Getting swamped with orders for NZ!greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread |
Our Emergency Orders Operations here at IBM is getting killed with emergency parts that need to be sent to New Zealand and Australia asap. They tell me that they are getting 10-15 orders a minute!! That is very unusual since we don't get that many AN HOUR for the whold world. I'll try and find out where the emergencies are taking place. They tell me that IBM is even chartering flights since they can't wait for Airborne and FedX to pickup. This is extremely costly for IBM since an average chartered flight to New Zealand could easly run around $10K!! I keep you all informed
-- Familyman (timeisticking@way.now), December 31, 1999
We need to hear more about this ASAP!!
-- Vernon Hale (create@premiernet.net), December 31, 1999.
If this is true, it means trouble for all of us everywhere. If it's not true then it's just another global legend and I can go have breakfast. Pancakes with blueberry syrup, anyone?
-- cody (cody@y2ksurvive.com), December 31, 1999.
Familyman,Don't hesitate a minute if you have credible info to share!
-- Vernon Hale (create@premiernet.net), December 31, 1999.
Details and verify fellow pensyian. Please.I am reporting via net to others... need details
-- art welling (art@thatplace.com), December 31, 1999.
Damn, hope brilliant Kosky has anything ordered for NZ also auto ordered and stocked in multiples for the home team. Just realized that by the time we in the US rollover, the supplies may be WIPED OUT.*just one more detail to fret over*
-- Hokie (Hokie_@hotmail.com), December 31, 1999.
Hang on folks! I am trying to see the orders on my screen. Just need a couple more minutes. It's getting crazy in here and we are short handed!!
-- Familyman (timeisticking@way.now), December 31, 1999.
Is Familyman a credible source? I remember seeing some posts from him from time to time but I don't recall his background or his Y2K point of view. This is not to suggest in any way that he is not a credible source; I'm just not that familiar with him. Any comments out there?
-- cody (cody@y2ksurvive.com), December 31, 1999.
Familyman...Can you please confirm with Sysops or someone that you actually work for IBM?? Can you send an email to verify to Diane or someone?? Something to let us know with an IBM address perhaps? We need to know that you are credible.
IF you are real we need to be confident in this with some sort of reporting confirmation. Hope you can understand the skepticism, nothing personal...but some of us might doubt that you work for IBM or would have trouble convincing others.
RC
-- RC (racambab@mailcity.com), December 31, 1999.
Familyman,What sort of parts? Mainframe?
-- (4@5.6), December 31, 1999.
I have not seen any posts from nz so far on this board. I have tried 3 web cams and they do not work.At this site there are webcams and places for people to report from nz. 6 people are registered to report but no reports. There some webcams into nz cities that do not work. Only one of a highway (motor way in brit parlance) is working and shows cars and streetlights (I believe).
Earthcam's web site is also not working.
Comments or speculations?
-- Interested Spectator (is@the_ring.side), December 31, 1999.
You would think that they would not be "short-staffed" considering that computer problems are what this whole del is about...I don't know..
-- Todd D. (tie@flash.net), December 31, 1999.
Question for you all. If he is sooo busy how does he have anytime to surf the web or post on a board. Don't you think that he would be taking orders or somthing that has to do with getting these parts to thier destination?I smell someone who is pulling our legs!
-- Jugster (Jugster@nowhere.com), December 31, 1999.
Familyman always seems like a straight shooter, never gotten any bad mojo/intel in the past. So if'n this's legit, time to 'batten down them hatches' we're in for a hell of a ride!
-- Billy Boy (Rakkasan101st@Aol.com), December 31, 1999.
Sounds like familyman is having a good time since we're all hungering for news. Familyman put up an all you can eat buffet and we're wearing our stretchy pants. Grain of salt people!
-- Guy Daley (guydaley@bwn.net), December 31, 1999.
Familyman's story of posting at work is credible. I would have reacted the same way. I don't know if he works for Big Blue, or is a distributor, or what. He's given consistent posts, never engaged in the petty stuff or drama. Guess we'll find out when he gets a few minutes, though.
-- Hokie (Hokie_@hotmail.com), December 31, 1999.
OK. Most of the orders is going to a central IBM location in Sydney, Australia and Auckland, NZ. From there they will be distributed to locations by priority first. In other words, if the hospitals (just an example) need a part they would come first. I will try and pinpoint as to where some of the parts are going. I find this to be really strange because standard practice here is that the part is usually sent straight to the customer, not an IBM location. The only other reason I can think of that would direct IBM to send the parts this way is due to the high volume and they want to reduce the shipping cost. BTW, we are also seeing a higher than normal volume of emergency parts going to Guam right now.I and IBM expected this sort of activity to happen but, I think our Emergency Orders department didn't expect this much all at one time. Luckly, our staff has increased in the last couple of minutes and we should be able to keep up. I'll keep in touch as long as possible since I leave at 11:30am (EST) today. I'm also typing fast so, expect errors. (:0)
-- Familyman (timeisticking@way.now), December 31, 1999.
http://www.watchnz.govt.nz/home/Navigationpage.htmVery slow loading page.
NZ gov reporting no utility problems at this time.
Godspeed,
-- Pinkrock (aphotonboy@aol.com), December 31, 1999.
Familyman,I hate to ask this.... but I must.
IBM on the phone just now denied having a facility in Central PA or South Central PA, where Familyman claims to hail from.
Thoughts?
-- art welling (art@thatplace.com), December 31, 1999.
For what it's worth... Familyman is not just surfing the web, he has been posting for a while on this board, but how do we know it's the same person?Also, we are not seeing any live shots from NZ, question is why not? Could be nothing, probably is. So far so good on the Y2K front, if the world pulls this off we have much to be thankful for.
-- LALA (LaLALAND@aol.com), December 31, 1999.
Don't get too excited folks -- I think your legs are being pulled. Let's analyse the post for a moment.>Our Emergency Orders Operations here at IBM is getting killed with emergency parts that need to be sent to New Zealand and Australia asap.
An Emergency Orders Operations Department has the makings of a made up name. When you have an emergency you do not necessarily know what to order --> maybe primary support will determine an order and expidite the ordering process. Imagine the overhead for an Emergency Orders Group. Such a group probably does not exist.
>chartered flight to New Zealand could easly run around $10K
One seat on a plane costs that much at the last moment -- I imagine a chartered plane would be much more.
> Usually large companies have deliniation of responsibilities so for this one person to know the metrics (present and previous) and the flight info and the charter pricing seems very suspect.
Systems can be canabalized if there was a problem requiring replacement (ie take from the test environments, etc)
If there was a need for entire systems replacement then the important aspect to the emergency would be qualified staff sent to the sites.
Methinks someone wants to get peeps all roused up. Of course with verification I would eat crow, however...
-- Paul (paul@fakehome.com), December 31, 1999.
I dunno, Art. His posting seems credible. There are too many intricate details for a hoax. Either that or he's a really good actor! The part about IBM sending parts to a central warehouse rather than to specific customers certainly rings true; it's just what would happen in this situation but it's not something that someone making this up would think of.
-- cody (cody@y2ksurvive.com), December 31, 1999.
Hokie,Much of my posting has been done from my desk at AT&T. Also, I had the task of printing out the Y2K Contingency Plans for our command center. Pretty extensive plans overall. I got a major giggle over an item on one of the equpment lists for our switches:
ITEM-Blankets SKILLS NEEDED-Common Sense
Proof that SOMEONE at AT&T has a sens of humor!
-- Ludi (ludi@rollin.com), December 31, 1999.
http://www-4.ibm.com/software/year2000/alert/No alerts posted as of 1300GMT.
Godspeed,
-- Pinkrock (aphotonboy@aol.com), December 31, 1999.
Okay, folks without power can't post, but FWIW:http://www.jrwhipple.com/z2k/member_news.html
News & Alerts If you have recently visited this web page, you may need to do a REFRESH to see the most current news.
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1:00am January 1st 2000 --- Melbourne Australia rweir@alphalink.com.au
There doesn't appear to be any problems with the arrival of Y2K as all power utilities are fully available and things appear as normal. My car computer didn't give any trouble when driving home from where we were involved in a New Year Party. Will post again if anything develops towards morning.
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3:00PM December 31, 1999 Basel, Switzerland, Europe. toplyrics@mail.com
The world time clock on Swissinfo has a millenium bug. The site is very crowded at the moment. http://swissinfo.net/cgi/worldtime/clock.pl?Chatham,New=Zealand It shows the following:
Current time in Chatham, New Zealand is: Saturday, January 1, 19100 - 03:16:40
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2:15PM December 31, 1999 Basel, Switzerland, Europe. toplyrics@mail.com
The largest chemical company in Switzerland has lost all data connections to Sydney shortly after midnight in Sydney (2:00PM in Switzerland). No emails can be sent at the moment and no data transfers are possible. We are working on the problem. I'll keep you uptodate. Angie
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00:50 AM January 1, 2000, Sydney Australia. gary.vanheugten@pioneer-international.com
No problems reported, water, telecom, power functioning as normal. Just beautiful fireworks in Sydney harbour. Happy new century.
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00:45 AM January 1, 2000 Canberra, ACT, Australia. integre@smartchat.net.au
All electricity, telecommunications and Internet services are operating normally. Electricity services will not transition to January 1, 2000 until 01:00 AM ESST. Australia's eastern seaboard is interconnected and synchronised to non daylight saving time.
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12.55 am Jan 1, 2000 Nelson New Zealand johncotton@xtra.co.nz
All essential services are functioning. Power Telephone (Including the Cell phone network) are functioning Y2K readiness centers report no malfunctions. Internet is not affected. National Y2K readiness center due to report in 5 minutes.
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00:15 AM January 1,2000 Auckland, New Zealand barbara- knox@iname.com
The power is on, the phones work, my ISP is still functioning, and my police scanner indicates no problems downtown (just a few drunks). So far, so good.
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10:00 AM December 31, 1999 Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia Mark@cable-internet.com.au
Whilst not directly attributable to a Year2000 problem, the demand on automatic teller machines ( used very heavily here at any time ) appears to have caused a network outage across the facility which allows people to draw cash from other banks' ATM's ( sort of an electronic clearing house ) . No-one using their own bank's ATM's were affected . The outage was sporadic and lasted several hours.
Yet I still believe Familyman.
-- Hokie (Hokie_@hotmail.com), December 31, 1999.
ART!Check out Simpson Ferry Rd, Mechanicsburg. BTW: is that your real email addy. I'll send you my email and phone # and you can call me. Have you ever been to Mechanicsburg? I don't have a clue as to who you called but, they would recognize my location if you referenced to "696". Thats my location #. Folks, this is straight up and if you don't believe me....OH WELL!!
-- Familyman (timeisticking@way.now), December 31, 1999.
Art,If you live here in central PA just pick up the phone book and you will see IBM.
You didn't call.
-- duh (artisadumb@ass.com), December 31, 1999.
Familyman did state he might make typos. Perhaps for the chartered flight he meant $100K and not $10K (which would make more sense, although a tad pricey).
-- Phread (lurking@y2k.com), December 31, 1999.
Familyman said, "and if you don't believe me....OH WELL!!"Familyman, just keep reporting. The doubts will have a way of getting worked out.
-- Vernon Hale (create@premiernet.net), December 31, 1999.
familyman:please send me your e-mail address so that i may contact you if this forum goes down again.thanks, steve
-- steve (basscatcher5@hotmail.com), December 31, 1999.
Family Man.I called information, then an IBM 800 number. They denied having a facility there, but I might too if I were them right now.
Ok, with your offer I believe you. You can e-mail me info and I will call you if you wish. Then I can certify to forum.
I THANK you for your reporting.
Art In Lancaster
-- art welling (artwelling@mindspring.com), December 31, 1999.
The population of New Zealand is 6 million. About the same as New York City. Think it over.
-- Earl (eshuholm@tstar.net), December 31, 1999.
I live 20 minutes from mechanicsberg,there is an ibm distribution facility there.I have a phone number i could post,but i dont want them to get swamped with calls,
-- eric micael....allen (bizerr4@hotmail.com), December 31, 1999.
Art:Email was sent and I apologize for DUH. My coworker got a little upset when there was doubts. Going on a smoke break now.
DAMN, I COULD USE A COLD COORS LIGHT RIGHT ABOUT NOW!!
-- Familyman (timeisticking@way.now), December 31, 1999.
How would they know so quickly what parts to order? I've never seen software debugged that fast. What type of parts are they: Hardware or Software. Hardware is reasonable as it was reported that there were brief power outages so there may have been surges during that time.BTW
From: http://www.jrwhipple.com/z2k/member_news.html
I got this:
00:45 AM January 1, 2000 Canberra, ACT, Australia. integre@smartchat.net.au
All electricity, telecommunications and Internet services are operating normally. Electricity services will not transition to January 1, 2000 until 01:00 AM ESST. Australia's eastern seaboard is interconnected and synchronised to non daylight saving time.
Does this mean the Australian grid still will roll over in about 30 mins even though eastern australia has rolled over?
-- Interested Spectator (is@the_ring.side), December 31, 1999.
Which facilities would be the most likely to have substantial IBM hardware, and be open at midnight, and be able to be called? Hospital, distribution warehouses, or ???We here on the West coast must hope against hope that this is not true, because we will be on the hind teat so to speak, for spare parts!
Shouldn't IBM be a bit more concerned about conserving inventories for "CRITICAL" systems at home. Nothing against NZ or anybody else. It just seems likely they would have been directed to allocate parts on a priorty pecking order. (shrug)
-- Michael (mikeymac@uswest.net), December 31, 1999.
%$#@!$%Familyman is verified.
Hardware orders going nuts.
-- art welling (art@thatplace.com), December 31, 1999.
Which facilities would be the most likely to have substantial IBM hardware, and be open at midnight, and be able to be called? Hospital, distribution warehouses, or ???We here on the West coast must hope against hope that this is not true, because we will be on the hind teat so to speak, for spare parts!
Shouldn't IBM be a bit more concerned about conserving inventories for "CRITICAL" systems at home. Nothing against NZ or anybody else. It just seems likely they would have been directed to allocate parts on a priority pecking order. (shrug)
-- Michael (mikeymac@uswest.net), December 31, 1999.
I have to work now... be back to this thread later
-- art welling (art@thatplace.com), December 31, 1999.
Familyman, thanks for the info.Art, thanks for the verification (although all the posts I've seen from Familyman over the months appear righteous, nice to have IV&V).
-- Phread (lurking@y2k.com), December 31, 1999.
Come on, don't you find it the least suspicious that Familyman never mentioned that he worked for IBM before now? If he has had access to this type of information since he started posting here, why hold out until now?Now, as far as being "verified", you may have received and e-mail from an ibm.com domain but that only verifies his location. It does not verify what he does (he could be a janitor for God's sake) nor does it verify the claims that he is making. Think people, THINK! Don't be so quick to swallow unsubstantiated BS just because it is what you want to hear!
-- My Full Name (My@email.address), December 31, 1999.
Familyman! Thanks very much for info. Keep 'em coming!
-- silver ion (ag3@interlog.com), December 31, 1999.
Appears to be PC and small puter parts going out.Makes sense. You can diagnose a small puter pretty fast. Big ones can take days.
-- art welling (art@thatplace.com), December 31, 1999.
Okay all you doubting Thomas who skewered this report. You just couldn't keep it neutral could you?????Now its been confirmed... Time to eat crow... its time for some apologies to the Familyman... I was neutral on this myself as it should be...but to lambaste and analyze and dismiss off the cuff is only showing your extreme bias that could get you killed someday (be it Y2K or something else)...
-- RC (racambab@mailcity.com), December 31, 1999.
My NOI Name...I verified by calling him, checking the business location, and checking the phone #.
Short of going to his work and stapling my business card on his forehead, what do you want?
-- art welling (art@thatplace.com), December 31, 1999.
"Appears to be PC and small puter parts going out.Makes sense. You can diagnose a small puter pretty fast. Big ones can take days."
called fix on failure
lots of failure
-- (4@5.6), December 31, 1999.
I bet that art, duh, and familyman posting here are one in the same.My favorite is the fact that PC's have to fly from overseas :-)
-- Paul (paul@fakehome.com), December 31, 1999.
Ok, I got a buddy out of bed. He works puters for a multination with plants in Autrailia. They use IBM servers. He is now checking in to see if his co-workers over there are having an exciting day.
-- art welling (art@thatplace.com), December 31, 1999.
Art what methoed of verification was used for famlyman? Thanks Taylor Neusse
-- Taylor Neusse (taylorn@bellsouth.net), December 31, 1999.
ART,WOW...thanks a lot for your efforts there...mucho mucho appreciated.
POLLIES... It's time to face the music... talk about DENIAL??? You people are pathetic. I fear pollies will go beserk here if it is as bad as some doomers anticipate. We may have to worry about Pollies trying to kill the Doomers if the Pollies turn out to be wrong. LL is the perfect example of polly mental instability.
-- RC (racambab@mailcity.com), December 31, 1999.
Armstrong world industries. Autrailia.They run an IBM server, and about 40 IBM pc's in addition to other stuff. No problems at this time with their stuff. Inside dope is that nuorotic (of COURSE its spelled wrong) program manager over here is calm and happy.
Take it for what its worth
-- art welling (art@thatplace.com), December 31, 1999.
OK folks, here is probably my last post on this subject.Orders are still coming in strong. When I mentioned chartered flights, that means it will be going out by a company we use called Sky Courier. Airborne does not pick up today, for some reason, and we are forced to use this company. I'm having a hard time reaching my friends over in EO because they're a little busy but, I do know that most of the parts are for local buisnesses and I haven't heard of any critical situations. I also know that flights are minimal this evening and IBM may be just stocking their locations "just in case" therefore, it busy THIS MORNING rather than taking the chance tonight. Just MHO.
I'll be leaving here shortly so, I want to take this chance to say "Happy New Year" to everyone. It's been a wild and strange ride for me. Thanks for all the info (even the pollies) and I hope to see everyone here next week. If anything comes up before I leave, I'll be sure to post.
Take care and best to you and yours.
-- Familyman (Happynewyear@PA.com), December 31, 1999.
Thanks for posting Familyman and Happy New Year to you and yours as well!
-- Will continue (farming@home.com), December 31, 1999.
Thanks Familyman, Art, and the buddy who got woken up and drug into this uh event. I imagine the tip helps some of the pros here place a "just incase" skeleton order.Thanks Cory for the polite redirection:)
LOL: "Short of going to his work and stapling my business card on his forehead, what do you want?" Humor was much appreciated; it was getting a little tense (*whew).
-- Hokie (Hokie_@hotmail.com), December 31, 1999.
Art,That Armstrong report alone doesn't mean much by itself. One happy IBM customer doesn't make a trend ... but the Pollies will think so. Sheesh...
-- RC (racambab@mailcity.com), December 31, 1999.
Familyman: Mucho Gracias...Art...nicely done! Kudos all around!
-- Billy Boy (Rakkasan101st@Aol.com), December 31, 1999.
Thanks for all the info Familyman.Hubby 35 years plus computer hardware tech (mainframe on down) with international company. Now semi-retired doing temp work.
We're very interested.
-- Lurkess (Lurkess@Lurking.Net), December 31, 1999.
RC... The world picture is made up of datum points.Just keep collecting enough data till you can see a picture...
thats what we do here.
-- art welling (art@thatplace.com), December 31, 1999.
That Armstrong report alone doesn't mean much by itself. One happy IBM customer doesn't make a trend ...but the Pollies will think so. Sheesh...-- RC (racambab@mailcity.com), December 31, 1999.
Hey RC, one unsubstantiated report of emergency parts orders for IBM does not a trend make either ... but I'm sure the Doomers will think so. Sheesh, indeed!
-- My Full Name (My@email.address), December 31, 1999.
To My Full NameThink people, THINK! Don't be so quick to swallow unsubstantiated BS just because it is what you want to hear!
What do you care?
-- copycat (medialies@usa.tv), December 31, 1999.
Thanks Art, and familyman,FOF has been the strategy for many for the longest time. I just hope those in our neck of the woods took the timing of order ques and processing into consideration with such a strategy. Ya think? Naaah!
Back orders are a B****!!
Please keep us posted.
-- Michael (mikeymac@uswest.net), December 31, 1999.
My Full Name...Art verified the guy is legit... is who he says and called him at IBM As Art says what do we have to do staple the business card to your forehead???
What a MORON...of course, typical of Pollies.
-- RC (racambab@mailcity.com), December 31, 1999.
I can also vouch for the IBM distribution center in Mechanicsburg having been there several times . . . and 'yes' it's on Simpson Ferry Rd. Familyman's posts sound legit to me. As for the rush of orders, think about all the small businesses who decided not to remediate and chose to fix on failure. They were in first thing in the morning checking things out. If you were a small businessperson and your computers didn't work and you believed that every other business in the world would be competing for the same parts in the next 24 hours, wouldn't you get your order in asap??If this repeats itself with each time zone, I suspect Familyman will not see much of his family this weekend. Wish I could help out neighbor, but I'm on call a few miles north of you.
-- David Bowerman (dbowerman@blazenet.net), December 31, 1999.
Dave,Kudos and a hat tip along with a hearty thank you for taking a minute to post further confirmation that this guy is telling the truth. U may not be able to confirm the orders but you re-confirmed much. I agree with you on the order aspect.
What scares me is that the Pollies will scare everyone away that want's to post legitimate problems. As such, they function just as effectively if not more so than trolls.
-- RC (racambab@mailcity.com), December 31, 1999.
RC:Try rereading what I wrote. Yes, Art verified that a guy using Familyman as his handle works for IBM in Mechanicsburg, PA. So what? Did he see the alleged orders? No! Did he see anything that proved Familyman's original contentions of a massive increase in orders and charter air flights? No! Therefore, the claims are, as of yet, unsubstantiated.
What a MORON...of course, typical of Doomers.
Here is an idea: staple a business card to your own forehead and let me know how it feels!!
-- My Full Name (My@email.address), December 31, 1999.
Interesting story on NZ problems from APPerhaps the routers, switching errors etc.
AUCKLAND and JAPAN--Telephones in New Zealand, the first developed country to enter 2000, have become almost unusable, but the trouble was not caused by the Y2K computer bug, officials of the Japanese Embassy in New Zealand said today.
The officials said conventional and cellular telephones became nearly unworkable as their lines grew busy.
The trouble has affected domestic and international phone calls. Workers of the semi-governmental Japan External Trade Organization in Auckland said they suspect trouble has occurred on portable phone networks.
No trouble has occurred in the country in connection with the Internet, gas and water supplies, automated teller machines or credit card services.
-- Jeffrey Bahnsen (jbahnsen@hotmail.com), December 31, 1999.
RC . . . thanks! Good to pop back into the forum today, at least for a few hours. Have great New Year friend.My Full Name . . . Familyman's posts may be considered unsubstantiated from a certain legalistic perspective, but I see no reason to doubt them. He gave some off-the-cuff information, like the road the IBM facility is on, that has been substantiated -- unless of course you thinnk that everyone posting here is really Familyman in various forms. This is an internet forum, not a court room or newspaper. Information here can almost never be fully substantiated. The idea is to look for the signs of trolling, and there are no such signs here, IMO.
Dave (aka BankPacman)
-- David Bowerman (dbowerman@blazenet.net), December 31, 1999.
Dave:It has nothing to do with legalese. I do not dispute what Art has verified, i.e. that FM works for IBM in PA, PERIOD. There is not a shred of evidence to even suggest that anything else in his post is true. As far as signs of trolling, why did he never mention his employment with IBM prior to this? Why did he not share the inside information he was privvy to before now?
His claims may turn out to be true but (even though I'm not from Missouri), I need a lot more "proof" than that. If these orders are the result of fix-on-failure, where are the reports of the failures? If they are sending parts "just in case" as he later hypothesizes, why would they do it today and why would they charter a plane? If it is just in case, they could have been sent days or weeks or months ago. Why did he originally claim they would "charter a plane" and then say that they would go out via Sky Courier? (FYI - Sky Courier is NOT a charter service, they are a sub. of Airborne Express and we use them on occassion as well). Does he really know what he is talking about or not?
Just way too many inconsistencies to be believable on its own merit without additional supporting evidence. But I appreciate your well stated, non-antagonistic response (are you taking notes, RC?)
-- My Full Name (My@email.address), December 31, 1999.
As far as signs of trolling, why did he never mention his employment with IBM prior to this? Why did he not share the inside information he was privvy to before now?Perhaps the stakes have risen to where he feels obliged to share the information. No doubt many people struggle with this dilemma.
If these orders are the result of fix-on-failure, where are the reports of the failures?
Only a minute fraction of all newsworthy events can be reported. An even smaller fraction of newsworthy events that could be embarrassing to government or to big business, get reported. Maybe failures have not occurred or are not newsworthy, but I don't think that can be inferred solely from their not having been reported.
If they are sending parts "just in case" as he later hypothesizes, why would they do it today and why would they charter a plane?
I thought Familyman was contrasting sending the parts this morning (Eastern Time) to sending them out this evening. If IBM is subject to the limitations of Just-In-Time inventory, maybe this is the earliest these parts would be available to ship.
Just way too many inconsistencies to be believable on its own merit without additional supporting evidence.
Perhaps, but where is the supporting evidence going to come from? Folks at the working level have the depth but not the breadth, folks in upper management have only the breadth (and much of that is happy faced reports from the next management level down). That about sums up the difficulty of trying to assess the impact of Y2K.
But, if I encounter two sources of information, one at the working level and one in middle or senior management, all other things being equal I would place more emphasis on the former.
-- David L (bumpkin@dnet.net), December 31, 1999.
why would a family man smoke and swear? Sounds a little too hokey. If he is so swamped with orders, why is he taking a smoking break?
-- sam (hanseneffects@bigfoot.com), December 31, 1999.
I'm nearly certain this is hokey...nothing is being reported on shortware or from internet sites in NZ or Australia. There hasn't been any verification by an official IBM spokesperson...this is just someone wish for doom and gloom.
-- rwd (rwdesrosiers@mediaone.net), December 31, 1999.
Just so you know, "My Own Name", Familyman *did* let us know he works for IBM...don't remember when, exactly, but he has posted this information about himself previously.
-- Wilferd (WilferdW@aol.com), December 31, 1999.
A PR flak from IBM has denied there is a parts shortage in NZ; I'm not sure that is what was being claimed, though.RUMOR: High Volume of IBM Orders from NZ, Etc.
-- Lane Core Jr. (elcore@sgi.net), December 31, 1999.
I am currently residing in NZ, and work for a major bank, we have NO... that means ZERO... yes nadda... zippoo... zilch... not a sausage... Y2K problems!! The temperary contections problem with the mobile phone networks was simply overloading and lasted less than 10 minutes. Yes you can sigh with some releif but should not forget that NZ has some of the most technologically up to date banking and key service infastructures, so other first world contry's may still note bigger problems.
-- Insider man (Insider_man@ihug.co.nz), January 01, 2000.
well well, a reseller magazine has an item that says IBM did deliver supplies to the Australian government, but that this was a planned shipment. sure.... if you buy that explanation, i have some farmland in florida that i'll sell you. gee, i wonder if our whistleblower was fired, or did they just tell him to shut up or else?
-- jocelyne slough (jonslough@tln.net), January 27, 2000.