I have not been able to come up with a "lessons learned" synopsis. But here is some feedback on why I was convinced there were going to be some serious problems in the US which would result in at least 100 deaths due to Y2K problems. Maybe somebody else can benefit from this feedback for understanding the social and governmental issues.

Rationale:
1. The State of Pennsylvania (where I live) announced it was 100% ready more than a year before it was ready. (the announcement was misleading to many because it did not specify that state computers were ready and did not reflect on utilities etc. The state computers were not ready when first announced either.)

2. Pennsylvanias Y2K Czars became less certain the closer we got to the rollover and started telling people to prepare instead of their "no need to make any changes for y2k" attitude they had a year earlier.

3. The Delaware Governors right hand man stated: (paraphrase) If the Governor thinks he wont have to declare some level of emergency during the Y2K transition then he has another thing coming. This man also said that governments needed to warn people with the level of veracity somewhere between "chicken little" and "the British are coming."

4. An insider at the PA government which held Y2K hearings told me that the Senators were aware that there was more Y2K PR remediation going on than actual fixes. This person said he had made extensive preparations and recommended others do the same.

5. An insider in Chicago told me that they expected power outages. It turned out to be true because they did by enormous generator which were delivered right before the transitions.

6. A Wisconsin electric attorney recommended that everybody in Wisconsin buy a generator.

7. My own research at the PA public Utility Commission showed that water companies were way behind on Y2K remediation

8. The CIA expected major problems and even meltdowns in the Soviet block. 9. I expected terrorism, the Feds did a spectacular job and prevented literally 20 acts of terrorism.

10. The nuclear industry had many unresolved safety issues and does not draw a clear line of safety. I did not expect an accident but I did expect at least 2 problems requiring operator intervention. The NRC had some holes in their ability to certify that plants were ready.

11. Local goverments bought "meals ready to eat," placed stop signs at busy intersections in case of power failures, and other actions shortly before the transition.

There are more reasons but these words and actions pointed to trouble. Im glad that there were no deaths resulting from Y2K.

For many, it is clear that either we did not understand the nature of the problem, of the nature of remediation -- Possibly both. The odd thing was, the more I researched and investigated the issue, the more support I had to argue that there would be serious problems in the US. My research relied heavily upon GAO reports and other governmental bodies and personell. I have years of experience with NRC issues. When we asked the courts to allow us a look at how nuclear utilities fixed there problems, we were denied. Lack of public disclosure always creates suspicions and doubts.

But the #1 reason I expected troubles was PA and soon the rest of the US created legislation to limit Y2K liabilty lawsuits 500 days before the transition. If there was going to be no problems -- why the need for blanket legislation and in essence, legal permission to do a half-assed job?

This action spoke louder than all of the words of reassurance.

-- Anonymous, January 27, 2000

Answers

Bravo Scott. The disconnect between words of known liars and deeds, was absolutely disconcerting.

"This man also said that governments needed to warn people with the level of veracity somewhere between "chicken little" and "the British are coming." This just wasn't done.

"10. The nuclear industry had many unresolved safety issues and does not draw a clear line of safety. " Extremely disconcerting.

And particularly what apparently actually happened:

"4. An insider at the PA government which held Y2K hearings told me that the Senators were aware that there was more Y2K PR remediation going on than actual fixes. " No one has really talked about this at all!

Lessons learned = We cannot trust our government nor can we trust industry. And that their propaganda machines are tremendously effective on everybody but a small percentage of thinking people, such as those found on this forum.

-- Anonymous, January 27, 2000

They seem to have worked on FactFinder

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2000

Bobx, The government (for the most part)said there would not be severe problems. So did industry. They were correct. If you use that as a mesuring stick, then they are trustworthy.

I don't think one can draw any conclusions about trust from what I posted.

-- Anonymous, January 31, 2000