Here is the first of the field reports from Faith-Weaver in Beaver, County, PA. Faith is a long-time regular poster to Yourdon's forums...and she has given me permission to post her experiences.

7 A reporter who interviewed me about my y2k interests early last summer called to say she's researching a story on "survivalists and doomsayers" to run "later in the year." She wanted to know whether, in my y2k work, I had run across any of "THOSE types." Luckily, she didn't reach me in person, but only left her message on my machine. Gave me time to bite my tongue and select my words with greater care. (Will send you a copy of my response later.)

7 The Red Cross put on its first local y2k preparedness presentation last week. One of our group attended the second of two sessions, held at 5 p.m. on a Thursday (The first session was at 3:00 p.m.-part of a public demonstration of a mock disaster shelter, with people from various local services displaying their capabilities). Two "well-dressed, well-informed older women" showed up besides our guy for the Red Cross presentation. The advice was to prepare as if for a bad, week-long storm, of course. And when our guy asked the RC spokesman what if power were down for, say, two weeks or more, the RC guy got belligerent and almost screamed, "That's NOT going to HAPPEN!"

7 A local Christian pastor whose non-denominational ministry owns farm acreage and several buildings says three representatives from EMS paid him an unexpected visit. "Do you know who we are?" they asked. "Do you know why we're here? Did anyone tell you we were coming?" The pastor says he invited them in and made small talk for nearly half an hour before they told him where they were from. They wanted to know, he says, how many people he would guess could be housed on the land if a mass evacuation were necessary because of some catastrophe, "say, an accident at the nuclear plant." (The church's property is just outside the plant's high-risk zone.) I'll be meeting with a small group of folks from his ministry tonight. They're a financially destitute bunch, I hear; but they want to do outreach to low income families. Bless 'em!

7 A second minister has invited me to attend the next meeting of his church's Board. They have been struggling with a statement they want to issue to the congregation urging preparation without promoting panic.

7 One of the county's two major hospitals is developing contingency plans to operate for an entire week without computers, telephones, or power, because "the dominant view right now is that disruptions may last for a week." Key staff have been advised they're to spend New Year's Eve on duty, or at least on the premises. Nobody is talking about the possibility of disruptions prior to the roll over, or about the possibility that disruptions MAY last longer than a week, or about the possibility that internal systems may not function within a week of the rollover (About half of their systems are remediated so far.), or what they'll do if (when!) Medicare fails, or about how to get personnel to show up, or, or, or . . .

7 An area chain of Army/Navy surplus stores is advertising on the radio now with a "y2k public service preparedness list" of items people should be storing. Good, long list. One of those "things that make you go 'hmmmmmm.'" Critical Mass nearing by the hour. Got blankets?

--Faith == For a comprehensive list of Y2K links and resources, visit our website-- http://www.ccia.com/~sminarik/prepare2000.htm/5.htm

-- Donna Barthuley (moment@pacbell.net), March 29, 1999

Answers

Thanks Donna,

Don't you just love the "behind-the-scenes" local stories, that tell a "different" one, than those nationally approved Y2K tales?

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), March 30, 1999.