.KEYWORD ytwok
.FLYINGHEAD BE PREPARED
.TITLE Important answers to Y2K questions
.OTHER
.SUMMARY In five months, the 21st century will be upon us. The Y2K issue is something we’ve all become quite aware of. Since January is closing in on us at breakneck speed, we thought it time to bring you some exclusive Y2K tips from Kelly C Bourne, one of the country’s leading experts and the author of Year 2000 Solutions for Dummies.
.AUTHOR Kelly C. Bourne
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.H1 About this special article
In five months, the 21st century will be upon us. The Y2K issue is something we’ve all become quite aware of. Since January is closing in on us at breakneck speed, we thought it time to bring you some exclusive Y2K tips from Kelly C Bourne, one of the country’s leading experts and the author of Year 2000 Solutions for Dummies. While it’s not specifically relevant to the topic of this journal, it’s important information we felt you should have.
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.H1 Stockpiling
Do you need to stockpile food, water, fuel and medicine in anticipation of the Millennium Crisis? I don’t think so. It’s quite possible that the Y2K situation will cause limited bottlenecks in the normal shipping and delivery systems of food and other consumer goods, but I think the word "stockpile" sounds much too drastic. It would be prudent to have enough food for a week or two, but I don’t think it’s necessary for people to accumulate six months or a year’s worth of food. The odds of the Y2K causing a crisis for that long a period are very, very small.
.CALLOUT Gasoline kills! If not stored and handled properly the fumes can kill you or create an explosive environment.
It isn’t talked about much, but there is a definite risk associated with storing large quantities of food, medicine, and fuel. Food can go bad if it isn’t properly prepared and stored. Medicine loses its efficacy (potency) if it is held beyond its recommended date. Last, but certainly not least, is the concept of storing fuel. For many people fuel is synonymous with the gasoline that would be used in their cars or emergency generators. Gasoline kills! If not stored and handled properly the fumes can kill you or create an explosive environment. If you don’t know what you are doing you could be playing with fire, literally!
Be safe instead of sorry. Prepare just as you would for severe weather. On the coasts, people know that during hurricane season they should have some extra food, candles and a tank full of gas in their cars. In the northern parts of the world people prepare in much the same way for a winter blizzard. This level of preparation should be adequate for the new millennium. One word of advice is this — don’t try to stock your pantry on December 30, 1999 — do it in early December or even earlier.
.H1 Maintaining records
One concern that many people have is whether financial institutions, utilities and other creditors will lose their records due to Y2K related bugs. Will your mortgage company forget that the December 1999 mortgage payment was made? Will your utility claim you didn’t pay the gas bill and turn off the gas during the coldest winter on record? Will your broker misplace the 1,000 shares of Consolidated Widgets, Inc you bought for your retirement? Will the cable company cut off your access to the sports channel right in the middle of the Orange Bowl because they lost your records?
The answer to all of the above questions is that it isn’t very probable. These problems aren’t likely to happen but you should protect yourself as much as possible. The best way to protect yourself is to start saving receipts and cancelled checks. Most people save these for tax or planning purposes anyway, but everyone should be doing it. It won’t be much of a burden to slip your receipts into an envelope as you pay them. You’ll probably never need them, but if you do it will save you a lot of trouble.
One last thought. If the worst Y2K predictions come true and the gas company does lose your records, you won’t be the only one. If their computers say that thousands of customers are delinquent in paying their bills, it won’t take long before someone recognizes the situation. The phones ringing off the hook in Customer Service will be hard to overlook. It isn’t likely that a utility will start shutting off service if there is even a chance that it’s a Y2K related problem.
.H1 Finances
There are more and more reports of people preparing for the Y2K problem by withdrawing all of their savings from banks and liquidating all of their other financial assets. They feel the government and/or the financial institutions won’t be ready for the new millennium and won’t risk entrusting their life savings with them. These assets are then usually converted to gold, silver, or held in cash.
Unfortunately if enough people react in this way it could be a classic example of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Banks hold only a fraction of their assets in the form of cash. If enough people withdraw money from their accounts, the banks will become strapped for cash. The Federal Reserve Bank has pledged that they will do whatever it takes to assist banks if the demand for cash exceeds the immediately available supply. An extra $50 billion in currency has been printed for just this situation.
Unfortunately, the stock market has no such protection mechanism. If enough stockholders want to sell their assets the balance between supply and demand will shift. This shift will inevitably result in lower stock values. This, in turn, can cause more people to take their assets out of the stock market.
A potential problem with liquidating one’s assets is the question of what to do with that much cash. If you don’t trust the banks you wouldn’t likely keep it in a safety deposit box. That leaves hiding it somewhere in your house or apartment. I personally wouldn’t want to have all of my worldly assets under my mattress. The invitation to burglars or armed robbers is too great for my comfort level. Keeping it in the banks seems to be much safer.
.H1 Travel
I have given a number of presentations on the Y2K situation. During the question and answer sessions I can count on fielding one specific question. Someone always asks if I plan to be traveling on January 1, 2000. I know that I’m going to gore someone’s ox by saying this, but my answer is always "no." My plans are to be safe and sound at home when the next millennium is rung in.
The reason for my answer isn’t what you might expect. It isn’t that I think airplanes will be falling out of the sky. I feel that the odds of this happening are virtually zero. My reasoning is much more mundane: personal comfort. I don’t want to be stuck anywhere for an extended period of time, especially not in an airport!
I think there is a good chance that airline flights will be delayed or cancelled due to a number of potential problems. Think of all the things, including computer systems, which must work perfectly for you to get to or from your destination via an airliner. The air traffic control system must be working. If the primary system fails then backup systems will take over, but they can’t handle the normal number of scheduled flights. Flight crews must be scheduled to handle each flight and they must arrive in time to work their flight. If they get stuck somewhere else your flight won’t take off on time Maintenance for all of the equipment must be done correctly and on time. It also must be checked off and logged by inspectors. Fuel, parts, de-icer, food, cleaning, etc. must all be delivered in time for your flight to take off. The computers that control gate assignments, ticket counters, baggage carousels, etc. must all be working perfectly or flights will be delayed or cancelled.
Even in a normal year there is a significant chance of severe weather disrupting your travel plans. The holiday season of 1998 saw tens of thousands of travelers stuck in airports for days at a time because of bad weather. Do you really want to be stuck in that mess? I know I don’t. That’s why I plan to be comfortably at home.
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.H1 Product availability and resources
Year 2000 Solutions for Dummies by Kelly C. Bourne is available at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764504657/o/qid=934228269/sr=8-2/002-9696397-2468066
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.BIO Kelly C. Bourne is the author of Year 2000 Solutions for Dummies.
