I realize that many of you have very valid infomation from your own experiences at your place of work. I also understand why you don't/can't say which company that is. But is it out of order to ask that you give us a clue as to where you are in distribution of food, processing of foods, auto manufacturing, aviation, sales, marine transport or navigation, oil or coal industry..transportation or production, etc, etc. It sure would help to pin point the weakest links in the system and give us more to go on or prepare for. How about it guys?

-- Taz (Tassie @aol.com), April 21, 1999

Answers

I work in the transportation dept. of a major lawn and garden equp. mfg. company in Wisconsin. The reason we don't say WHICH company is because we're afraid of retirbution (termination).

-- Daniel Buchner (buchner@excite.com), April 21, 1999.

I work in a hospital in a large city. We plan to get our census down as low as possible, will cancel clinics the first week in January and have suspended all vacation for most employees Dec. 27 - Jan 10, 2000. We will test our generators within the next months and have identified all mission-critical equipment. All departments have contingency plans which roll into one hospital wide plan. We network with other hospitals in the city and share information. Our main concern, as is most everyone is the electricity. (the electric company indicates that they can't guarrantee us power tomorrow...let alone 01-01-00.

-- quietly lurking (quietly@preparing.com), April 21, 1999.

I work for a local agricultural non-profit. We did form a committee in January at my urging. They did arrange for the county y2k task force to give a presentation to the board. Only a handful of directors showed. I do maintain a website where we post ag and other y2k info. Nothing else has been done to disseminate information or do outreach to small operators in our membership. Many are not connected to the internet. Our local leadership is convinced that the whole thing will be a non-event.

A few directors called manufacturers about "embedded chips" on their own equipment and were told not to worry. I have spoken with other local ag groups and their leadership is convinced that if equipment doesn't "show" a date in programming, it has no problem.

On the state level of our organization, a brief article was written in our magazine in January on the problem, referring those interested to the USDA website. I spoke with the state president and asked if they would be taking a leadership role in guiding producers and he said "no," but they might have a brochure later in the year.

The National level magazine goes only to officers and directors. They had an article last September and one in late February or early March.

The USDA has indicated that information from the federal level will be passed to locals through the ag extension offices. Our local extension office has received nothing and is not doing anything for producers, although the home economist did right a "stock up a bit as you shop" article for local news.

There is y2k info circulating in the community, but it is on personal preparation.

The ag industry has a heaping plate of smothering trade, marketing, tax, environmental and other regulatory issues to deal with. The ag economy is in the "terlet." That is where their efforts are being focussed, not on y2k - at least in our organization.

-- whatmeworry? (whatmeworry@anonymous.com), April 22, 1999.