stop preparing and get back to our lives... The geniuses at Kiplinger's have officially pooh-poohed Y2K as a non-event (well, except for maybe that foreign trade thing... we don't trade that much with foreign countries anyway... do we???).

For those of you who are impressed by their visionary prognostication abilities, you can get The Kiplinger Washington Letter every week for the low, low price of $76/year (for Pollyannas, there's a special 3-year subscription for only $198!!!). Just send your subscription requests to: sub.services@kiplinger.com

-- WHEW! (morons@kiplinger.com), January 26, 1999

Answers

Pretty expensive toilet paper!!!

-- Charmin (Phew@kiplinger.com), January 26, 1999.

Thanks for the post. Another example of people who want to do the thinking for you....for only $76/year? What a bargain!

Mine is free... Anyone who claims to know for CERTAIN what will happen is either a fool, a liar, a psychic, or mentally unstable.

-- pay me later (thinking@foryou.com), January 27, 1999.

I don't understand the 3 day preparedness thing.. Most people already have three days worth of food in their fridge. This is an empty statement. Why not three months? It's not like it costs very much to do this..

Bryce

-- Bryce (bryce@seanet.com), July 10, 1999.

Bryce:

You'd be very surprised to learn how many folks don't have 3 days worth of non-perishable food in their homes. My oldest daughter is a prime example. I'm another. She doesn't buy food because her roommates eat it all. I don't, because I never know what I might have a taste for until the time draws near, and much of the food I buy in advance goes to waste.

This oldest daughter is now moving back with me, taking a part-time job and attending the college nearby. She's been moving her things over slowly each day. The first day she became hungry and asked if I had anything to eat. I said, "I can make you a hamburger." Oops! The hamburger meat didn't look so good anymore, so I tossed it. I then pointed out the pantry where the Y2k food was stored. I told her she could eat anything she chose as long as she left the package on the counter so I could replace the item. She chose a Dinty Moore Lasagna entree. I updated my database with the loss. Day 2: She was hungry again. She chose a Campbell's Chunky vegetable soup, which I ALSO took off the database.

My room-mate rarely buys food, but his daughter (who also lives here) does. She's into something else than I am, so the one refrigerator with freezer typically contains all HER stuff. I doubt that even she has enough for 3 days of balanced meals.

If the electricity goes out, the rule is to eat whatever is in the refrigerator compartment first, whatever is in the freezer second, and then move on to the non-perishables. Do you know how many folks out there might find their refrigerator food green or black?

I'm, personally, getting more and more sold on the foods that require NO refrigeration or freezing. I'm not a cook, and I don't like rice and beans, but spaghetti sauce and spaghetti noodles work. Tuna and tuna helper works. Chicken and chicken helper works. Suddenly Salad certainly works, and all these things are FAR less fattening than the stuff my room-mate's daughter cooks....most of which require refrigeration.

Just a few thoughts on that one.

-- Anita (spoonera@msn.com), July 10, 1999.

What is Suddenly Salad ?

-- biker (y2kbiker@worldnet.att.net), July 10, 1999.

Biker:

I'm not surprised that you haven't heard of Suddenly Salad. I was tempted to respond to your recent inquiry regarding tuna recipes or something, but I've learned that for the culinary illiterate (like myself), Tuna Helper does the job.

Suddenly Salad is a non-perishable food item that consists typically of a pasta form with herbs/spices included in the box. We eat it ALL the time. It's quite good, and comes in many flavors. I'll attempt to paste a few items from my stash here for your review. SOME require mayonnaise, and you can include canned tuna, chicken, turkey, etc. to make an entire meal out of it.

Category Product Date Quantity UnitPrice Notes Sauce/Dressing Suddenly Salad 2/1/99 2 $1.99 Caesar Sauce/Dressing Suddenly Salad 2/1/99 2 $1.99 Ranch & Bacon Sauce/Dressing Suddenly Salad 2/1/99 2 $1.99 Classic Sauce/Dressing Suddenly Salad 4/1/99 1 $1.69 Roasted Garlic Parmesan Sauce/Dressing Suddenly Salad 4/1/99 2 $1.99 Roasted Garlic Parmesan Sauce/Dressing Suddenly Salad 4/1/99 1 $1.69 Caesar

I'm sure things won't line up correctly, but you should get the message.

-- Anita (spoonera@msn.com), July 10, 1999.

Not to worry...according to Kiplinger, you won't even need 3 days of food. Sheesh.

-- RUOK (RUOK@yesiam.com), July 10, 1999.