I hear the idea of technology/modern civilization being put to rest because of y2k for an undertermined time. And then on other sites (and this one) I see people ripping that idea to shreds because hey, technology will overcome, throw enough money at the problem it will go away, and so forth.

I want to counter that thinking with a personal experience I had today. I live in a large (3million+) southern city and we have this hellish nightmare called the "perimeter". Thats the road the circumnavigates the city and there is no rush hour. There is just one hour late at night that the roads aren't packed. Well today on my way home I was on this perimeter and the traffic was dead! No movement at all. I find out from the local radio that the cause for this ten thousand car blockage is a ladder in the road. One single solitary ladder! It was blocking two lanes and creating a bottleneck for everyone. But you know what? No one stopped to move it!! The entire situation could have been avoided if someone had just gotten out of their car and moved the #@!#%$ ladder!

But no, such a complex problem needed to be solved by the DOT and it took them 45 min. to get there. Meanwhile people are honking the horn and looking misrable/irritated.

The technology machine is so susceptible to monkey wrenches it is sickening! I'm not under the impression thay technology will die with Y2K. But I bet that it will get mighty sick for a while. It's like right now the machine is just some big juggernaut rolling over America sucking up everything from Silicon valley to the forests of Maine. Nothing can stop it. Nothing that is, except a ladder in the road.

If anyone ever watched the movie "The Devil's Advocate" you can understand how I was reminded of Pacino's monologue at the end...

"We have a billion eddie barzools all jogging into the future".

Or how about the cute little bumper sticker you might have seen:

"Earth First, we'll strip mine the other planets later"

How many times a day do you see something so ironic about technology that you just shake your head as if to ask "why God??". I myself do it at least a dozen times a day.

I guess I've vented enough for one day. I'm beginning to feel like Michael Douglass in "Falling Down" (I'm going home!!)

Like Murphy's law says... "Smile...tomorrow will be worse".

Any thoughts?

-- (Anon@mousy.com), February 24, 1999

Answers

Yup. These are the same people who call 911 and GET an ambulance for a case of poison ivy. The same who call 911 during a severe storm and complain that their cable is off and they have to have it back on again. Who call at the busiest time and demand that an abandoned car be towed away--and it's been there three weeks. Who call at 11 p.m. on a Saturday and say they've had a headache for two days and need to go to the emergency room now. And the same people who won't move over, even with an empty lane on the right, for an emergency vehicle with lights, siren and air horn at full pitch. All of these incidents can happen, and HAVE happened, during the course of one night. Last night I heard an officer dispatched on a call from a drunken husband whose wife wouldn't leave him alone. . . Your tax dollars at work, folks. And people wonder why I'm so pessimistic about the state of this city if Y2K is really bad.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), February 24, 1999.

YES!!!!DiETER Has ONE THOuGHT!!!!!! DIEtER DOEs NOT BelieVE YOU!!!!! WHY????? HUH???? WHY???? HUH???? ?YES?? !!!!! dIETER WoULD Not sIT FOR 45 MINuTES lOOkING AT A laDDer 10 FEeT IN FROnt OF DIeTERs TRICyCLe, IS THiS NoT TRUe?????? woUld nOt dietEr GET OFF oF DIeTER'S RIdE ANd MOVe THis COnTRAPtION???? JacKAL!!!! HELLo???? WhAT TYpE OF THrEE ToED SLOTh WOuLD WAiT FOr SUCH A TiME????? 45 MiNutES???? FALSE!!!! FALSE I Say!!!!! GO BacK To SLeeP!!!! HUH????

-- Dieter (questions@toask.com), February 24, 1999.

Dieter your about as sharp as a hammer

I said, I heard on the radio what wss blocking the road, & while I sat a mile south of the congestion for 45 minutes I saw the DOT Highway Emergancy Rescue Operation truck go by. A little while later the traffic started moving.

If you ever got the chance to drive anything more than a tricycle then you'd know what I was talking about.

-- (Anon@mousy.com), February 24, 1999.

HEAR DiETER jAckass, HERE Him noW!!!!!!!!!

"But you know what? No one stopped to move it!! The entire situation could have been avoided if someone had just gotten out of their car and moved the #@!#%$ ladder!"

hOw caN DIEtER BELiEVE SuCH FOOLISHNESS????? cAN yoU misS DIETeRS POINT BY a wIder maRGIN????? yES??? shaRp??? no??? AMOeBA???? hoW CAN SUCH FOOLISHNesss eXisT???? dIeTER CAN't LIve IF tHIS IS trUe????? ENOuGH Now!!!! DIeTETR DOeS NOT HATe yOu, JACkAL!!!! DiETER WEeps FOR A fOoLISH WorlD GoNE MAd!!!!!! MAd!!!!

DIeTER StILL DOeS NoT BeLIeVE IT!!!!

-- Dieter (questions@toask.com), February 24, 1999.

Dieter you totally missed the point. You don't beleive me? I don't care. I'm through trying to get anything else through your thick skull. Have fun wasting other people's time with your self indulgence.

-- (Anon@mousy.com), February 24, 1999.

Dieter the Meater Beater:
Concentrate on your typing instead of your tool and you might get the caps/l.c. right.

-- a (A@AisA.com), February 24, 1999.

NOTICE!!!! HeAR Ye!!!! hEAr yE!!!! IF YOU JACkASSES ARE SO DULL AS are tHOSE Who WOuLD SiT ANd stARE SLACk jaWed AT A LaDDer fOR 45 MINuTes, HOW CAn diEtER Help yOU???? dIeTER CANNoT!!!!! DUH, WHy AIn'T THat alUMiNuM MOVInG?????

DUUUUUUH, Gee TENNessEE, WHy aIN"T THAt LAddER WALkING AwAY??????

"SIT TiGHT STAnLEY, THE AUTHoRiTiES WILL Take caRE OF IT!!!!"

AND tO YoU MR "Anon@MoUsY" YOU!!!! YeS I SAy yoU!!!!! IS It NOT trUE That YOU ARE THE iNfIDEL wHO ASked FOr inPuT?????? DID YOU NOT????? DID YOU NOT ASK FOR COMMenTs??????????????? THoUGHTS????? CRItIquE????? WHAT DO YoU THiNK?????? HElP ME out HERE??????

QUESTION!!!!!! HOw CAN a fooOLISH HYeNA BE UpSET???? dIeTER WIll TELL You!!!! A DuLL INchWOrM GOOfBaLL WiLL BE UPSeT WHeN HE DOeS NOT GET THE ANSWER HE WiSHeS!!!!! WHY????? BECaUSE HE IS SO duLL THaT HE will TaKE IT PERSONALLY!!!!!!! NEXT paraGrAPH!!!

FORGiVE DIEtER IF DiETER WAS nOt CoMPLETEly clEAr, CAn you?????? WiLL YoU BE ABle to see PASt DiETERS RAnTING????? CAN YoU SEE PAST THE FOAMing Of DIeTERS SPIT???? GooD NiGHt!!!! DIeTER IS Not ovERly NAStY, IS tHAT NOT TRue????? NO??? OK!!!!

HOw stranGE IT IS TO StARE AT A LAddER WHilE "DA DO RUN RUN" PLayS INTO YouR MIND ON the raDio?????? THeN "YMCA"?????? ThEN "RE- UNiTeD"???? AFTrE 14 MINuTES DOEs not oNe GeTT ANTsY???? THeN "PInA COLadA" FoLLowED BY "PhySICaL"????

wOuLD YOU SIT tiGHt ANd wait FOr SOMeoNe eLSE TO MOVE THAT STINKING LAddER???????

NO?/??

tHeN whY DO YOu BLamE DIEtER FOR NOt belIEvIng it eiTHer????

-- Dieter (questions@toask.com), February 24, 1999.

hey!

For the last time I'll try and help you understnad... but I think your just too damn ASSuming to be any good to anybody.

People didn't sit there and watch the frigging ladder you dolt! They cut people off and went around it. But on a typical day in this city there are ten thousand cars passing any given point every hour. So when you block two out of four lanes you have a backup that goes on for miles. It's very easy to sit there for half an hour while people try to figure the best way around an obstical. Think about how a bottleneck works and you'll realize how trafic jams happen. And then multiply the fact that people are too lazy to move the obstical but instead go around it and then you might have an idea of what I'm trying to say to you ! Today is was a ladder, tomorrow it will be a matress or God knows what. I can't even believe I'm trying to explain this too you since your obviously too damn dense to understand anything that's coherent.

Damnit Dieter have you nothing better to do than make yourself look more foolish than you already have?

-- (Anon@mousy.com), February 24, 1999.

NO!!! OF COursE NoT!!!!! WHY???? DOeS IT BOtHeR YoU???? IT DOeS NOT BOtheR DIEtRE!!!! DIEtERE IS IMMUNe fRom aLL feElINGS HUMaN, CAn thaT BE SO?????

-- Dieter (questions@toask.com), February 24, 1999.

SOrrY, to faSt to SUBMiT!!!!! BEAVERS, dIetEr's AfeAREd OF BEAVERS!!!!!

DIeTER Has THE SCars on DIeteRS SHinS TO PrOOVE WhY THis feAR IS REAl!!!!!!

-- Dieter (questions@toask.com), February 24, 1999.

And dieter rips off another perfectly good thread.

Asshole.

-- fatso (and@proud of.it), February 24, 1999.

Hey Lard Butt! Give Dieter a break. The thread SAYS it is a place for wasting space, so what's the problem??? Just look at the title.

-- alskfjd (;slfsdfj@a;slkj.alskj), February 24, 1999.

What is the problem? The original poster made it sound like traffic was waiting for the ladder to be moved. Dieter jumped on that. You are both to blame for this nonsense.

Shut up and move on.

-- Freddie (not@this.time), February 24, 1999.

well one thing is obvious, ladders are trouble, pure and simple. On the road and online.

Damnit I wish the point of thread hadn't been so grossly neglected. And of course, it was that people just don't realize how little it takes to get things to get FUBAR, and how totally complacent society has become when it comes to technology that has overgrown it's usefullness to the point of being counterproductive in our everyday lives.

Goes to show that you throw one bad apple into a barrel and everything gets ruined. Thanks alot Dieter, I hope you enjoyed yourself. Now you can be content that you stole the spotlight and got everyone's attention...yet again.

-- (Anon@mousy.com), February 24, 1999.

AnON@mOuSY!!!!!

CAN DIetER LEarn, and see HOEW TO SwaLLOW DIEter's PRIDE??????? YES????

DIEtER is noT A PErFECT MaN!!!!!!DIEtER IS NOt a perFECt hUman!!!! iS DIEter eveN HUMan???? NO???? WHAT??? DIeTER WAS biddEN BY GOD TO SeeK OUt fOOlISHNESS,is thIS NoT TRuE???? DIEtER DID NOt knOW the STORY OF THE WHoLEneSS. (you dId NOT EXPLain clEARLy, maYBe? yes?? dieter thiNKS YES) YOu have exPREsseD HUMan FEELIngs WELLL, And theY SHOWn DIEtER HiS FOOLISHnESS!!

Did DieTER JUmPED To A CoNClusION, mAYBe??????

CAN YOU SEE WHY??????? cAn yOu????? CAN YOu see whY THIS sTOrY IS SO INSaNE AS to NOt BE BElIeved??????? OF COURSE YOU DO, OR else yOU WOulD NOT HAVe posted it!!!!!! UNBElIEVEABLe!!!!!! HOW CAN SUch FOoLISHNEss be REAL!!!!!!!!! DiEter is noT SURE HOw!!!!! FOOLISH JACkal drIVers!!!!!!

DiEtER IS SoRRY TO CaLL A hyEna A JACKaSS!!!!! MostLy soRRy verY INDeeD!!!!

SoRrY IS DIEtER. CAn dieTER be asHamED???

DIEtER DOEs noT CAre if yOU FOErGIVe dieter OR NoT, but DIeTER IS noT EViL. DiETER is JOBBeD to SEEK out fOoliSHNESs!!!! FOOLISHNEss MUST BE STOppED!!!! WAITInG FOr the laDDer moVERS IS VERY FOOLiSH, is it not????? why wOULD JACKAsses wait for the movers of laDDErs????

STiLL, DIeTER WIShES You had inCLuDED THAT GOiNg arOUND thE LAddER THing more cleArly TO START?????? GOoD MORNING????

DIEteR CAN SEE FOOLishneSS in diEter's self, and oTHERS!!!!!

HELLO????

IS THIS AN EXAMPLE OF FOOLISH LADDER AVoiDANCE?????? FOOLISH JACkaLS whO CARE NOt for noRmal laddER REMoVAL?????

DIETER KNows eNOUgh to SEE IF DIEter maY BE FOOLISH!!!!!! DO OTHERS?????? DIeTER IS Sorry tO YOU and yOu ALONe MR. ANoYMoUSY!!!!!! FORgiVE DIEtER PLeasE mayBE??? NO, OK!!! YES, OK!!!! NO????

Your poiNT OF PASSIng the bUCK TO THE NeXT GuY IS WELL TAkEN!!!

DIEter has alwaYS KNOwED THaT WE Are scrEWED, and thAT PEOPLE are SLUGGarDS, elSE DIeTER WOULd NOT EXiST!!!!

-- Dieter (questions@toask.com), February 24, 1999.

Keep after 'em slugger. Sooner or later some will see the pattern shift. If just a few are inoculated it wiil be worth the effort, not even counting the laughs.

-- gb (gb@casa.com), February 24, 1999.

yOU gO gEt HiM dIeTer!!! I think he is an inFiDeL. ;-)

-- DiEtER Fan (I@like.him), February 25, 1999.

Slimfast,

Never seen you on a roll like that - shame they don't allow tricycles on that perimeter road or you or one of your buddies would have moved the ladder - probably after trying to climb it first :)

Bwaaaa haaaahaaahahahhahahahaha... I crack myself up sometimes!

To get back to the thread,

A very good point - people are generally pretty lazy and self- absorbed thse days. This is why the effects of y2k will in reality be much much worse than they need be simply because the herd relies upon the comforts and conveniences of modern life far too much. The smallest glitches can have extraordinary knock-on effects. Take the 1 day power outage in San Francisco recently, one small error by a worker took down multiple sub-stations, back- ups failed, and power to 300,000 people was lost. The Challenger explosion, see PNG's excellent essay on this, caused by the smallest design detail and criminal mismangement decisions. The loss of a battle for want of a nail.

This is why we should fear y2k - things will fail in weird and wonderful ways, ways we haven't even dreamed about. And our spoilt population will not react at all well to these failures.

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), February 25, 1999.