O.K....so it might not do any good, but you never know. And Y2K will have their attention this week. I say bombard them. Their e-mail addresses are typically: senator@.senate.gov.

Here is a letter I just sent - feel free to pilfer any parts you wish.

R.

********************************************************************** Dear Senator Edwards,

I am writing to you today because I am concerned about the state of North Carolinas Y2K preparedness. More to the point, I am concerned about the utter lack of communication on the part of state and local government to the citizens of our state.

The states web site that posts progress reports has not been updated since last December. I have seen and heard nothing from our elected officials regarding the states readiness or contingency plans. I am beginning to think I would be better off in Utahat least Senator Bennett is addressing these issues. Perhaps you and he should have a long chat.

An article in the Charlotte Observer last week quoted Susan Johnson (our local Y2K coordinator) as saying that nothing would be communicated to the city of Charlotte until this summer. This is totally unacceptable. Information is currently being made available to the public (Rep. Horns report card, Sen. Bennetts 116-page report, etc.), and frankly I find our local and state governments silence ominous.

I would urge you to take a leadership role on this issue and begin a dialogue with the citizens of North Carolina on how to prepare for the rollover. I understand you do not want to create a panic situation, but by addressing concerns now, you can avoid just such a panic this fall. FEMA and the Red Cross are both advocating preparedness measures, although in my opinion comparing the Y2K problem to a winter storm is ludicrous. And read the Senate Committee report very carefully. You can be assured that many of your constituents will.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

-- Roland (nottelling@nowhere.com), February 25, 1999

Answers

Sorry...the email address is senator@"lastname".senate.gov

-- Roland (nottelling@nowhere.com), February 25, 1999.

O.K....this is rich. My e-mail was just returned, so I called his office to ask for the address. She gave me the one I had sent it to and she said, "Oh! the entire Senate server is down. You can't get email to any of them. They're working on it...try tomorrow".

Guess Horn was right about the Jeffersonian Era...

R.

-- Roland (nottelling@nowhere.com), February 25, 1999.

I'm quite sure an e-mail campaign will work. In fact, some time back I sent e-mail to all congressional members and was assured by a few who responded that they have formed councils and committees to work diligently on the problem. In fact Senator McCain of Arizona takes the "Year 200" problem very seriously. (Two notes here: Yes, the response said Year 200. Senator McCain is of Arizona, abbreviated AZ, I am from Arkansas, abbreviated AR. The point being they usually only respond to their own constituency, so apparently the staff mail sorters didn't know their state abbreviation. Naturally, I sleep well at night knowing we have the utmost detail oriented individuals administrating the war on the Year 200).

A 50 line letter with one blatant hilarious error. 14 kazillion lines of code. Any questions?

-- Other Lisa (LisaWard2@aol.com), February 25, 1999.

Your right Roland -- it's better than nothing.

I've been sending letters via email and snail mail to anyone at the state, local, and city level that I can think of. I am sending letters via email to any email address that are made available on my state and local governments Y2K websites.

I set about this campaign yesterday or the day before - I can't recall now. The days lately seem to be blurring from one day into the next.

This sort of stuff is totally new to me and I was wondering if you would mind if I paraphrased some of your letter into some of my own?

-- Awareness (preparation@communitylevel.com), February 25, 1999.

Roland, it is a wonderful idea. I tried it already. Guess what? No response what so ever. Be sure when you email that you include your snail mail address. If you do not, your emeial will be tossed.

I wrote my senator and representative concerning Y2k. Nada a word from them.

Funny thing. I also wrote them about Clinton and the sex scandal. Both immediately responded quickly. What does that say to you. There is another thread about this if you want ot read what the others posted in regards to emailing the governemt.

-- Linda A. (adahi@muhlon.com), February 25, 1999.

awareness - please do!

R.

-- Roland (nottelling@nowhere.com), February 25, 1999.

I wrote my Senator, John McCain, on 1/21/99 and received a quick and through reply. He has the Big Picture of Y2k and I was both surprised and pleased with the response.

-- ronbanks (phxbanks@webtv.net), February 25, 1999.

I interned at a U.S. senator's office for six months. I must honestly say that with the volume of mail which is received, it is virtually impossible for the senator to review each and every piece of correspondence, e-mail OR snail-mail, that comes in. The senator must depend on a slew of staff people to handle constituent communications. The senator then is briefed on how the opinons are running, etc. I can say that if their office is bombarded with letters, phone calls, e-mails, and visits, the issue will come to the attention of the senator at some point. It may take some time but try to be patient and keep the letters/calls coming and don't give up. The lack of replies are, unfortunately, the result of incompentent staff people working for the senator. S/he delegates the hiring of staff to a state director or some other person. The hard reality of a senator or representative's life is that s/he can't do it all. S/he has to delegate. S/he probably feels that the interests of the country may best be served with him or her performing his/her functions at the legislature rather than sitting in an office sorting through mail. I do believe, however, that he/she must have competent staff who keeps him/her briefed on how the opinions/correspondence are running. Bottom line: If you feel you have an issue which requires your representative/senator's attention--convey that to him/her. We are a democracy, remember? Rule by the people?!? Thanks!

-- Diane (DDEsq2002@juno.com), February 25, 1999.

The suggestion of writing to your Senator is good. Now I wonder if Ted Kozynski will be free to help me with my letters.

-- (Lancelot @ taveern link.com), February 25, 1999.

WRITE-OFF YOUR SENATORS!

-- humptydumpty (no.6@thevillage.com), February 25, 1999.

oh yeah Lancelot, LOL LOL.

-- humptydumpty (no.6@thevillage.com), February 25, 1999.

Wrote both of mine last week. Doubt if I get anything back though. Lugar did have a good article in last weekend though.

-- Moore Dinty moore (not@thistime.com), February 25, 1999.

Wrote both of mine last week. Doubt if I get anything back though. Lugar did have a good article in last weekend.

-- Moore Dinty moore (not@thistime.com), February 25, 1999.

Why not write all 100 senators? The decisions they are making -- or dodging -- about Y2k will affect everyone n the country, not just residents of one state.

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), February 26, 1999.

why bother? we're going down, folks.

-- ed (edrider007@aol.com), February 26, 1999.