Well, we seemed to have survived another disaster.

Monday, January 03, 2000

Well, we seemed to have survived another disaster. Yes, Y2K struck at the stroke of midnight Saturday morning. And we’re all still here. What a miracle.

Perhaps a few VCRs won’t work. Perhaps a few laptop computers won’t function. And maybe a few of us dealt with some minor inconveniences such as slow dial tones as a result of all the hype.

It probably won’t be long before we see T-shirts emblazoned with: "I SURVIVED Y2K." Line up and get them at a discount. They’ll be for sale next to all the Y2K computer programs that weren’t snatched up before Dec. 31.

Jerry McCarthy, general manager of Austin Utilities, probably summed it all up best on the eve of the impending countdown disaster:

"You have to ask yourself what did we gain by doing all the things we did and I think Austin Utilities did in several areas. We updated our own emergency preparedness plans so that we are better prepared for any kind of emergency that occurs.

"We also found outdated and defective equipment that we got rid of. And finally, we gained efficiencies in how we do things under normal circumstances. The efforts Austin Utilities took were worth it."

Some emergency managers compared the pre-Y2K activities to being ready for a winter storm. Residents were told to stock up on staples and do nothing out of the ordinary they wouldn’t do for a major band of snow headed their way.

The world didn’t end.

The lights remained lit.

You still could dial 911, as long as someone wasn’t testing to see if their phone still was working.

And all our money still is available from our preferred banking institutions.

We weathered the storm. We survived the great Y2K bug. And we’re all better for it.