D.C. comes clean in DC Post 6/28greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread |
WABC radio talk show 9:30 pm Matt Drudge announces he has news release to be run front page of D.C.Post tomorrow,...D.C. announces they will not be ready for y2k in time, and are planning a massive new yeaars eve mobilization of emergency personnel.Get ready...this is a big one, the nations capitol concedes they will have to do massive planning to ensure services will continue for the new year..120 locations throughout the city where police will be stationed, school crossing guards to use for where traffic lights are out, plus 80 other emergency plans and they are "feverishly working to put in place" these contingency plans.
-Kritter
-- kritter (kritter@adelphia.net), June 27, 1999
That would connect to the last Y2k segment on 60 minutes (the talked to the lady Y2k czar in DC).
-- rb (phxbanks@webtv.net), June 27, 1999.
This will be interesting to look for. What's the Link for the DC Post? Is this the Washington Post? Anybody else hear inklings of this? Sounds rad!
-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), June 27, 1999.
Whoa! As we typed it is HEADLINED in Red on Drudge:WASHINGTON DC PLANNING FOR 'MASSIVE' Y2K MOBILIZATION OF EMERGENCY PERSONNEL
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-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), June 27, 1999.
Well, we all knew that DeeCee was so far behind in it's remediation that it wasn't going to make it, didn't we? This will be first major city to fess up to the truth. I expect that if this news item goes OK with the public and press, that other cities will follow suit. This may also be the sort of "national emergency" news that the Prez will need to justify pulling out those executive orders for martial law.
-- Gordon (gpconnolly@aol.com), June 27, 1999.
It's going to happen!!!
-- K. Stevens (kstevens@It's ALL going away in January.com), June 27, 1999.
This is a snip from the USIS site that has extensive information regarding the Water - Waste Water situation in Washington DC. Interesting article.
OFFICIALS DISCUSS Y2K IMPACT ON WATER TREATMENT - USIA25 May 1999
OFFICIALS DISCUSS Y2K IMPACT ON WATER TREATMENT
(Digital video conference with Lima, Peru)
Officials from the Washington Suburban Sanitation Commission (WSSC),
one of the largest publicly-owned sanitation agencies in the United
States, discussed the impact of the Year 2000 (Y2K) computer problem
on their water and sewage treatment facilities.Marjorie Johnson, WSSC communications director, and Michael Staed,
WSSC senior management analyst, exchanged ideas on Y2K with Peruvian
officials in Lima during a USIA digital video conference (DVC) on May
19, 1999.Staed said that WSSC has completed about 90 percent of it remediation
of software, hardware and embedded chip systems that may pose a
problem with the date change, and expects to complete the testing of
all critical systems by June 30.With regard to hardware and software purchased from outside
manufacturers over the last several years, Staed said that WSSC has to
rely on the manufacturers' statements that the procured items are Y2K
compliant."We would have to go and file suit against companies if, in fact, it
doesn't perform satisfactorily," he added. "We don't anticipate that
occurring, but our procurement policies build those types of
protection in."Johnson cautioned that their water and sewage treatment system is
heavily dependent on four different electric companies, and if there
should be an extended breakdown in electric service "the contingency
for dealing with that is not going to meet the needs of our
customers."Johnson said that in such a case, WSSC will be able to supply a
limited amount of water to its most critical customers, such as
hospitals and businesses, and that most customers would have to travel
to a water station where they could obtain treated water.More information on the Y2K efforts of the Washington Suburban
Sanitation Commission can be found on the World Wide Web:
www.wssc.dst.md.us
-- Brian (imager@home.com), June 27, 1999.
Heres the story. Note that it still says the "public" should prepare as for a 3 day storm!District Prepares for Y2K System Failures By Eric Lipton Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, June 28, 1999; Page A1
The District government, recognizing that its year 2000 repair program likely will not be completed on time, is planning a massive New Year's Eve mobilization of emergency personnel and other staff to ensure that critical city services are not interrupted if computer systems fail.
Police will be stationed at more than 120 locations across the city, working 12-hour shifts, to take walk-in requests for emergency services. Twenty-one "warming centers," each supplied with food, water and cots, will open. School crossing guards will be on call, ready to replace traffic lights at major intersections. And D.C. General Hospital will have extra staff members as many as 175 on site.
These are just a few of the 88 contingency and emergency plans the District is feverishly working to put in place by the end of the year. Similar efforts are underway across the United States among governments and private companies, but in the District, officials have acknowledged the city is so far behind on its Y2K fix that it may have to rely on some of these "work-around" techniques.
"Because we began late, there may be things that suffer an interruption that we did not completely get to," said D.C. Chief Technology Officer Suzanne J. Peck. "Within our agencies ... in some function, a handful may fail temporarily."
Officials are confident that most of these plans even those that will be put into effect regardless of any system failure will not be needed, and that even in the District, Y2K will be one of the century's most hyped nonevents.
City officials want to convince the public that the new year will begin in the nation's capital without chaos no matter what happens with D.C. operations or outside services such as telephone, gas and electricity.
"Our intent is not to alarm people, but put people at ease that things are under control," Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) said yesterday. "We are going to have this city work for people."
Added Cmdr. David B. McDonald, the supervisor of police Y2K planning: "We want to reassure the residents and visitors to the District that even if Armageddon comes, we will assist and protect the public."
The D.C. Council will be briefed on the public safety contingency plans at an oversight hearing this morning.
The District's own assessment of its progress in making year 2000 fixes demonstrates the need for such planning: With six months left in the year, only 41 percent of the District's 336 major computer systems have been fixed. The rest are scheduled to be repaired and tested by the end of October.
Of the city's 73 agencies, 19 including key departments such as Health, Housing and Community Development; Tax and Revenue; Child and Family Services; and Public Works are not even halfway done with their year 2000 repairs and planning.
Williams said he is "not at all surprised" that so much work remains, given the city's late start on addressing the Y2K problem. But he added that he is reasonably comfortable with the status of the city's Y2K repair efforts and has the impression that the District is about even with other major cities, saying the city may be understating its "readiness."
Virginia and Maryland, by comparison, say their government systems are virtually Y2K-proof, and while they also have contingency plans, they are more confident that they won't have to use them.
The year 2000 computer glitch, popularly known as Y2K, stems from the use in many computer systems of two-digit date fields, leading many machines to interpret "00" as 1900, not 2000. This could cause systems to transmit bad data, malfunction or crash.
The District's late start is largely to blame for its lagging effort. While Maryland and Virginia began working on the problem several years ago, the District waited until last summer. Recognizing the danger of a catastrophic failure in the city, Congress gave the District $62 million in emergency funding this year to accelerate the work. But even with an army of more than 300 consultants at work most under a $76 million contract with IBM Corp. success is far from assured.
The struggle at D.C. General Hospital illustrates the challenge. D.C. General and its related health care divisions are about 48 percent "ready," according to ratings released Wednesday by the District's year 2000 program.
The hospital's mainframe computer system which handles medical records, patient accounts, budgeting, laboratory data, patient registration and other hospital operations will falter at year's end unless several million dollars in repairs are made.
The city is rushing to install a new computer system, but the first phase is not scheduled to be operating until mid-September. Officials are debating whether to repair the old computer in case the new one is not ready.
And that is only the beginning.
An estimated 80 percent of the 1,000 pagers assigned to staff at D.C. General and other divisions of the city's hospital and health care network are not Y2K compatible. At the start of June, the city had not issued a purchase order to buy replacements.
Each of the hospital's four ultrasound machines and 21 defibrillators used to reestablish a regular heartbeat-is not Y2K compliant, although replacements are on order. And the critical-care monitoring system in the intensive-care unit also must be replaced.
"You can't have an emergency room without a defibrillator. You can't have an intensive-care unit without monitors," said William D. Wild, senior vice president for compliance at D.C. General.
Given all this uncertainty and fewer than 190 days before the end of the year D.C. General administrators and staff members are spending hundreds of hours preparing backup plans.
The 250-bed hospital, which served 51,237 in its emergency room last year and 80,000 in its hospital clinics, is arranging to have 50 temporary workers available to hand-process records and other tasks if computers fail. As many as 124 employees including nurses, doctors and financial staff members may be asked to stay overnight on New Year's Eve, Wild said.
An extra 30 to 60 days' worth of pharmaceuticals is being ordered, and up to 90 days' worth of other basic supplies from bottled water to bandages is being purchased. The cost to the city just for the contingency planning, excluding the basic Y2K repairs, is about $4 million.
Even at agencies where year 2000 repairs are farther along, extensive contingency planning is underway. The broadest effort involves emergency services, where the plans are largely directed at anticipating failure of outside utilities such as electricity and telephone all extremely unlikely.
"The phone company says they are 98 percent certain it won't go down. The power companies say they are 99 percent certain everything will work," McDonald said. "But if that 2 percent and 1 percent cross, we need to be prepared."
Every officer in the city's 3,600-person police force will work 12- hour shifts during the New Year's weekend. Starting about 10:30 p.m. on New Year's Eve, the police department will deploy two-person teams to 120 locations across the District, including fire stations, convenience stores and fast-food restaurants.
Each officer will have a radio, and each of the 10 antenna sites for the radio system will have a backup generator. The city's 150 school crossing guards will learn how to handle traffic if lights go out. Staff is prepared to process crime reports and bookings by hand.
"We can't say, 'Sorry, Mr. Burglar, we can't book you today. Why don't you come back tomorrow?' " McDonald said.
At the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, leave time is being restricted for the 1,763-member staff between Dec. 15 and Jan. 15. Crews on the 16 ladder trucks are being given the tools and training to perform elevator rescues, supplementing the city's three regular rescue squads.
Backup to the city's computer-aided dispatch system is ready: thousands of 3-by-5 cards detailing which trucks to send depending on the address of a call. Fire trucks and ambulances already have been checked.
The city's Emergency Operations Center will be in gear before New Year's Eve, staffed by the public-safety-related agencies, including the Red Cross and the National Guard. All 21 warming centers, most at city schools, will be open New Year's Eve.
"If need be, people who go to these centers will be warm. They will have somewhere to sleep and something to eat," Emergency Management Program Officer Barbara Childs said.
The contingency planning extends far beyond the central emergency agencies.
The D.C. Water and Sewer Authority, for example, will spend more than $1 million to rent several locomotive-size generators to ensure that water will flow if the electricity goes out.
The Public Works Department will ensure that the city has 87,000 gallons of vehicle fuel available, double the normal supply. Extra truck parts, backup generators and other supplies also are on order. Plans have even been made for trash collection crews (they would work day and night), tree maintenance (complaints would be taken at the Reeves Municipal Center on 14th Street NW) and rat patrol (private exterminators would be used).
Officials are urging residents to prepare for the new year as well, stocking up on food, fuel, bottled water and other supplies as they would for a winter storm.
Jack L. Brock Jr., a U.S. General Accounting Office computer expert who described the city's Y2K outlook in February as "bleak," said last week that while he is reassured the city is making contingency plans, it must be able to implement them.
"They can't just be paper plans," said Brock, whose office is about to start another review of the District's Y2K status for Congress. "They have to do enough testing and validation to be confident that they will work."
Interim City Administrator Norman Dong said Williams is committed to ensuring that the plans work. To date, 38 of the 88 contingency plans are in draft or final form. From July until September, 23 mission- critical city agencies will hold mock drills.
"Our hope and expectation is that it will be business as usual," Dong said. "But we are taking nothing for granted. We want to make sure we are covered, that no matter what happens, we are prepared."
) 1999 The Washington Post Company
Back to the top
-- Jon Johnson (narnia4@usa.net), June 27, 1999.
Haven't seen any details yet, but don't get overly excited. It's just another drip of the faucet so far as the media and the masses are concerned. Like each drip, it will create a few more GIs, but don't expect more than that.
-- BigDog (BigDog@duffer.com), June 27, 1999.
XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX SUNDAY, JUNE 27, 1999 22:39:22 ET XXXXXWASHINGTON DC PLANNING FOR 'MASSIVE' Y2K MOBILIZATION OF EMERGENCY PERSONNEL
The District of Columbia government, recognizing that its year 2000 repair program likely will not be completed on time, is feverishly planning for a "massive New Year's Eve mobilization of emergency personnel and other staff to ensure critical city services are not interrupted if computer systems fail," the WASHINGTON POST is reporting in a Page One scare story on Monday.
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-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), June 27, 1999.
I'm willing to bet in most parts of the country, it barely gets a mention."An extra 30 to 60 days' worth of pharmaceuticals is being ordered, and up to 90 days' worth of other basic supplies from bottled water to bandages is being purchased."
That's "serious" stockpiling. Wonder what their basic supplies checklist looks like?
Diane
-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), June 27, 1999.
21 "warming centers" -- so *that's* what they're calling the shelters!from csy2k:
Drudge is on ABC radio in NYC tonight, right now, breaking a story from the Washington Post, stating the DC Y2K planners are announcing failure, expecting chaos, martial law, the whole shebang....
and now, (drum roll): Paul Milne:
This is a laugh riot. DC admits it won't make it. The nations Capitol. The Capitol of the country 'allegedly' in the forefront fall flat on it's face.
DC is the first to admit defeat. And now, there will be a bunch of others who admit the same.
Read all about it tommorrow on the FRONT PAGE of the Washington post.
LOL LOL LOL LOL
I especially liked the part about the 120 two man police patrols with 'radios'. Ooooooooo, 'radios', stationed around the city. ROTFLMAO ROTFLMAO. 240 policemen in Anacostia ALONE would be meaningless. This is not a 'racial' crack. Anacostia is a notorios problem area. Or, what about 'N' street?
2000 police would do them little good. The Post reports a 'massive' mobilization. 240 police on two man patrols with 'radios'.
Cory, Time to go straight to plan "C", Dragonranch? Sounds like a great place with lots of terriffic stuff being done, But.....Way, way, way too close to DC, man.
By the way, we just got our first shipment of Coke in those thick green ten oz. bottles at the country store. Kewl! And who is this 'Lindbergh' guy?
Paul Milne
And here's the Washington Post article on PAGE ONE:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/longterm/y2k/y2k.htm
District Prepares for Y2K System Failuresxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx xxxx
-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), June 27, 1999.
more from csy2k, posted by DarkdakotaI was at a party today on Long Island in a lower middleclass neighborhood- blue collar types. Mastic Beach for those who know Long Island. The talk was Y2K and how they were all preparing. I stayed silent- hoping to get some new insight. These average "Joes" and "Janes" are planning on emptying their bank accounts and draining their 401k's. Talk of filling the basements with canned goods and buying rifles and generators- and rafts believe it or not to get off Long Island from the North Shore. The mass awakening is starting. Whether or not Y2K is bad may not matter. Emptying bank accounts alone in mass will do the trick of TEOTWAWKI.
Another tidbit I heard: Nassau County (one of the most populous in the country) had 12 guys working on their Y2K work from a company called Platinum. Computer Associates bought Platinum and promptly fired 9 of them. They are a long way from being compliant. Hmmm......maybe I should buy some more canned veggies in the morning. Dark
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-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), June 27, 1999.
Hummm, I wonder what this will do to that big party that the Prez is throwing... <:)=
-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), June 27, 1999.
Jon - et alplease note that the article did NOT specify 3-day storm. it said:
*********Officials are urging residents to prepare for the new year as well, stocking up on food, fuel, bottled water and other supplies as they would for a winter storm. ***********
I think it is important to note that the time frame was left out - and I suspect not accidentally. Those officials (having said all the previous) are leaving it up to joe six pack to determine just how long the blizzard will last. In this forum that might seem like too little too late - but (IMHO) I see that as an important first step.
This article has now motivated me to call in sick at work and go prep shopping all day tomorrrow.
g'nite all
-- justme (finally@home.com), June 27, 1999.
This really hits home for me. Until less than 3 months ago, I had lived in the D.C. area for nearly all my life. Then, due to what saw coming with Y2K, I have re-located to Northwest Arkansas on a 30 acre farm on a mountain top.
And anyone who thinks "poor D.C." is just kidding themselves. As was noted in one of the posts above, you can bet your bottom dollar that if the public reacts as sleepily to this news as it did to the Y2K test induced spillage of 4 million gallons of raw sewage that occured the other week in California, other cities will undoubtedly start "coming clean", offering the same kind of unrealistic and unworkable contingency type plans.
-- Jack (jsprat@eld.net), June 28, 1999.
csy2k is buzzing with this one. MoreOne of the big misconceptions is this "may fail temporarily."
If a system fails, whether accounting, electric power, train routing, whatever, due to Y2K/date calculation problems, it is unlikely in the extreme that it wil mircaculously begin working correctly a few days later. (Some fraction of systems _will_ begin to work more or less correctlys, as the "time-later minus time-earlier" results resume their positive bias, instead of th negative 100 years bias they will have around the actual century change. This, I presume, is a tiny fraction, and only for real-time process control sorts of applications.)
So a system which fails hard on Saturday, January 1st, is highly likely to remain broken until the programmers can pound on it hard enough and long enough, and iteratively enough, to get it working again. Recalling that the Montgomery County folks worked for two months on a minor payroll problem, without riots, power failures, and a zillion managers screaming instructions, I would hazard a guess that many systems which fail on January 1st will still be unfixed several months later.
And the chaos/riot effects may take down systems even faster. Read "Patriots" by James Rawles for plausible scenarios about just how fast things can unravel.
Anyone who thinks a few hundred cops will be able to maintain order when welfare checks are being delayed, when WICC and AFDC checks are absent, when the food giveaway programs are in tatters, when the unworking masses in big cities are sharpening their spears...
"Maybe the COBOL fairy will work a miracle."
Maybe the rumors about blocking access to the Delmarva peninsula and closing off the half-dozen bridges across the Potomac into Virginia are true.
"We have to face the fact that maybe letting a million welfare addicts and clueless Washington lawyers and bureaucrats simply kill and eat each other is a Good Thing,' said D.C. remediation manager M. Stewart.
--Tim May
---------------------------------------------------------On second thought, the panic won't really begin until Oprah "discovers" Y2K.
I can see hordes of women pouring into the stores asking if they have "Oprah's Grain Grinder" and "Oprah's Water Purifier."
Of course, there will never be an Oprah's AR-15 or Oprah's 12-gauge, so I guess the rest of us are safe from the Cannibal Oprah Mutants.
--Tim May
------------------------------------------------------------I vote for a Rosie 12 gauge pump and an O'Donnell 30-06.
Dark
------------------------------------------------------------The VAST majority of the population is sitting on the fence. There are samll contingents of outright 'dommers' and hardcore 'pollyannas'. But the majority, that fickle feckless majority is sitting on the fence. Mostly, they just do not want to 'contemplate' the bad news. Now, they will have no choice and they will be moved one step closer to the INEVITABLE panic.
My paradigm for the final outcome is a cattle stampede. A stampede does not need a great percentage of the herd going loco to cause the stampede. Just a small percentage and the rest, the 'cattle', the 'sheeple' will run for the exits.
The Mayor of DC said that his cause in releasing this info is not to 'alarm' but to 'ease' the public mind. Now, in the past, they have done EVEYTHING possible to do anything but admit or even MENTION trouble. For them to have gone this far is indicative of grave grave problems.
Won't be long now.
Paul Milne
----------------------------------------------------------I wonder how our friends ____ and ______ will spin their way out of THIS one....
At this point, if it is true, I would urge everyone to ignore such pople and wake up to reality....If Washington is admitting this, and it becomes a Major News Story, then Washington will have pushed The Panic Button.....This would reveal that not too long ago, Washington was Crowing about how they were 93% Compliant, and how there was nothing to worry about.....
This would prove that THEY LIED....
Koskinen LIED.....
And it opens the Floodgates for The Sheep to wonder "Who else has been lying?".....
I have to wonder about the timing of this story, and what Washington could be thinking by admitting to this now, after announcing such success not too long ago....
I have an idea....They never were having great success and they have decided to let us in on the joke.....
There is but one thing to think of from here on out...
PREPARE....
TheSaint
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-- 2 heads spinning (allaha@earthlink.net), June 28, 1999.
Finally!!! An article that says, without too much wishy-washy disconnect, that there WILL BE PROBLEMS. I have a feeling that this one will make quite a few people 'Get It'.-TECH32-
-- TECH32 (TECH32@NOMAIL.COM), June 28, 1999.
We regulars KNEW on this forum that DeeCee was gonna be toast a long time ago - we all warned MVI (Move Immediate) not to go there but he went anyway :)...This comes as absolutely NO surprise whatsoever, DeeCee will be a veritable Beirut, a Killing Field, a Falls Road by the end of the first week of January. It is inevitable.
Ever read "Clockers"???
Can you imagine how those projects will react?
Get out of Dodge if you can MVI...
-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), June 28, 1999.
Yea, it sure would be good to hear from MVI. Haven't seen him since the 60 min. gig. Hope he's keeping his eyes open... <:)=
-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), June 28, 1999.
Sobering post to this related thread:
Washington DC isn't "likely" to be readyTime for attempted, fitful sleep.
May history not repeat.
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-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), June 28, 1999.
I wonder if there's any connection between the Washington Post article and the appearance this morning of "Mild Mannered Reporter":http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=0010hf
"Don't take the money and run" says FDIC
-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), June 28, 1999.
No doubt, Linkmeister. Unless he is the 'unknown comic'....sure gave me a bunch of yuks! This will be big. Milne correctly points out those who have been sitting on the fence, we're about to see some eyeballs beginning to 'roll back'. This will only be the dope slap though. It will take more than this, but, it IS the beginning. Sysman, I'm also wondering what this will do to the Prince's New Year's Eve Ball! Hope they put RSVP on the bottom of those invitations! (hehehe)
-- Will continue (farming@home.com), June 28, 1999.
Another version of the Washington Post article is at this link:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPcap/1999-06/28/074r-062899- idx.html
-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), June 28, 1999.
Kritter,Read the story, listened to Matt Drudge comfirm the story on the radio, not a word heard this am on that story from tv. Amazing! God help us. (As we prepare, more rice and tuna!!!)
-- Tess (preparingfortheworst@prayingforthebest.com), June 28, 1999.
The Post Article:"City officials want to CONVINCE (thats convince)the public that the new year will begin without chaos"-----ok are you ready--- "NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS WITH D.C.OPERATIONS OR OUTSIDE SERVICES SUCH AS TELEPHONE,GAS AND ELECTRICTY". (end of paragraph).
I live 20 min. from D.C.!! (anybody fee my pain?)
-- David Butts (dciinc@aol.com), June 28, 1999.
Well, Jack Sprat, you are just one lucky guy! I am still stuck in Fairfax, VA, just 15 mins. from DC (that is not in rush hour, which is 60-75 mins.) I have been writing to forums to ask that people contact the White House and their reps on the Hill to loudly protest via phone, e-mail, fax, letter, this horrific farce of a New Year's Eve party Clinton has planned for DC. It is to begin on 12/31 and last for 3 days. Can you see it all now?!?! Frantic masses trying to escape the city, which is already overburdened without their coming to this bash, and dashing madly through the suburbs, and....(you finish the thought!) Please call the White House as I just did at 202-456-1111, then hit "0" for talking directly to a comment taker. It could take several tries...the line is busy! Then write to Slick Willy at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Wash, DC 20500. Help us in suburban Virginia and Maryland, as well as DC residents, won't you? Thanks! As someone said, you cannot imagine how this feels, unless you live here and you can't get away. Anyone have a bugout retreat with a spare room?
-- Elaine Seavey (Gods1sheep@aol.com), June 28, 1999.
I woke up this morning, and on the way to work and on the way home I flipped through the radio dial, hoping to hear more information on DC in the news, and some serious discussions on talk radio about these developements. This is the NY/NJ/PA area...and NOTHING. Not even a single word on the subject. I'm still completely amazed. Beyond amazed. Flabbergasted. Stupified. Cocking my head like a Jack Russell Terrior. -kritter
-- kritter (kritter@adelphia.net), June 28, 1999.
Lots on csy2k, too much to keep track ...Based on recent events, the 60 Minutes Y2K update, the two LA Y2K fun simulated tests (Mayor in elevator, 3,000,000 gallons of sewage in park), the Washington Post Expose on DeeCee (Locomotive sized generators? 90 days of water), I am declaring Tim May and Frank Ney to be prudent, conservative, almost pollyanna-ish on Y2K. I seem to be crammed into the extreme end with -bks-
Here's the graphic:
LA Baron Milne cory May WPost GNorth bks Ney 60M DCgov Info
|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------| Polly Doomer
The Washington Water people grabbing for locomotive sized generators kinda trumps my 10 watt solar panel and plan to borrow a 4KW generator.
Compare the Hospital's plan for up to 90 days of bottle water with Tim's vinyl water bladders.
Hundreds (thousands) of cops working 12 hour shifts and guarding 120 key points (they'll have food and water stored there) seems more than Frank's 30-06 deer rifle, or whatever it is that he has.
I don't like it. I don't like the news from DC or LA.
I got a bad feeling about this. Hey Pollies, CET, Hoffy, -bks-, JEM, crank up your propaganda mill and spin the Post story.
If a bank issued the same statement as the Post and the DeeCee Water company, it would mention their "Locomotive sized generator" and suggest 30, 60, 90 days of cash.
I haven't seen any comments on "Darth" Bennett ripping OMB on their 79, 93, 93% status either. Stop slacking off Pollies... where are you?
cory hamasaki
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-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), June 28, 1999.
A pity comment from Gary North which we also have observed first-hand: "The city is stocking up on fuel. The city's hospital is stocking up on medicines.But we are told by everyone not to stock up for more than 72 hours.
Why? Because officials do not want supplies that they intend to buy to be out of stock because the rest of us tried to stock up. At an auction, it is to the bidders' advantage to reduce the number of competing bidders. This keeps prices lower."--------------------------------------------------------------
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-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), June 28, 1999.
Heard the news on WTOP (DC station) Monday morning as I drove into work. The image that popped into my mind was Klinton's New Year's Party becoming his coronation ceremony, as the military is called out for martial law duty."Against a background of a sky lit by burning buildings, Emporer Bill and Empress Hillary proceed hand-in-hand towards thier thrones, only to be interrupted by shouting and shooting from the back of the crowd. Five hundred thousand party-crashers, drawn to the event like moths to the only working electric lights in DC, begin their imitation of locusts and army ants..."
The insanity demonstrated in both announcements from DC shows the intense cluelessness amongst those in the power positions in that city. If things don't even go as wrong as they possibly can, DC is going to look like Mogadishu or Phnom Phin when they fell.
Cory I agree with Paul, exucute Plan C no later than Christmas. Go directly past Plan A and do not stop at Plan B any longer than it takes to load the transport vehicles. And once on-site consult with the Barron to see a Plan D is now warranted.
Something like "What starts with D that's safely far enough from DC? Debuque? Des Moines? Dodge City?"
More tuna! More rice! More .223!
WW
-- Wildweasel (vtmldm@epix.net), June 28, 1999.
Please keep those of us who live in DC and can't leave in your thoughts and prayers... peace, Libby
-- Libby Alexander (libbyalex@aol.com), June 29, 1999.
Libby -- As I think you know, we've started some team-building activities on the chat sessions. Don't give up. Do plan some sort of bug-out strategy. It can be done.
-- BigDog (BigDog@duffer.com), June 29, 1999.
I'd love to follow that advice, but one cannot bugout to a safer place without the money to do so, nor without some few persons as a community. When you live in the suburbs of DC and are a single female of mature age, whose only extra cash has been and is going into her Y2K prep stuff, HOW do you bugout? That mountain someone mentioned sounded awfully good right about now. Ideas anyone? This is a serious query.
-- Elaine Seavey (Gods1sheep@aol.com), June 29, 1999.
Elaine, back when I was in D.C. (actually, Fairfax, VA), I went to all the Y2K meetings, such as the WDCY2K meetings at Fannie Mae. There was always a lot of chit-chat right before and after the technical content. And I met a lot of people who sorely wished they could get things together and head out to a rural location, but for one reason or other didn't see how. (And that was three months ago -- prior to the sewage spill in California, and the recent Washingon Post article!) You may want to rub elbows, etc., and see if perhaps pooling resources could be feasible.
I wish you the very best of luck. "Where there is a will there is a way."
-- Jack (jsprat@eld.net), June 29, 1999.
Thank you so much, Jack Sprat! I also live in Fairfax, and would love to get together with the group you mention. How do I find them? Sounds like a good lead! All suggestions welcome right now, believe me. Thanks again.
-- Elaine Seavey (Gods1sheep@aol.com), June 30, 1999.