Educational use only...yada,yada,yada...... Grocers, utilities say Y2K won't hurt

They're confident consumers will have all the necessities on New Year's Eve

A roundup of Rochester's Y2K preparations A look at what can be expected locally next weekend:

Supplies: Wegmans Food Markets will close at 9 p.m. Friday and will

reopen at 7 a.m. Saturday. Store pharmacies will be open from 9 a.m.

to 1 p.m. Saturday. Tops Friendly Markets will close at 8 p.m.

Friday and will reopen at 9 a.m. Saturday.

Both chains say that they have plenty of food and supplies on hand; no shortages are expected.

Several stores will be open New Year's Day. Area Wal-Marts will be open regular Saturday hours (times vary depending on location); BJ's Wholesale Clubs will be open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Power: Rochester Gas and Electric Corp. has been getting ready for Y2K for two years and thinks that its systems will be fine. More than 200 employees will be working New Year's Eve, and the utility's control center will be fully staffed. The company will not need to rely on outside sources for electricity because most of the area's energy is produced at the Ginna Nuclear Power Plant in Ontario, Wayne County, and at the Russell Station in Greece. Most businesses and industries will be closed for the holiday, lowering the demand for electricity.

Communications: Frontier Telephone has updated software to make the local telephone network Y2K compliant. But delays in receiving a dial tone could occur if everyone attempts to call at once with millennium greetings. The New York Relay Center, which enables hearing and deaf people to communicate on the phone, urges people not to call early on Saturday simply to test their system.

Public safety: Do not call 911 unless you need a response from police, fire or ambulance personnel. Extra workers will be staffing the 911 center.

The Rochester Fire Department will have three extra units working New Year's Eve in anticipation of answering automatic alarms that may go off or elevators that may stop at midnight.

Up to 30 extra personnel will be working, many on fire safety detail for fireworks that will be launched from five sites downtown. Because people will be out driving and partying, more EMS calls are expected.

Rural/Metro Medical Services plans to staff a dozen ambulances, about normal for a holiday weekend, plus have seven more crews at their headquarters. Others will be on call and can be available to travel to nearby cities if needed.

Rochester police will have extra officers -- the exact number is being kept confidential -- working New Year's Eve, not only to help coordinate the downtown fireworks but also to be on hand for emergencies throughout the city.

All requests for vacations or days off that weekend have been denied. A command center will be open in the Public Safety Building to monitor any developments, and additional officers will be on call to come to work if needed.

A few Monroe County sheriff's jail deputies will be asked to stay beyond their 11 p.m. shift change on Friday; other deputies will be on call. Monroe County's Emergency Operations Center will be staffed as a precaution. All communications equipment is believed to be Y2K compliant.

In Albany, 200 people will be working 12-hour shifts beginning Thursday in the state's Office of Emergency Operations Center. Extra state troopers also will be on duty.

Finances: State checks should arrive Jan. 3. State computers that run unemployment insurance, public assistance and lottery drawings are Y2K compliant, officials say. Banks are scheduled to reopen Jan. 3.

Transportation: RTS will offer free rides Friday from 6:30 p.m. until 1:30 a.m.; 24 buses will be running on the normal holiday schedule on Saturday. All computers in bus engines have been tested and are Y2K compliant.

The Greater Rochester International Airport has spent $1.5 million making sure that it is Y2K compliant. Emergency generators and extra staff members will be on hand in case there are any snags. Only six commercial flights are scheduled for Friday and another six on Saturday.

The news: Deadlines will be extended to capture as much local and national news as possible for the Saturday edition of the Democrat and Chronicle. Barring situations beyond the paper's control, such as a loss of power, more than 207,000 copies of the newspaper are expected to be delivered as usual, with up to 15,000 extra copies printed in anticipation of demand for the paper as a keepsake.

By Greg Livadas Democrat and Chronicle

(Dec. 26, 1999) -- Water, water, everywhere, and there's plenty of it to drink. Food, phone service, heat and electricity, emergency help and ATM access are expected to be adequate, too.

With five days left until Dec. 31, area grocers say they have been stocking up on bottled water and other necessities in preparation for a possible last-minute Y2K buying binge.

"Our bottled water is selling 44 percent over the norm," said Stefanie Zakowicz, a spokeswoman for Tops Friendly Markets. "But that's not a problem. We identified about 200 items that we thought would be the ones that people would be seeking out, including water, flashlights and batteries.

"We have increased our orders so we'll have plenty in stock," Zakowicz said. "And there will be groceries on the shelf."

Banks are assuring customers that their money will be safe. Utilities say you will have power to heat your home and clean water to drink.

Public safety agencies also say they are ready for Jan. 1, 2000, but they will have personnel standing by in the event of unexpected snags. Each agency says it is prepared but cannot vouch for the next guy.

"We're not worried at all on our end of the business," said Katie Crane, a spokeswoman for Wegmans Food Markets. "But we've got people coming in just in case."

Freezers and electronic cash registers have all been checked and appear fine.

Since September, Wegmans has been running sales on bottled water, canned goods and baby products, "hoping people will stock up," Crane said. "We've also increased our inventory on them. We have at least three weeks of extra items in our warehouse."

If people want to get a prescription refilled on Jan. 1 at Wegmans, they can do so, but they need to pay for it themselves and be reimbursed later by their insurance company, Crane said.

The area's BJ's Wholesale Clubs are normally closed on New Year's Day, but not this year. The stores will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Cathy Grimmer, general manager of the Henrietta BJ's at 1771 Brighton-Henrietta Town Line Road, said she is ready for the extra business.

Grimmer said she believes some people are buying generators from the store in preparation for Y2K. The store has plenty left, as well as supplies of bottled water, flashlights and batteries.

Even though companies have deemed themselves Y2K ready, problems can still arise.

"We believe we have done correct upgrades to our local network and are confident people are going to have a dial tone when they pick up their phones and complete their call," said Tor Constantino, a spokesman for Frontier Telephone.

But there might be delays if everyone picks up the phone at 12:01 a.m. Saturday to wish their friends a happy millennium.

"You can plan for the technological element, but you have the human factor as well," he said. "Just be a bit more patient."

[So, lets wait and see if it is enugh preperation]

-- RickJohn (rickjohn1@yahoo.com), December 26, 1999

Answers

What about...."in the event of?" Where's our leadership in that probability?

Regardless of the area's "Y2K Report Card" we still need to be committed in "educating our communities" to the potential outcome in the event of....the contrary event: things NOT operating from a compliancy! This is not to propose or post some pestimistic thinking, rather a preparatory thinking in the event of. And I'm surprised our educators and varied "social agencies" haven't sounded the necessary bullhorn on this yet! People really do need to understand the importance in having critical papers (or data) pertaining to their personal lives in order in the event our social security system finds itself within Y2K warps, and/or copies thereof. Equally important is having one's computer system cleaned up (i.e., arranged in some organized state and backed up) as well as downsized (i.e., deleting frivolous, duplicated and excess files). There is as much the threat of viruses contaminating our technological state of existence at the turn of the millennium as there is the potential glitch of some date-sensitive problem. If we do not want to be victimized by these ominous viruses, then our systems should be as much READY for any event of it. Unfortunately, our educational systems are reflecting little on this importance --- and right now I am in the absolute belief that if our systems did in fact fail at the turn of the century, we would be at a better place to function manually more quickly --- IF WE HAD AND MAINTAINED A WELL- ORGANIZED "ELECTRONICAL FILING SYSTEM," that is, knowing precisely where everything is and a back-up of it 'just in case!'

We must also be realistic in blowing our Y2K compliancy/ready horn compared to "other nations." It must be remembered that a large percentage of our goods have somewhere on its box and product..."made in China...made in Japan...made in Taiwan...made in Israel, made here, made there, etc., etc. Our economy is very much connected to many other nations in our many industries here in the United States. If those nations FAIL OR FALTER, the United States might be the last country to see or feel that collapse --- but, there is absolutely no guarantee or absolute assurance they WE WILL ESCAPE IT BECAUSE MANY OF OUR ECONOMIES AND SERVICES IN THIS COUNTRY ARE DEPENDENT ON DAILY INTERNATIONAL TRADING. If those countries that are contracted with the USA haven't a compliant (recordkeeping) system to maintain their operations with us....then what operations (and business dealings) could we possibly have as a result of being without them?

Bottom line? This is a Globular Glitch that will no doubt set off indiscriminate problems more by frantically, uninformed minds as well as those demented that will instigate a problem because the Y2K Date problem never materialized. What leaders do we have at this hour to alleviate this potential --- what leaders do we have at this hour to inspire us, not just as a city, state or nation, but globuarly to a different thinking, a different bonding should the computers globularly-wide flunk the billions of bucks that have been invested into compliant updates???

Perhaps those are two questions a singular leader cannot address at this countdown hour. Perhaps they are questions we can only direct to the leadership within ourself, to resolve being committed to whatever it will take should this ship (Mother Earth) hit an iceberg (perse!). However, we are not reaching the masses somehow to acquire a mental preparation in the event of....

[Someone, please make an editorial reference of this --- I am sometimes too emotionally frantic myself to clarify a thought and need the astute perception of another to define what I am attempting to share. Thank you]

And thank you for listening...

-- Irene Bariga (Dnew226@aol.com), December 26, 1999.

What about...."in the event of?" Where's our leadership in that probability?

Regardless of the area's "Y2K Report Card" we still need to be committed in "educating our communities" to the potential outcome in the event of....the contrary event: things NOT operating from a compliancy! This is not to propose or post some pestimistic thinking, rather a preparatory thinking in the event of. And I'm surprised our educators and varied "social agencies" haven't sounded the necessary bullhorn on this yet! People really do need to understand the importance in having critical papers (or data) pertaining to their personal lives in order in the event our social security system finds itself within Y2K warps, and/or copies thereof. Equally important is having one's computer system cleaned up (i.e., arranged in some organized state and backed up) as well as downsized (i.e., deleting frivolous, duplicated and excess files). There is as much the threat of viruses contaminating our technological state of existence at the turn of the millennium as there is the potential glitch of some date-sensitive problem. If we do not want to be victimized by these ominous viruses, then our systems should be as much READY for any event of it. Unfortunately, our educational systems are reflecting little on this importance --- and right now I am in the absolute belief that if our systems did in fact fail at the turn of the century, we would be at a better place to function manually more quickly --- IF WE HAD AND MAINTAINED A WELL- ORGANIZED "ELECTRONICAL FILING SYSTEM," that is, knowing precisely where everything is and a back-up of it 'just in case!'

We must also be realistic in blowing our Y2K compliancy/ready horn compared to "other nations." It must be remembered that a large percentage of our goods have somewhere on its box and product..."made in China...made in Japan...made in Taiwan...made in Israel, made here, made there, etc., etc. Our economy is very much connected to many other nations in our many industries here in the United States. If those nations FAIL OR FALTER, the United States might be the last country to see or feel that collapse --- but, there is absolutely no guarantee or absolute assurance they WE WILL ESCAPE IT BECAUSE MANY OF OUR ECONOMIES AND SERVICES IN THIS COUNTRY ARE DEPENDENT ON DAILY INTERNATIONAL TRADING. If those countries that are contracted with the USA haven't a compliant (recordkeeping) system to maintain their operations with us....then what operations (and business dealings) could we possibly have as a result of being without them?

Bottom line? This is a Globular Glitch that will no doubt set off indiscriminate problems more by frantically, uninformed minds as well as those demented that will instigate a problem because the Y2K Date problem never materialized. What leaders do we have at this hour to alleviate this potential --- what leaders do we have at this hour to inspire us, not just as a city, state or nation, but globuarly to a different thinking, a different bonding should the computers globularly-wide flunk the billions of bucks that have been invested into compliant updates???

Perhaps those are two questions a singular leader cannot address at this countdown hour. Perhaps they are questions we can only direct to the leadership within ourself, to resolve being committed to whatever it will take should this ship (Mother Earth) hit an iceberg (perse!). However, we are not reaching the masses somehow to inspire that mental preparation in the event of....instead, we have promoted a complacency by Report Card statistics and media reports that have been CONSISTENT for the past year! NOW...it's time for reality! We need to take this problem in the event of by the horns and confront it....just in case!

[Someone, please make whatever editorial references needed to relay this message --- I am sometimes one of those frantic minds gravely concerned to the direction our civilization is going do to escalating coincidences occuring and other factors to clarify a committed thought, and need (request?) the astute perception of another to define what I am attempting to share. Thank you]

And thank you for listening...

-- Irene Bariga (Dnew226@aol.com), December 26, 1999.