We speak with many of our customers who call in for Y2k Prep products, some are more believable than others about 'goings on' in their state.

One customer from Ohio who called today had some interesting info... 1. He Worked for one of the major computer manufacturers for years. 2. His most recent job before his present one was working with the major utility (electricity) in Ohio.

He listens to the radio transmissions from this electric company on his scanner in which he has access to the channel they communicate on. He has been listening to the traffic regarding their testing and can't believe how many problems they continue to have. He said that they are failing every Y2k test they do. They have asked him to come back and help with the remediation, but he has other commitments so he can't. He believes there is NO WAY they will be ready for the rollover. Period. He continues to prep and advises everyone in Ohio to do the same.

We are from Maine , so we know nothing about Ohio and their readiness, except that this guy is very believable. He is a quiet, methodical individual who has no reason to make this up.

-- Mark (Markmic@kynd.net), December 08, 1999

Answers

How cold is Ohio in January/February?

-- stateside (alternative@warmth.needed), December 08, 1999.

If you're near the lake (e.g. Cleveland, Toledo, etc.) it can get DAMN cold with LOTS of snow.

The snow belt cuts the state roughly in half.

-- nothere nothere (notherethere@hotmail.com), December 08, 1999.

I grew up in NE Ohio. It can be VERY cold. I remember seeing Blue Oyster Cult at the Cleveland Colesium one New Year's Eve. Seventeen below zero. No, that is NOT with the windchill.

If they lose power in January, it is going to be life threating. I have a brother in Akron. He is a Y2K GI. But, he is in the minority (aren't we all). I pray this report is wrong.

Stars and Stripes

-- Stars and Stripes (stars_n_stripes@my-deja.com), December 08, 1999.

The first US Navy Master List published by Jim Lord listed Akron, part of Columbus and part of Dayton as "Partial Disruptions Likely". Columbus and Dayton are served by multiple electric companies with one of the providers listed as troublesome and the other as unlikely to have trouble.

-- Bill P (porterwn@one.net), December 08, 1999.

I can corroborate that to a point. A friend I met two years ago at my favorite gun shop works with Ohio Edison. He told me last week that things "aren't going very well with remediation & testing". He didn't get into details, he was on the way out the door with a new XM-15E2, and wanted to try it out. The point is he also has no reason to make anything up, he's been prepping since before I met him.

BTW - There are colder places than Ohio: Minnesota, Alaska, Yukon, & Siberia, but the lake effect snow here can drop a foot in just hours.

-- Powder (Powder@Keg.com), December 08, 1999.

Of all the governors of all the states, I remember the Ohio governor the best. He was the one a short while ago who warned that every Ohio resident better have a three day supply of their own heat on hand. Heat.

It was on Gary North's site. North pointed out the statement was mentioned in passing in only one of two different stories in the same edition of a Columbus paper.

-- (normally@ease.notnow), December 08, 1999.

Damn. Why is it always 'a guy I know', 'a friend of mine', 'my cousin's wife's friend' or 'on some website'?

Jeez. That credibility thing again.

-- Bad Company (johnny@shootingstar.com), December 08, 1999.

For what it's worth, here is a link to the Ohio Consumer Council's Y2K page.

"Ohio Consumer Council"

http://www.ohio.gov/cons/about/y2k.html

Also, my brother-in-law (also an engineer), who works in association with both the electric and gas company (works with the grunts that install the lines), has talked to them and they seemed pretty optimistic about Akron. No one that I know that works at Ohio Edison is bugging out.

-- Steve (sron123@aol.com), December 08, 1999.

FWIW...my sister finally GI about a month ago. Her husband works for our city electric company. We buy our power from the same source as Ohio Edison...FIRST ELECTRIC! They have been deemed compliant with limited exceptions. In fact, my brother-in-law has been coordinating our cities electrical system y2k work. Guess what? They plan to FOF!!!! They couldn't get any money appropriated to do testing and have relied on vendor statements for compliance issues. He has been pretty quiet about the y2k issue when I ask him. He justs says that he thinks we will be alright because we do not have too many PLC'S.

-- Vern (bacon17@ibm.net), December 08, 1999.

Today I read a newspaper article from Napoleon, Ohio (where Campbell Soups makes various products). The city official stated that Napoleon is "Y2K ready" and that they have ONE HALF DAY OF ELECTRICITY IF THE GRID GOES DOWN. And they have generators, but he made NO MENTION of how long they could operate off the grid.

Here's the clincher: he stated Napoleon is much better off electricity-wise than surrounding Ohio cities and towns!

-- dinosaur (dinosaur@williams-net.com), December 08, 1999.

Bad Company, You want a name? I'll be happy to provide you with the name of my friend. AFTER I get his permission. Two years is time enough to get to know if someone is credible. You know, it seems pretty obvious that if we don't work AT a place, we have to rely on friends and family members to give us the straight answers.

-- Powder (Powder@Keg.com), December 08, 1999.

'Hey, Powder, it's a source thing. You wouldn't understand.' No...I'm sure your friend is real. But people are people and perceptions being reality and all, well, I could tell you about my work and it'd lose something in context. I'd be relating my take on things.

And the reference to a name wasn't at you in particular. It just seems that the doom camp, in particular, is full of these grapevine-hearsay stories. No sources, no credibility.

That's all.

-- Bad Company (johnny@shootingstar.com), December 08, 1999.

"No sources, no credibility." I know what you mean, dude. That's what I think when I read self-reported unverified Y2K compliance claims by governemnt/industry. LOL!!!

-- King of Spain (madrid@aol.cum), December 09, 1999.

"How cold does Ohio get?"

Depends on where you are. Lake effect snow and big wind chills are the norm in north-east Ohio next to Lake Erie.

Central Ohio averages in the mid-twenties, though we've had a couple of years where we went weeks without rising above zero. We usually have one or two heavy snowstorms (6"+) in mid-January. Last year we had a really nasty two week period with over 12"+ of snow, and then nothing afterwards...

Nothing like Minnesota, North Dakota, Alaska or Maine though, nothing nearly as bad.

-- Deb M. (vmcclell@columbus.rr.com), December 09, 1999.

Honestly, winter here on the North Coast would be pretty ugly without power. Though I keep tellin' my Cleveland friends they have no clue as to what winter REALLY is. I grew up in Central NY (Mohawk Valley up on the South side of the valley) and went to school in a little town in the St. Lawrence Valley. These wusses don't understand winter here.

chuck

-- Chuck, a night driver (rienzoo@en.com), December 09, 1999.

Cleveland & Cincinnati have totally different weather. Cinti. has a few nasty snow days each year, but only a fraction of what the north has.

I don't know why anyone lives in Cleveland, when they could easily migrate south... oh well, human nature. ;->

-- lives (south@of.Dayton), December 09, 1999.