Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Discuss Year 2000 Issues -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Hunt who wrote (6936)	7/22/1999 12:41:00 PM
From: John Hunt	Respond to of 9818

Y2K Lessons From the Ice Storm Trenches We learned a few things the hard way from our 8 day power outage (some people were out for 3 weeks) during the ice-storm up here in the Ottawa, Canada area, that I think may be helpful for some of you at Y2K. After the first 12 hours, transfer any food from your freezers to an unheated garage, garden shed or as a last resort to a shaded area outside. Use containers that can be solidly closed to keep out any animals. If you do not live far enough north to guarantee that the air will stay below freezing, but your ground still remains frozen, you may want to pre-dig a hole and have pieces of insulation handy that you can put around and on top of the containers. Start saving bleach bottles ... You can fill them half full of water, leave some out to freeze overnight and then rotate them in your refrigerator to keep it cool. Buy plastic window kits and plastic drop cloths. If you look carefully, you can add a couple of layers to all of the windows of the rooms that you are going to try to keep warm and use the plastic drop cloths to close off areas of your home that might lack doors. From fire concerns, we let our wood stove burn out each night before going to sleep and this made our house cold in the morning. Although we have a fairly well insulated house, the temperature dropped to a cold 55 F by morning (20 - 30 F outside). Adding the extra layers of plastic to the windows raised this to a more tolerable 60 - 62 F. Make sure that you do not allow any rooms that have water pipes in them to get too cold. If you can't keep them warm, you will have to drain the pipes and fixtures. Sump pumps can be a real problem, if you have no power. I really don't have a good long term answer for that one. Don't forget that there is up to 40 gallons of reserve water in a cold water tank associated with a water pump and up to 60 gallons in your hot water tank. Without pressure, you will probably have to use the drain valve at the bottom of the tanks to get it out. If you have a pool these are usually drained to half full for closing. In a pinch you can always cut through the ice and get a lot of water there. Also, if your house is warm enough during the day, you can always melt snow or ice, but this is a slow, low yield process. You can do limited cooking even on the top of an ordinary wood stove. Use a wire cake holder to toast bread or remove the labels from cans and put them on top of the wood stove ... Takes a while, but it does work. Lots of paper plates and cereal bowls are necessary if you are short of water. If you have a generator, be sure to chain or bolt it down . These high ticket items rapidly became choice items to steal, some even when they were running and people were at home. The thieves also targeted phone company generators installed at unmanned offices or equipment sites. Eventually, the telephone company hired people with cell phones to sit in their cars and call for help when necessary. Do not expect any help from politicians, volunteers, utility companies, police or the army, if you decide to remain in your home rather than go to a shelter. If you live in the country, you will be restored last ... This only makes sense, as they will attempt to restore services to the most people that they can, using limited resources. I hope this helps someone here cope ... no point in others having to learn things the hard way. :-)) John

To: John Hunt who wrote (6936)	7/22/1999 2:36:00 PM
From: John Hunt	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9818

DPS Chief Protests Weekend Y2K Work Computer Shutdown May Hinder Police << A state agency has decided to take New Mexico's computer system off-line this weekend to prepare for Y2K -- and that means police won't have information about drivers' records, car registrations and some arrest warrants. It also could mean a delay between the time a car is stolen and when details of the crime and the vehicle get entered into a national crime database ... more ... >> abqjournal.com