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

To: John Mansfield who wrote (3359)	1/24/1999 12:44:00 AM
From: C.K. Houston	Respond to of 9818

<Enterprise Systems, real world (long, technical and scary)> This truely is a frightening post. It's unfortunate that laypeople get put off by technical jargon, and don't scan and read this stuff. It's much more common than they realize. If any of you who don't understand programming were put off by some of the technical stuff ... just gloss over the technical stuff ... and see what he was saying. Check out the part about the "world's 3rd largest steel producer". SIGH. Story just gets worse and worse. I'm with John McClure. I'm stepping up preparations by 2 months. Way back when I first started this thread, I did it to help educate. I was SO naive ... I thought that by sharing information it would help motivate some to get this whole Y2K thing fixed. Back then I never imagined ... how much STILL had to be done. How much won't be done. In a way, I did accomplish what I set out to do ... but, not as much as I hoped to. I've received numerous e-mails from companies (even some publicly-traded) and foreign governments ... who wanted direction ... particularly about embedded systems. Shared what I could. But it's still not enough. It's too late. Won't be Armageddon ... but won't be good. Some won't be hurt much. Others will be hurt a lot. Y2K is not just a computer problem. Frustrates me, that seemingly bright people ... don't "get it"! Life WILL be different for a while ... in the ensuing months ... and well into 2000, if not after. Personally I look at it as a challenge and an opportunity. Not as an opportunity in the market - though that's why many of you are here. Rather, I look at it as an opportunity to get back to the "basics". People and relationships are the "basics". I think we've lost that. I know I had. But, with my move ... I'm getting it back. Sometimes we need a jolt to reassess our lives. For me Y2K has been the factor. I fear for those on fixed incomes. Those who depend on pensions, social security and medicare. Those who can't afford prescription medication, unless covered by Medicare or insurance. Those that live in the heart of big cities. Those that don't have a "community" ... a network of self-sufficient friends/family. I fear for those without internet access and cable TV ... because they rely only on mass media, who's doing a pathetic job of disseminating accurate information. IT'S SO SAD. And, it gets me angry. It didn't have to be this way. Inaction and greed has gotten us to where we are now. I have intolerance for the Pollyannas of this world, with closed minds. And, impatience with some of these Armageddon/survivalist types. You have to do a hll of a lot of research - sift thru everything. Determine what's fact and what isn't. Isn't easy. My family is now finally making preparations.* It took a year of alienation before they accepted what I had to say ... and CNBC, govt testimony, people I know in HIGH positions and major publications finally corroborating what I've been telling them. They thought I was crazy. Plus, they were living vicariously ... and I gave up so much of what they were able to participate in. They didn't want to give up "Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous". They were angry at me that I gave it up. Now, finally (yet unfortunately)they concur and understand. It's been a lonely path. My VERY wealthy friends are a mixed bag. Some are still planning on an exotic millennium party, spent in some foreign locale. Some have since cancelled the trip. Some have bought ranches away from urban areas, and are starting to stockpile food. Some have decided to get "second homes" in areas they've never previously considered. Some are doing nothing. Good luck to all of you. Once I changed my focus from "educating" to "preparing" ... I have little time to post. Cheryl P.S. Someone with a seat on COMEX contacted me to strategize when Y2K panic would hit. December '99 gold options are so out of whack, it alerted them. The general consensus in "the pits" was that it would hit in December 99 - January 00. What fools. It will happen well before December 99. <Personally, I'm disgusted about Wall Street. Let them believe it will happen December 99. They deserve it.

To: John Mansfield who wrote (3359)	1/24/1999 10:57:00 PM
From: jwk	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 9818

John -- I hate reading stuff like the post of yours I'm responding to....sure wish the pollyannaboys would counter with some posts from other "Big Iron" programmers which tell of how much progress is really being made in all those big, old legacy systems which are buried deep in the heart and core of so much daily surface activity. thought this bit from near the end was worth reposting-- >>>As for Pollyannas and Doomsayers? I can understand the motives of most Doomsayers - if you believe Y2K will be bad there is perhaps a moral obligation to warn others in as loud a voice as you can muster - whether or not you end up being mistaken. What motivates the Pollyannas? I have no idea. If you think Y2K is nonsense, why are you wasting so much energy proclaiming it? Ignore it and it will go away soon enough. <<<