yOU KNOW WHAT i REALLY HATE!!! (other than the fact that we don't have a little section for "Post a Comment" not just "Post a Question")..........that clock!!!

not so much the number of days countdown because it moves slow and i can't see it turn over. but that little nano second thing....

as i was standing there waiting to mail my packages i could feel the nano seconds of my life slipping away at a rapid pace and i thought..."i gotta get out of here" "i have to go live my life" "it is slipping away". ......hell, i am slipping away......

-- tt (cuddluppy@yahoo.com), November 15, 1999

Answers

What I hate about that clock is that it seems to be the Post Office's entire budget for Y2K compliance. Right after those clocks were installed, nearly a year ago, they came out and said "no trouble".

-- Beached Whale (beached_whale@hotmail.com), November 15, 1999.

I love it,it always reminds me to pick up more rice,beans,and buckshot.

-- zoobie (zoobiezoob@yahoo.com), November 15, 1999.

And it's such a fiery red!

-- Faith Weaver (suzsolutions@yahoo.com), November 15, 1999.

I hate the clock because I feel I'm the only one in the Post Office crowd that it bothers...the only one who thinks Y2K is a problem...and thus, the only one on the somewhat psychotic side...(everyone else seems normal and I'm not normal) Dumb clock.

-- Psychotic (y2k@doom&gloom.com), November 15, 1999.

Hatred & nervousness about that clock got so bad it showed up in Customer Surveys so POs in TX & CA removed some of them. The survey comments were most interesting.

-- Ack! mow it down (cover@up.time), November 15, 1999.

What were the comments?

-- PD (PaulDMaher@att.worldnet.com), November 15, 1999.

Here in the Dallas area, our local Fox affiliate (Fox: we get the serious, BIG stories! NOT!) reported on the extreme discomfort it was causing everyone. Lots were taken down (Ack! beat me to that one!)

I have a day countdown on my chalkboard in my classroom and my students (8th grade) generally don't like it. Every morning when they see me change the number, they kind of moan and say "Man it's getting close, Miss". Not with any excitement in their voices, either. I explained I wasn't doing it to depress them, just because it *is* significant.

-- preparing (preparing@home.com), November 16, 1999.

Hi, preparing in the Dallas area. Wow, I'm genuinely surprised that you've been allowed to even bring the issue to your students' attention. Has no one complained about you polluting their innocent minds? Serious question, I'd be really interested to know.

-- Colin MacDonald (roborogerborg@yahoo.com), November 16, 1999.

Colin: Actually I never *was* going to bring it up to them. We do daily journal entries and one day I had run out of ideas for prompts. One kid suggested writing about Y2K, and several others quickly voiced agreement. I looked at them, shocked, and managed to ask them how much they know about it (I played dumb at first). Well, they knew quite a bit. And we're talking about kids who have rarely ever left this little working class suburb. So I said, OK, write about it, but many kids still wanted to talk about it so we did. I played the devil's advocate quite a bit ;-) Asked them questions like what would you do if the power and phones and water went out? Boys were very concerned about not being able to play video games, girls about not being able to talk on the phone. I was surprised to find out two of my students families are actually preparing. At least there were two that would admit it out loud. Some of them had heard a bit too much to not have parents who were doing some serious prepping. I gauged the interest in Y2K as a journal topic in other classes and was surprised again to find an across-the-board interest in the topic. (sigh) the kids will talk about what the adults won't. Anyway, my little countdown on the board is the result of that experience in September.

And no, no one has said anything about it. Everyone is FAST asleep!

Zzzzzzzzz, Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

-- preparing (preparing@home.com), November 16, 1999.

From: Y2K, ` la Carte by Dancr (pic), near Monterey, California

Shouldn't the post office be counting mailing days left until Christmas, or something relevant to their mission, if everything were really hunky dory? This clock makes me think of the one on the front of the Time Magazine issue that addressed Y2K. Is this the kind of pressure we should be placing on P.O. employees who have a tendency to "go postal" already?

-- Dancr (addy.available@my.webpage), November 16, 1999.

The post office countdown clocks were advertising gimmics for the sale of their 20th century stamp series -- except indirectly it has nothing to do with y2k. The coincidence is probably lost on the postal service, the fed gov, and most everyone else.

George

-- George Valentine (georgevalentine@usa.net), November 16, 1999.