..my immediate impression is that most of these utility companies no longer have any margin of error or any slack in the timetable. Testing of some systems is or will be rushed or impossible.

It's 65 pages, but worth a careful read, particularly by you Big Iron types. (I'm more of an Object-Oriented kinda guy...)

Eagle-eye Steve King over on the EUY2K board noticed that the Connecticut Utilities audit has finally been posted at:

http://www.dpuc.state.ct.us/draftdec.nsf/6fe094d5f95a0bad85256448006902a0?OpenView

Click on Y2K Report. The report is in MSWORD.

And now, an opinion:

The polarization recently betwixt Pollys and Doomers has left me without a pigeonhole.

Reading this audit, and having the awareness of it's potential impact on my family, leads me to pitch my tent on the high side of a 5, in a new pigeon hole labeled:

Gloomer.

I'm not a Doomer, because I do think the argument for hidden interdependences also supports the idea of hidden redundancies, (neither pedictable), and I'm not a Polly because I think that, at least where I live, there is a significant risk of dangerous disruptions. And the international situation? Well as the Grateful Dead put it: "if the thunder don't get you then the lightning will."

I anxiously await your thoughtful comments.

-- Lewis (aslanshow@yahoo.com), June 10, 1999

Answers

i agree, i,m not a doomer niether, but i,m definatly at times gloomy. i truly believe we,re entering what the bible call,s the time of [mucho] troubles. how close are we to the big one,no one knows but thers alot storm clouds rising.

-- al-d. (catt@zianet.com), June 10, 1999.

Lewis -- I'm still eager to get together in CT with some of you guys, but swamped with chat stuff, not to mention preps and my "real" life. Any chance you could organize something? I'm gone to VA week of 20th to a Christian family conference, but generally available. In CT next week (16 and 17) if you or anyone wants to meet. Can you pass around?

OO stuff, eh? I consulted with Tom Love for a while (one of the creators of Objective-C, later picked up by Jobs for Next) when he was working for IBM and then, later, Morgan Stanley.

-- BigDog (BigDog@duffer.com), June 10, 1999.

Big Dog and Lewis:

Keep me informed about any Conn. get-together.

-- Bill Dunn (bdunn@snet.net), June 10, 1999.

Wow! Thought I was about the only person in CT concerned. PLEASE, let me know if there will be a get together. I'd love to meet ya.

Steve

-- Steve Felling (sfelling@compuserve.com), June 10, 1999.

Lewis,

I tried to read the document, but I got bogged down in all the rhetoric. So I basically just went through the highlight (comments and conclussions). It looks like they are on target with only a handfull of items that will miss the deadline. However, you should notice that for 3 or 4 of those companies listed there project completions are in Aug and Sept. If any of the preceding stuff slips, then those dates will slip too.

Just so you know, I'm really not sure what to make of that document. It was written by a company that was hired to audit the Y2K progress of other companies. And you should notice that the majority of the Y2K projects listed in that document are being managed by completely different companies than the ones being audited.

I've been a consultant and worked for a company that did those kinds of things (go in and try to fix other systems). If the paying company manages the project, then the project will be completed. If not (outside resources manage project), then the project will slip and maybe never get completed.

DJ

-- DJ (reality@check.com), June 10, 1999.

Hello BD- I'll have to check with my Social Director about next week - I'm helpless without her... and only marginally functional even WITH her ;). A CT get together sounds good.

Thanks you for your insights, DJ. I agree that it is a strange document.

After my second reading, I get the sense that in many cases, the product produced by the utility may not be directly impaired, but that the integrity of their business systems seem to be very much in doubt. I was shocked that several of them did not even have a formal Y2K remediation plan. THAT worries me, because that means those companies may not even know what they don't know.

Any other observations?

-- Lewis (aslanshow@yahoo.com), June 11, 1999.

Wow! There are people in CT concerned about Y2K? My wife and I tried to get something started in the Farmington Valley area without success. PLEASE send us an email about any meetings, thanks. We're tired of trying to do everything ourselves and providing for the safety of our relatives. (also trying to convince our relatives that we're not paranoid). I used to work in the software industry so I'm not exactly ignorant about the problem. Thanks.

-- Tom (retro50@agapeis.net), June 11, 1999.