My ears perked up Saturday night when the local news reported a power outage at one of the top ten largest hospitals in the country. Barnes/Jewish/Christian, BJC, is also the largest employer in the city of St. Louis.

Because I didn't hear the whole story, I checked Sunday's paper and found not one word about it. So, today I called the hospital and asked for the public relations department. When the woman heard my question, she referred me to the media relations department.

The person answering the phone asked where I was from and my name. When I balked and said I didn't understand why that was necessary, she told me to hold on and got the manager.

According to this woman, there had been extensive preparations for this "power switch" and it was determined it should occur at 5:30 A.M. Saturday. She said the upgrade was necessary because the hospital was reaching its capacity and needed more power sources. Unfortunately, there was a 30 minute power outage, not 5 minutes as reported on the news, because the backup emergency generator failed.

She assured me nobody was in danger during the outage because there were advanced preparations in communications and patient services, although she admitted the failure of the emergency generator was unexpected.

I asked if this was a periodic procedure and she said very emphatically, no, this was a "once in a lifetime" event.

I realize I shouldn't jump to conclusions and maybe it was just exactly what she said, but since many are not being straightforward about remediations, I think it's fair to assume these types of incidents could be Y2K related. Mary

-- Mary (SWEEP6@prodigy.net), March 02, 1999

Answers

No, it's NOT fair to assume it's y2k-related. Not everything in this world IS.

-- Get-a-grip (buyaclue@getalife.com), March 02, 1999.

Dear GetAGrip..... and it is not fair NOT to assume it is y2k related. When my credit card (with 3,000+ dollars of perfectly good credit) was rejected for a purchase, it was assumed by the store and patrons behind me that it was MY fault, or something was wrong with my account because of something I had done.

Not so. The expiration date 2000 was not accepted on the merchant terminal. The credit card issuig banks have been working on this for 2 years but report 150 to 200 such incidents happening EVERY DAY. So, why should we NOT assume the power outage could have a possible Y2K origin? So - let us have our say in the assessment of the possibilities.

Mr. K

-- Mr. Kennedy (y2kPCfixes@MotivatedSeller.com), March 02, 1999.

Try to talk with the IT guys who were doing the work -- if you can find them.

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), March 03, 1999.

Or how about the three computer failures at Charles Schwab brokerage this week. Yesterday all their screens were blank for 25 minutes, an eternity when the market is open. Their explanation was: adding computer power to our system. Oh.

-- Spidey (in@jam.com), March 03, 1999.

Yep... saw a newer truck being towed into the dealership the other day. While the mechanic denies it, I KNOW it was an early y2k failure... just like when the power goes out. The power company SAYS it was due to a windstorm, but I KNOW it was secret y2k testing by the generating plants! that tree over the lines means NOTHING. It is NOT what caused the telephone to stop working... it was y2k testing being done by the telco's behind the publics back... we are all doomed I tell ya... panic now, avoid the rush.

-- Mutha Nachu (---@goldenshunshinesonitsway.com), March 05, 1999.