I have a pair of EE-8 field phones. The information sheet with the phones did not state the type of wire to use. Distance between phones will be 500 feet. Can anyone recommend the gauge or type of wire that works best. Wire will be exposed to -30 to 90 degrees F. and will be outside. Thank you in advance. By the way, this is my final prep.

-- enough is (enough@enough.com), December 28, 1999

Answers

http://www.vapower.com/news/y2k/index.html

Rollover Activities and Plans

On New Years Eve, Virginia Power will have about 1,300 employees on duty at 90 company locations. Double the normal number of Customer Service Center representatives will be on duty to respond to customers inquiries about our readiness.

The company will facilitate public awareness by coordinating coverage of Virginia Powers status during the rollover with a number of major news agencies.

Throughout the rollover we will be reporting our status to several state and federal agencies and industry associations. Agencies we will be reporting to include the State Corporation Commission (SCC), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC), and the Southeastern Electric Reliability Council (SERC).

-- Hokie (nn@va.com), December 28, 1999.

Oops, wrong thread...sorry (egg on face)

-- Hokie (nn@va.com), December 28, 1999.

The JoAnne Effect was supposed to strike throughout the previous year. It was predicted to "create chaos" and be "the wake-up call for the CEO's who have not yet grasped what the programmers have done to them."

It turned out to be more like the snooze button...

People have been fighting over the Y2K issue since it's inception. Some of it has not been nice. There are information technology professionals about that do not believe Y2K is going to have devastating effects on your life. You will find a few here (though this is a christian religious site). They are often derided and called by a name that I personally bear with a particular pride: Polly.

You will also find people (most here, in fact) who disgaree with the Polly scenarios, and believe the events surrounding Y2K will range from serious interruptions to total catastrophy. They are called Doomers.

There is a surprising consensus occuring as the date draws nearer. It is exhibited in several ways. For instance, last year you could separate the Doomers from the Pollys by asking whether or not they believed their power utility would fail where they live. Now, a significant portion of Doomers acknowledge that power will either remain on, or fluctuate in a manageable fashion - as opposed to failing and remaining off for a period measured in days (weeks, or months). (See Your prediction please: Do you believe your local electric utility will deliver uninterrupted power through the 991231 - 000101 roll-over?)

There are some important things to consider these last few weeks of 1999:

You will read that it is now too late to do anything to prepare at this stage. This is false for two reasons: 1) The people making these claims are expecting things to be much worse than Y2K could ever have been. 2) You can, if you believe you have a need, prepare in some way. (I am personally not doing anything different for Y2K...I had an opportunity to purchase a generator for one of my cottages that could actually utilise it, and turned it down because a) installing a generator now would send a confusing message to those I have talked about regarding Y2K; and b) I believe generators will be very inexpensive after the first of the year - I could probably get a great deal on one from a local Doomer...) You will read a lot of fighting. This is an unfortunate by- product of disagreement about any issue. Some of it is petty. Among the moderates in both camps, however, I sense a refreshing respect. You will read that the worst is yet to come. In my opinion, the worst has already occurred. Why do I believe this? Companies have been experiencing Y2K programming issues for years - and they have fixed them as the failures occurred. You will read scary predictions from "experts." Well, there's a link at the top of this message to an "expert"'s opinion regarding the JoAnne Effect. These effects occurred, but they had so little noticable impact that I often refer to it as the JoAnne Non-Effect. These "experts" all have something to sell you. Some of them are selling books and dried foods, while others are attempting to get you to buy into their philosophy or religion.

As is the case in much of life, calmer minds prevail. If you are in a state of panic because of what you have read or viewed on television, you should examine the other side of the issue closely. There are gaps in the logic Doomers applied to reach their conclusions. The few that have revised their position in light of the ever-changing facts have been met with derision. In the end, the machines will respond in ways dictated by the laws of physics and their programme's code - how we as individuals respond is a matter of individual choice.

Patient Regards, Andy Ray

-- Andy Ray (andyman633@hotmail.com), December 28, 1999

Answers

DELETE this vermin.

-- cody (cody@y2ksurvive.com), December 28, 1999.

What a Nimrod. And gay too.

>"<

-- SH (Squirrel@huntr.com), December 28, 1999.

If I want to get money from the government under the present system, my first task is to convince an administrator that I am helpless, less than a citizen. I must sit in an office, fill out forms, speak to social workers, prove that I can't work, prove that I have no spouse who can work.

Only people who can successful demonstrate incompetence will receive welfare. The side effects of this fact are that

1.a large number of social workers and bureacrats will be employed to determine whether or not would-be recipients are incompetent 2.recipients who have successfully convinced a social worker of their inability to work may also succeed in convincing themselves. They will be lost from the workforce and therefore the tax roles.

In America, we associate competence and intelligence with wealth. We assume that Ross Perot and Bill Gates must be very smart and hard-working because they are very rich. Conversely, a bum must be very stupid and lazy because he is so poor. So we aren't going to trust him to manage money. Instead, assuming that he has successfully demonstrated his incompetence to survive, we'll give him services. Thus, we spend $4000 per Medicaid subscriber but would never give him the $4000, which would suffice to buy a $2000 annual HMO membership plus a lot of other items that the poor person might value more than extra hospital care. ... (more)

-- frank (sinatra@frank.com), December 28, 1999.

enough-

In my experience with army field phones, we always had rolls of "commo" wire. I believe (and any of you ex-commo types feel free to correct me here) it is just normal multi-strand electrical wire, about 16 or 18 gauge. The only unusual thing about it is it has a VERY tough plastic covering, to withstand being strung over rough terrain and being driven over. Other than that, its just ordinary wire.

-- (cavscout@fix.net), December 28, 1999.

Not exactly... if memory serves four steel strands and 3 copper strands. Commo wire is made to support itself for very long distances. For your application I would look for #18 or #20 stranded copper. If you can find commo wire (try A&N store) use that. If not just about anything with insulation that can stand the temperature extreems will do the trick.

-- (...@.......), December 28, 1999.

Steel, huh? Now I know why that shit is so gawdawful strong....

thanks, ....@....

-- (cavscout@fix.net), December 29, 1999.