POSTSCRIPT: This website was frozen on December 31, 1999, as a permanent document on how all of us acted and reacted to the Y2K myth from 1997 to 1999. There will be no updates. Enjoy reading all of the emails, especially the wild ones from 1998. - David Robert Loblaw, 03 January 2000
1998@intmail.com
"Prayer is the answer. Stay close to God and no matter what happens come January 1, 2000, you will be safe!"
"Dont forget about the riots that will break out in all cities of the world - My teachers at school are warning us about it. Telling us to hold onto our cash, becuase legall tender may become a black market. And how we should convince our parents to buy generators so we can survive the winters."
"My sister has been getting more and more hysterical over this Y2K stuff. She's planning to buy a generator, hand pump for the well, and start stocking up on non-parishables. She has asked her husband to purchase a gun and ammo and wants the entire family to plan to be at her house for Christmas and New Years in 1999. She is actually making herself sick over it!"
"I would want to warn people to read up on Christian Reconstructionism, which is largely behind this scare.... I expect a lot of people might really understand the truth about this hoax if they could know more about where it's coming from."
"Sometimes the extremists can show us just how out of whack our views can become if we aren't thinking with a little bit of logic.... They all believe that the disease is AIDS when in reality it is the common cold or flu."
"My observation is that there seems to be some archetypal longing for something dramatic and life-changing to happen in our lives, and we allow things we don't understand and/or don't control to be a catalyst for its expression."
"The wife and I spent two wonderful hours just stumbling around your page. Damned if I don't think that you have the right slant on the subject."
"In the end, I side with your page. Although, I would have to say that it might not be a bad idea to stock up on some rations before the appointed date."
"Once everyone realizes that everything that they have been told the past two years was just a bunch of hyperbole, the stock market that took it's biggest downfall in history will quickly recover -- leaving guys like me rich because I will buy my stocks in late December and make a killing."
"I am part of the multi-billion dollar industry based on the y2k crisis. I, myself, am uncertain as to what will happen on January 1, 2000, but I make $15/hour working on a major web site for the government and y2k, so I'm not complaining."
"I've been awfully concerned about this Y2K thing, but your site, along with a number of other skeptics, have kicked my technical training back into place.... So I kind of feel silly now."
"I think something will happen on January 1, 2000. All the freaks will be disappointed that hellfire and damnation did not ensue and freakout even more. Should be an entertaining show."
"It's all a Freemason plot, but I won't be celebrating that New Years Eve on a plane going over the international date-line."
"I'm usually quite rational about these things, it's just that there are so many doommongers out there trying to spread there misery and fear that it's hard not to be taken in - because, as someone once said to me 'Repetition is the mother of skill' - the more you say something the more people are liable to believe it."
"In the days of Noah, he was laughed at and not taken seriously!!"
"One of my friends is trying to convince another friend, who is afraid of computers, to withdraw all of her money out of the bank and cash out her TSA's and retirement. It is idiots like these who will get their wish of an economic collpase if they scare others into taking these extraordinary acts."
"There is neither black nor white dealing with preperation, it is more a shade of grey, that reflects individualy perceptions of the potential problems to be encountered, and the risk levels each is willing to take."
"You don't have to head for the hills. Just cover the basics. My faith is in the Lord, not man!!"
"Your site was a nice relief from the hype. I can't wait till January 2000 when 6:00 news crews are running all over the country trying to get footage of calamity. The one lone broken ATM in Dubuque, Iowa is going to be swamped!"
"It's amazing how I was feeling just the other day, some hints of dread were creeping near. But I decided to do some web surfing on the matter and your page helped open some doors."
"The real problem is that the media is trying to sell media ... how many times have we escaped life threatening winter snow dustings, imminent market crashes, etc. anything will be printed/aired that is fit to sell to the public."
"My biggest hope is that the 'bug' will mess up the television and I won't have to listen to the crisis gurus."
"It's like the old internet myth. At one stage many people believed the internet was some kinda vortex-space-universe-thingy that had a life of it's own. Now common people of the street regard the 2000 bug as a virus with a life-force so fierce, it's threatening life as we know it."
"It also looks like Japan delt with this issue back when Hirohito died and they had to reset the 'Emperial Year' back to zero."
"Changing millions of lines and lines of codes on dead records and files is a billion dollar overtime. Don't rock the boat when I am making money!"
"Thanks so much for putting out what you have (though I tremble at the thought that YOU might be part of a conspiracy to keep people from freaking out--funny how self-parasitic paranoia is)."
"On Jan 1 2000 I'll be listening to my shortwave radio and hoping those people out east still have electricity to transmit with!"
"The only thing that absolutely bothers me are the so called 'Christian Survivalist'! ... If you are a Christian and you are troubled by the Y2K to the point of planning an escape, then I suggest you evaluate if your salvation is real and in whom you are placing your faith."
"Your correct when you say the problem is easy to fix, but others are right when they say it's time consuming.... I'm not a doomsday freak but I do think it's a little to late to fix all the big problems."
"Someone has already yelled fire in the theater and I for one have reached the exit while those inside will probably be trampled in the stampede. Whether there is a fire or not is now no longer the issue."
"How do you know what to believe? There is just too much information to disseminate it all."
"The problem is simple, just time consuming to fix, especially on the military satellites and in those countries that can't fix their computer systems - Russia for example."
"I'm so glad you have this page up and running. It's because of people like you that I still have enough time to stock up on food, buy a generator, and take prudent precautions. If my friends and neighbors all laugh at me, that's fine."
"I just checked out your site and I couldn't stop laughing. I never thought I'd actually find anything intelligent on the internet, but there you were!"
"Bravo! Good luck with the crazies. If the sampling of apocalypse email I've received from one little article is any indication, you're in for one hell of a ride!"
"I just saw something on CNN about a institute that teaches how to cure the y2k bug.... They are calling it 'The Fellowship.' Weird."
"Convert your insatiability and acrid permeability to something less pacificist and pedestrian. Cheeze Wiz is always better stocked up for any catastrophe, than random access consumption."
"Looking through the web to back up my thoughts on the y2k, I ran into your very interesting site. I am now 'enlightened' on the fact that the y2k 'conspiracy' (more of an economic hoax) is much deeper than a computer problem."
"The problem exists, we know.... One can think of so many more pressing problems facing the global society."
"If absolutely nothing happens - I'll be very happy, but if things do get wacky - I'll be ready."
"Your comment that your company is stopping new development work to do a billion dollar paper dance confirms my fear that companies are redirecting their resources away from their core businesses and into this preceived problem."
"Some of the problems will not get fixed. The world will change. The world changed today and it changed yesterday.... You may have to do something different than what you are doing this minute. It won't kill you."
"My company has budgeted about 150K this year and 225K next year to deal with the problem. All of witch will be passed on to the consumer. Good luck in your position."
"The only insightful thing you've said is that some folks are truly looking forward to chaos. That is a creepy thought."
"Capitalism, media exploits public for $$$. Making a huge issue about everything is commonplace. The media loves crises, and likes making them up even more."
"Many of the problems will not be found until rarely executed logic patterns are exercised (month end, year end, etc.)."
"My aunt told me that the space aliens would come down and save us from the computer meltdown. I will shoot their space ships out of the sky with my potato gun."
"Thanks for an informative break from the insanity. I have several relatives who have gone crazy with Y2K and it's nice to have your site."
"I certainly hope for a y2k hiccup, but I think the problem is more complex than you think it is. Your site is a great place to exchange views."
"Me, I'm stocking up on canned food. If I'm wrong, I'll have to eat it all in a harmonious new millennium. If I'm right, I'll be laughing and you'll be in the middle of a food riot."
"Go rent the movie 'Trigger Effect' with Kyle Maclachlan and Elizabeth Shue for a preview of Urban North America in the days following 1/1/2000. Frightening."
"'Don't worry, be happy' -- is that really the best you can do?"
"If you think that the first second of 2000 will not cause a problem you must be the stupidest person alive!"
"Thanks for putting up your skeptical web page on the Y2K problem.... Don't get me wrong -- I think there could be some fairly serious disruptions, but as I've investigated the problem on my own I've found that generally companies are working on it and expect to be able to handle the situation."
"What a fantastic site. I just wanted to add my favorite personal rumor: since it'll be 1900, narcotics will once again be legal."
"The (U.S.) government is not mentioned, as it is a certainty that from current information the IRS and other government agencies will not have use of computers in the year 2000, and their work cannot be handled manually."
"Why should anyone believe you? The overwhelming mass of evidence is increasingly pointing to an 'end of life as we know it.'"
"I'm surprised at all the people who feel relieved at your non-chalant effort at discounting the seriousness of the Y2K problem. They seemed to have missed the part where you said 'anyone who doesn't take the time to see how their systems will operate in the Year 00 is inviting disaster'."
"Your site is very intelligent as well as funny ... this whole issue entertains the hell out of me and I believe will help my career as well ... since I do have a band called 'MILLENIUM BUGS'..."
"Yesterday on the radio I heard this freak saying 'there will be no power or food! Start preparing now!' ... The y2k problem being so drastic just did not make sense, and I'm glad you could clear things up a bit."
"I always find it entertaining to read works from paranoid people so i checked out the web to see what the hoopla was all about.... I am glad to come to your website and see that this is a concern but is not a signal for impending doom."
"I have a numbers cipher that I use to get specifics from scriptural ciphers about the results of human imbalances.... They appear to agree with the possability of the worst scenarios. We haven't long to wait to see who is right or whether it is foolish to hedge your bets."
"After a long day of researching the problem for myself, and seeing exactly what all of the important services have ALREADY done to fix the problem, I am not convinced that it is even an issue anymore.... I feel sorry for the people who buy into this ridiculous scam."
"Hey, I noticed that all of the responses sent into your site debunking your work seem to be misspelled.... Are these the same people that caused this problem?"
"Your email response section holds about as much value as as listening to millenarial Christians survivalists.... They are both providing want ears want to hear."
"I am so relieved. I was sure the turn of the century would spell the doom of mankind. Seriously, I for one am pleased to find a sane voice on this issue."
"The doom and gloomers have created the farce - but the business applications will fail and cripple many companies should they fail to address the century field."
"It is true that the propogators of this hysteria are the ones who would benefits from a global mass delusion.... (But) Those who don't make the deadline may corrupt the compliant systems with the possibly bad data from the noncompliant systems."
"As a firm Christian follower, I think (the Y2K hoaxers) are down right sick. Instead of showing the 'end' as it is meant to be shown, as a time of great joy and eternal happiness when the evils of this world are finally erased, (they) have pushed fear as the forefront in an effort to gain popularity."
"I find your comments very interesting, only they dont seem to be backed up by any facts. I want to be open minded about this, but I need facts."
"Most Enjoyable E-Mails ... the next time you hear the sky is falling, catch a falling star and put it in your pocket and save it for a rainy-day."
"You say 'It's Nothing, don't worry' Wake up to reality and get that sand out your hair!!!"
"I know lots of people who didn't have jobs once the 1980's recession hit. Even if a recession is worst Y2K scenario, the burden on those effected will be no hoax."
"My return trip from Las Vegas today was made all the more memorable by listening to two tapes made by Christian Fundamentalist preachers who rambled on at length about the Y2K problem and how it was likely to bugger up the whole world and could possibly tie in with the return of Christ, etc.... after two hours of listening to that bullshit, reading the items on your site was quite refreshing."
"Are you saying that the year 2000 problem is not really a problem at all and is just some big conspiracy to fool the public? Or you do beleive it is a problem, you just don't believe it is the end of the world as we know it?"
"Keep up the good rumors everyone, I for one get real kick out of them ('don't buy a vcr till after 2000'). I sure hope all my COBOL classes pay off!"
"I've sat in on so many Year 2000 meetings I have come to realize two simple things. First is Y2K a problem, yes. Is Y2K a big problem, no. Thanks for putting some reality into the debate."
"Your site does very little to refute the persuasive and frightening 'facts' laid out by (other sites). I personally need a little more help understanding why I shouldn't be too worried."
"With all due respect to you...You're about 2 bits short of a byte. I too am involved in the IT industry and have spoken with people in the industry who are making Y2K changes to mainframes. They are inundated! Sure, it's easy to fix. HOWEVER, it's time-consuming!"
"It does not matter what may or may not happen 01/01/00; simply the perception of impending doom will be enough to set chaos in motion. But then, that's OK too."
"I don't think the apocalypse is upon us quite yet, but some might use y2k as an excuse to reorder society more along their lines of thinking."
"Real simple YOU are wrong! It is a real big problem as if you check around the net you will find that a Executive Order for Martial law has and is being discussed in Congress. This is no joke."
"There are many pages out here with differing opinions. What makes you 'in the know' and not them?"
"It seems unwise at this point in time to suggest that Y2K will cause a catastrophic breakdown in society as (some) suggest. It may also not be wise to regard Y2K as a mere hiccup that will be resolved without much ado."
"I just ended a painfully long conversation with a paranoid, not-completely-clued-in friend who has succumbed completely to the Y2K hysteria. In fact he's convinced there's not ENOUGH hysteria or media coverage here."
"Why do people believe that the world is about to grind to a halt on the dawn of the new millenium.... It's all a load of bullshit and you know it and so do I."
"Since the magnitude of the problem is a result of replacing people with computers, wouldn't it be neat to have to replace some of those computer systems with people?"
"I recommend you spend more time with your family then your computer in the next 18 months."
"The money you make off your new web site will be no good when there is nothing to buy."
"All I can say is that if the Y2K problem causes people to pull money out of the stock market, I'll be buying shares all the way down and making money all the way back up."
"Loved your Millennium farce site. Keep up the good work."
"As for me, I'm building a rocketship (2000 compliant of course!) that will zoom me to space for the New Year. I live in a city and I'm outta here. Bon Voyage!!!" MORE EMAILS:
1999, Part 3
1999, Part 2
1999, Part 1
...
1998, Part 2
1998, Part 1
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