The Trib was chock full of tid bits today, I am going to list some of the many amazing quotes. When it rains it pours. If you live anywhere near Chicago, I would recommend reading each and every one of these articles:

finance director (Palos Hills) Anna Slubowski said jokingly that her contingency plan is to "run as fast as I can" if there is a problem with government services on Jan. 1, 2000.

And from the same article:

In Aurora, corporation counsel Pat Surgin said with a deadpan delivery that she is "lighting candles in church in a proactive attempt to aid the compliance process."

On a more serious note from the same article:

"As far as ComEd goes, you can't plan too far ahead for them," Hostetler said. "You just have to hope they're prepared."

link to trib

Now for the next article:

George Beam, a professor of public administration at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said establishing accurate figures for how much the suburbs have spent on computer modernization may be impossible. No community, he said, wants to be tagged with having overreacted to fears about Y2K.

"These are sensitive matters for them," said Beam, who studies the public sector. "There's a certain amount of fudging that's going on."

THIS ONE IS RICH:

In hiring consultants to help update computers and equipment, said one Northwest suburban official who did not want to be named, "we're buying a scapegoat."

"This way, there's someone we can blame if things go terribly wrong," he said.

Yup, there's more:

In a pre-emptive strike, Buffalo Grove has issued a letter that states: "Please note that given the nature of this problem and the potential for hidden problems, we cannot and will not guarantee that we and our business partners will not suffer some damage due to this issue."

link trib

Next:

said Douglas Merrill, finance director and systems manager in Glencoe. "Everybody on the North Shore likes to sue everybody, and that's not going to work" if systems fail because of Y2K.

a little tid bit:

"But if anyone tells you that their systems will be perfect don't believe them."

link trib

"So much different technology has to be looked at, things we haven't heard of or even thought of yet," said the chief of staff in the Blue Island mayor's office. "It's hard to keep up with all the things you hear." SNIP

Officials of others, such as Bedford Park and Ford Heights, said they are aware of the issue but do not plan to do much about it. SNIP

"We feel we're ready," Bauer said. "But to put your head in the sand and say nothing's going to happen, that's not very smart."

link trib

Yes there's more:

"Who knows where the embedded chips are?" asked Rebekka Hosken, assistant village manager of La Grange Park, which is one of the 16 of 31 west Cook County suburbs to take an inventory. SNIP

"We can't afford to have highfalutin equipment around here," said Barb Trainor, village accountant for Forest View, a town of 743. SNIP

"If stuff really hits the fan, everyone's going to be on the radio. And you know what happens then?" he asked. "The guy with the biggest radio wins. He blows the rest away, and we still can't communicate." SNIP

Getting water to homes is also a worry. "And that's not something we have total control over," Westchester Village Manager John Crois said. "It's up to the city of Chicago."

link trib

One Of My Favorites:

"I have a hard time believing everything is going to go down Jan. 1," said Larry McCasland, Lockport's city administrator. "It's our job to take precautions, but I think we've come too far in this world to let a date interfere with everything." SNIP

Seehausen said she will wait to hear from the village's lending institutions before getting too concerned about Steger's investments and wire transfers of money.

"Until I hear something from them, I'm going to assume everything is alright," Seehausen said. SNIP

"There's a point where you have to put faith in the assurances you've received," Johnston said. "You let them handle the liability."

link trib

These articles are so chock full I could cut quotes all day. To borrow from Diane *BIG SIGH*

-- Deborah (info@wars.com), March 15, 1999

Answers

Can't add anything to your funny quotes but I just want you to know that I may have the only (manually) compliant Bank. It is a tiny Credit Union in a town of 1800. First they put in new hardware, CRASH, then new software, CRASH, this week they said it's the modem, CRASH.

If they've crashed 3 Mondays in a row, I am certain they will either fix it in the 30 or so weeks left or they will become very proficient at doing it by hand.

Like I said very small, but really weird to see lines to the door while they do everything manually and that's just a deposit slip, they can't give you a balance.

-- Sue (deco100@aol.com), March 15, 1999.

Thanks, Deborah. The Spinsters have created a false lull, but the insanities and absurdities continue beneath the glassy surface.

-- Leska (allaha@earthlink.net), March 15, 1999.

Reminds me of a duck sitting in the water in a strong wind.

What you see on the surface looks calm enough.

But the duck is paddling furiously under the water.

-- Greybear (greybear@home.com), March 15, 1999.