http://www.dallasnews.com/metro/0525met60cityy2k.htm

Several Dallas City Council members are concerned that some city services may not be Y2K ready when the new year starts.

All city operations were supposed to be Y2K compliant by the end of July, giving staff members a five-month cushion to work out any glitches.

But on Monday, members of the council's Finance and Audit Committee were told that some systems probably won't be ready until November or December.

"Somebody lied to us," said council member Alan Walne, who appeared visibly upset. "What are we supposed to do if in December those systems aren't ready?"

-- Yo (yo@mom.ma), May 26, 1999

Answers

* * * 19990526 Wednesday

Drop back and punt... back to the future of the 19th century...

No "Time Machine" required... ;-)

Regards, Bob Mangus * * *

-- Robert Mangus (rmangus@hotmail.com), May 26, 1999.

No, they wouldn't lie (er, misstate...)

-- Robert A. Cook, PE (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), May 26, 1999.

It probably was CPR who prepared this report.

-- Rickjohn (rickjohn1@yahoo.com), May 26, 1999.

Not surprisingly,you have spun the report to make it appear more serious than it actually is - standard doomer practice.

Here is some more actual text:

"Three systems in that department - water purification, wastewater treatment and water pumping - are being targeted for completion in November and December. But city officials said the chances that residents won't be able to get water Jan. 1 are minimal because most of the unfinished projects are back-up systems."

"It's going to continue to pump water," Mr. McFarland said. "All of the changes have already been made to the primary system.

Water department officials also said later that all three of the systems could be operated manually if necessary.

-- Y2K Pro (2@641.com), May 26, 1999.

Hurricane Fran: the Durham 911 system went down. Back-up system kicked in. It went down immediately. Second back-up system kicked in. It also went down immediately. At the height of the hurricane-force winds, the 911 communicators had to be transported to Duke University's security center, which luckily uses the same system. Duke has buried cables and its own power system. Moral of the story: don't trust back-ups either. (911 can go manual too, using hand-held radios and a couple of regular phone lines, but it's only for short periods of time--just like any manual operation of usually-electricl/computerized equipment. Try to check out of a grocery store when the computers are down. . .

This is why doomers practice, Y2K Pro--it's standard.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), May 26, 1999.

It's quite possible that Dallas is being run by a bunch of people with huge shoes, lots of makeup and horns on their belts. The DISD voted yesterday to pay their new superintendent $260,000 per annum. That's $15,000 more than the NYC chancellor makes overseeing the "education" of 1.1 million students. Lunacy is lunacy whether it relates to Y2K or the elements of everyday life

-- Vic (Rdrunner@internetwork.net), May 26, 1999.

As one who lives within 80 miles of Dallas and has a husband and a son who are employed by a company that has their headquarters in Carrolton - I can assure you that on any given day that place is already a disaster!

Not only did they pay the new DISD Superintendent a base salary of $260,000.00 per year, he also will receive a 4% tax free annuity, a new car, etc. and it took nine months of in fighting to finally agree on who to hire.

The city "fathers" passed an exhorbitant car rental tax that will only hurt residents as most tourists rent their cars at the airport that contributes no tax to the city of Dallas. etc,etc,etc.

-- Nadine Zint (nadine@hillsboro.net), May 26, 1999.

C'mon, Dallas.

You're my roots. My daddy was a general counsel at E-Systems in the early days. At the celebration of his life (Oak Lawn Methodist Church, December 1984), he was referred to as "The Obedient Rebel".

And,

I know he left a legacy of kindred spirits...

Thanks, Dad

Critt Jarvis
Wilmington, North Carolina

-- Critt Jarvis (middleground@critt.com), May 26, 1999.

My roots, too, Critt, and it breaks my heart to see where it has gone. I grew up in beautiful Oak Cliff and graduated from Sunset H.S. It once was a great and proud city. Just look at it now.

-- Vic (Rdrunner@internetwork.net), May 26, 1999.

'Water department officials also said later that all three of the systems could be operated manually if necessary.'

I live in Denton (just north of Dallas) and my city also has this fall back position. Now, can anyone tell me how this is possible, short of having the Jolly Green Giant at your end of the pipeline sucking to start the siphon action? Aren't pumps required? And don't those pumps have embedded systems? If not, I'd be more than happy to hear some verification. Even so, those pumps will require generators, that require fuel, that require replenishment of fuel, etc.......

-- Shelia (Shelia@active-stream.com), May 26, 1999.

For what it's worth, the definition of "operated manually" is: Bring your own container.

-- A. Hambley (a.hambley@usa.net), May 26, 1999.

Shiela,

No, most pumps do NOT have embedded systems. They may be controlled by a computer, but the pumps themselves can easily be made to run manually. If all else fails, a 10 cent cliplead from Radio Shack will do the trick. :)

(Call me the Master of Clipleads. I couldn't do my job without them.[g])

-- Stephen M. Poole, CET (smpoole7@bellsouth.net), May 27, 1999.