To The People, I have been surfing the discussion sites lately, and it seems to me that most people are starting to become somewhat reassured that any problems that arise from the Y2K bug will be taken care of by "someone" or "a company". Granted that most companies or individuals that have had the foresight to start remediation projects are doing their best, NO ONE REALLY KNOWS WHAT WILL HAPPEN, SO STOP ASKING THE QUESTION!!!! Discussion is fine, however each of us needs to rely on ourselves and our family and friends if worse comes to worse. It semms like the only thing that people want to do is discuss the problem.

Now, I have read few of the questions and thoughts posted on this site, and while being extremely informative and intelligently written, there are really no FACTS to be found. Everybody knows that big business and the government (be it Local, State, or Federal), runs everything that we take for granted (Telecommunications, Banking, Utilities, Etc, Etc,). THEY keep insisting that life as we know it will continue as it has before with little or no problems. We, the people, deserve the right to know the truth, before its to late.

Okay, I know that I'm blasting discussion forums, and here I am, right? Sorry, I couldn't help myself. Please, prepare for yourselves. There will be no one else to do it for you.

Best Regards to All, John P. Hoyt

-- Anonymous, February 26, 1999

Answers

John,

Please, lose the caps.

-- Anonymous, February 26, 1999

It's not hard for me to imagine that the powers that be are in the same situation as the rest of us. The possibilities are evident, but no certain means exists to discriminate among them or to locate or quantify their consequences.

In the past few months it seems to me that the level of official warnings and advisories has been gradually ramping up, which suggest that some sort of disclosure policy is in place, however tentative it may be.

-- Anonymous, February 26, 1999

Sorry Linda, I didn't mean to offend, but its really hard to get a point across with any amount of feeling, know what I mean?

Regards, JPH

-- Anonymous, February 27, 1999

John,

I was trying to be funny. Every time I do that it gets lost in the limited communication capabilities of the net.

Yes, I understand frustration. I get tired of this playing out like some sort of Optimists verses Pessimists. I believe based on the fact of the uncertainty people should be making some preparations.

I don't get why that is so difficult for the experts and leadership to recommend. When the government tells me not to panic, rest assured that's when I start to panic. Give me the facts and I will deal with them the best way I can.

-- Anonymous, February 27, 1999

John,

Are we only discussing the problem ?

No, we are discussing a lot of things like solving the problem and to make preparations or not.

You want some facts.

In our y2k-project we have found a few minor problems that we have solved by upgrading to a newer version. Sometimes we did not find any problem, but we have upgraded the system also because it was not y2k-compliant.

We have, till now, one power plant y2k-ready and before 1 june we will have all our power plants y2k-ready. We are waiting for some upgrades of the system to be performed.

We are expecting "business-as-usual" during the rollover, but have also made our contingency plans. The next step we are working on is to make contingency plans within the energy chain fuel, power, distribution.

What will you do with these facts ? Please answer this question here.

-- Anonymous, March 01, 1999

Menno, This may be difficult to answer, but what do you know about the progress of your fellow grid nodes in Europe? Who is coordinating information gathering and communications on behalf of the European grid; in other words who is the equivalent of the NERC in Europe?

I've heard that Germany is very dependent on oil and gas from former Soviet-bloc countries. Is this true of the Netherlands? If you are assessing your raw fuel supply risks later this year, how do you think you will do this?

-- Anonymous, March 01, 1999

Menno, Thank GOD for the people like you who are committed to solving the problem, and are not running for hills!

How many MILLIONS of people are INDEBTED to those who are in the trenches, the frontlines, - - and in so many different fields, not just electricity generation - - (possibly risking their own future, when they could have been spending the time moving away and setting up survival bunker-farms in Montana..or wherever!?) I mean REALLY!

I know this re-phases Bonnie's "Which Is It?" question ... but I kept thinking that the answer has to be: both. Both ways. We need the people who are not giving up hope - as much as we do the extremists.

Both ways, everyone is right, and everyone's take & position is very unique. This issue *intensifies* -amplifies- all those differences.

[I've worked closely with dying people alot, and noticed that, individuals approach death VERY uniquely. Some fight it to the end, others surrender into bliss, some get philosophical, a few have great pain, some are materialistic as ever..in their lives. Some FINALLY holdhands with those they love..or take a lifetime grudge to the grave! And so on.

The point IS one's *character* marks & ideals seem to ^crystalize^.... like being held under a magnifying glass. And WHO is to judge which attitude is ~best~ for someone else?? YKWIM??

Yeh- ok - so maybe those PREPARED... (with rosaries, bibles, tibetianbooksofdead, prayers - & maybe some morphine!)... MIGHT experience the great UNKNOWN, better than those without - but nobody's got a MONOPOLY on HOW the present moment moves into the future one... there is no ledge, no guarantee, that Knowledge (or any material possessions!) per se, can provide.

And boy - does this Y2K thing seem similar?! To me anyway. Hope someone else finds the analogy useful to consider, again.]

for what it's worth...

-- Anonymous, March 01, 1999

Chris,

Your question is difficult to answer. NERC is unique.

What I can say is that we depend on our own Gas resources and from Statoil.

The Netherlands is connected to the European grid. The import from the grid is about 16%, but will be 0 % at the rollover. The connection will not be broken as part of the contingency plan.

In Germany they have a lot of power plants with coal.

-- Anonymous, March 01, 1999

Chris,

Your question is difficult to answer. NERC is unique.

What I can say is that we depend on our own gas resources and from Statoil.

The Netherlands is connected to the European grid. The import from the grid is about 16%, but will be 0 % at the rollover. The connection will not be broken as part of the contingency plan.

In Germany they have a lot of power plants with coal.

-- Anonymous, March 01, 1999