All who can get their hands on a copy of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Sunday, Oct 31th. Look in section G, FLAIR, The headline article containes the best written article on Y2K I have ever seen printed in the Media. Written by Bill McKelway, a staff writer.

Something strange though! This paper is online, (www.gatewayva.com/) Yet no mention of this article. You can find everything else though.

I'm wondering.......

-- Tommy Rogers (Been there@Just a Thought.com), October 31, 1999

Answers

Tommy, for those of us who can't get that paper, would you mind terribly putting it here, with copyright info, of course? Of could someone else out there in the Richmond area do this?

Please?

-- Preparingq (preparing@home.com), October 31, 1999.

Preparing

This is such an excellent article that we have desired from the media it must be read. I could not provide a link because the article was not listed in their On-Line service.

That is the reason I have called upon Virginians who have access to the paper. I do not know how to post without a link. Others may be more computer literate and know how to get this article posted.

Should that not be the case, and I'm a very slow typist, I promise to post excerps by 2pm tomorrow. Keep your eyes open HERE!

-- Tommy Rogers (Been there@Just a Thought.com), October 31, 1999.

thanks Tommy will be looking for either the link or the article tomorrow.

-- preparing (preparing@home.com), October 31, 1999.

Hey, anyone out there living near Lexington?

-- CD (CDOKeefe@aol.com), November 01, 1999.

Well, here is the article verbatim......

(For EDUCUCATION/RESEARCH PURP0SES only)

Richmond-Times Dispatch, Sunday, October 31, 199

Y2K A PRUDENT GUIDE TO PREPARING FOR THE BIG TICK-TOCK by Bill McKelway Times-Dispatch Staff Writer

The instant the gem-studded millennial ball at Times Square reaches its nadir, the television screen goes blank, collapsing to a pinpoint of light and then total darkness. Sirens wail in the distance. A blue light from a passing police car scrapes across the wall and disappears.

The sound of gunshots booms and crackles off nearby homes and buildings and, in the dark, someone knocks over the $200 bottle of champagne.

"What the heck," you sheepishly remember having sail when the subject of excessive cost for champagne came up in November. "This'll be the last bottle of the century."

Except for the date and the bogus rationale for buying an expensive booge, this little scenario barely differs from a normal New Year's Eve for a lot of Richmonders.

Remember last year's devastating ice storm that struck just before Christmas and left some families without electricity for almost two weeks?

Random gunshots on New Year's Eve have become nerve-shatteringly normal. Studies have shown that 5 of every 20 bottles of expensive champagne end up bubbling all over the floor.

A lot of what happens this mother of all New Year's Eves, in other words, will be entirely within the realm of usual bad luck and fickle weather.

It's certain, too, that many of those incidents will be misread as confirmation that the long-feared, little-understood phenomenon of Y2K meltdown has finally come to pass.

Armageddon arrived at midnight.

Experts are saying that the greatest thing we have to fear about Y2K may be fear itself. Misconstrued everyday mishaps could start a chain reaction of self-fulilling, prophetic doom.

While government agencies and the country as a whole have spent billions of dollars preparing for and preventing Y2K destruction and inconveniense, the average homeowner will be fending largely for himself.

Despite all the assurances, we are about to enter an unknown world.

One school of thought suggest that homeowners needn't do anything to prepare for the big switchover.

But most experts are not treating Y2K lightly.

There is a reason that some power companies will have personnel at every substation, ready to manually restore power. There is a reason that public utilities, telephone companies, banks, transportation companies, police departments and scads of others will be ready to move Jan. 1 after a week of pure non-revelry.

There is a reason that the Federal Bureau of Invertagation is warning law wnforcement agencies to plan to respond to crazed individuals who see the millennium as an appropriate time to self-destruct.

The reason is simple.

"It's as simple as, 'We can't afford to take chances,'" said Janet Clements, veteran spokeswoman for the state Department of Emergency Services.

Clements and dozens of other emergency response personnel have long planned on holing up New Year's Eve at the department's bomb shelter- like emergency communications center on Midlothian Turnpike.

"Actually," said Clements, "we'll begin moving in Dec. 27."

"How many people we actually have on hand will be determined by what happens," added Clements, whose holiday tour of duty is "all part of my job. It's what I do."

The bomb shelter may be Virginia's most Y2K-defiant structure. Food, power and communications are all Y2K-proof. During the recent flooding and last year's ice storm, emergency services personnel were even able to issue press releases for beleaguered, shut-off communities, using amateur ham radio operators.

Clements, though, stressed that the department will not be a help line for individual residents.

Rather, the mandate for emergency services is to coordinate disaster respones of state agencies and to make sure Virginia government and service agencies are up and running.

For homeowners and the Y2K information-overloaded, the most important thing to do is prepare wisely and to begin NOW.

Don't let yourself be caught Jan.1 with a bathtub full of drinking water, a 10-pound bag of rice and a spilled liter of champagne.

Perhaps the biggest problem is knowing where to turn for help.

Internet Web sites, depending on their creators, are urging homeowners to buy everything from an extra rifle for self-protection to expensive generators and food processing equipment.

For the most reliable information, turn to reliable sources.

Clements said that the state's emergency services department has found the the American Red Cross is one of the better sources of information for the basic homeowner Y2K preparedness.

More than 120,000 of the straight-forward brochures have been distributed to local governments for citizen use and are available at the American Red Cross office in Richmond.

The basic message is this: Prepare well in advance as you would for a prolonged, major winter storm. The ice storm last Christmas, in other words, might have been great practice for what's to come.

But there is also this, according to the Red Cross: "Many experts predict the problem is more likely to be a presistent one over a few years rather than a single 'crash.'"

Y2K is a year, not a moment.

Still, the most widespread problems are most likely to occur in the first days of the year.

Think basic survival: food, shelter, clothing.

Remember what happens at Richmond area groceries when there is the slimmest chance of snow.

Now imagine what will happen at Richmond groceries when there is the slimmest chance at midnight Dec. 31 that life as we know it will end.

Make some basic decisions about what sort of lifestyle is reasonable.

The degree to which you want to live a normal life will be directly proportional to the amount of money and work it will take to accomplish that.

If you can't bear giving up luxuries, plan on spending a bundle. This means buying a generator, learning how to operate it and getting used to the steady roar of its engine.

And remember that just because you want life to proceed normally, that dosen't mean that everyone else does. The country club is closed? We can't go bowling? My ATM card dosen't work? The television stations are out? The interstate is closed?

If there are children in your family unit, it might be a good idea to sit down and talk about how things might change around the old homestead.

Life inside the manse might resemble a camping trip for a while.

How about a few test-run meals of warm powdered milk and bean soup cooked over a camp stove? That means cooked outdoors over a camp stove.

The Red Cross checklist of things-to-do is compact, but still time- consuming. Finding and checking with the manufacturers of electronic equipment alone is daunting. Garage door openers, computer games, thermostats, security systems and electronic locks could all malfunction or be damaged if preventive steps arn't taken.

The Red Cross brochure sends a sobering message, but it lacks detail.

The Red Cross brochure is a simple eight-page fold-out. The Complete Y2K Home Preparation Guide (Prentice Hall PTR, $19.99) is 389 pages.

And don't assume that the Red Cross is fully knowledgeable about what what if about to befall us.

The Red Cross suggests preparing for a weeklong period of total disruption (electricity, water, food, etc.). Other reputable sources suggest that storing goods for a month-long interruption is preferable.

Water is critical. Typical water usage per person is about 60 gallons per day. Strict conservation can cut that consumption level down to five gallons. For a family of four, that's a lot of water-filled bathtubs.

Experts stress that residents should have materials at hand not only for water storage but for purifying it.

Food comes next. Begin stocking up on non-perishable food items such as beans and rice, cereals and powdered or canned milk.Even if nothing happens Jan. 1, the rush on food at groceries will be unprecedented. Buy early and plan menus that stress foods that don't need refrigeration.

Clothing is critical as well. Winter is coming. Have plenty of coats, sweaters, socks and dry shoes available. Blankets are basic and heat sources must be certified for indoor use. Don't expect to cook or heat indoors with the charcoal grill, for instance. Camping cook stoves should be able to use two types of fuel sources.

The millennial New Year's celebration, once envisioned as an opportunity for a great escape, is looking less and less exciting.

One Y2K preparation guide suggests that if you're determined to spend the New Year at the Pyramids, you might get just what you ask for. Being stuck in Egypt for a year might not be too farfetched a notion.

Having money on hand and proof of personal accounts, life insurance, stocks, bonds, wills and other similar items are essential. Get a deposit box or indestructible document holder for your home.

Experts warn that having too much cash on hand can be dangerous. Use travelers checks.

Batteries, flashlights, a transitor radio and a tankful of gasoline in the family car are all essentials.

And, finally, don't forget that 2000 is a leap year.

On second thought, go ahead and do forget it. Feb. 29 should be the least of your worries. _____________________________________________________________________

Also: Y2K web sites listed----

www.garynorth.com www.y2knews.com www.wild2k.com www.year2000.com www.readyfory2k.com www.yourdon.com

-- Tommy Rogers (Been there@Just a Thought.com), November 01, 1999.

So right, Tommy. Perhaps we will get more of these as the time approaches but I am very cynical at this point and there is not much time left until the window of action closes.

-- Mike Lang (webflier@erols.com), November 01, 1999.

Now, see, I wonder what optimists like Hoff and Deck think when they read stuff like this. They're both VA.

-- lisa (lisa@work.now), November 01, 1999.

Tommy, thanks for posting this. This sort of coverage is what we have all been wishing for and waiting for in the press. Although it is late in coming, better late than never! Let's hope that the message gets across.

-- Ekaine Seavey (Gods1sheep@aol.com), November 01, 1999.

I do not live in Virginia... but I found the article interesting. It really takes the Red Cross a few additional steps. Nothing about the collapse of civilization.

-- Ken Decker (kcdecker@worldnet.att.net), November 02, 1999.