Time to dip media toe in "Y2K" thawing ...

Former Secretary of State Phil Keisling resigned last November to look for a job outside government in the technology industry ...

After interviewing with 50 potential employers, he chose the one which oversaw the progress of Y2K remediation.

Nice to see recognition go to those who helped Stay / Slay TEOTWAWKI !!!

Keisling Joins Portland Technology Firm

... "The state government hired PROdX last year to check on the progress of agencies as they rewrote computer code to avoid Y2K glitches. PROdX had a 19-month, $550,000 contract to evaluate the state's 11 biggest agencies, from the Department of Human Services to the Oregon State Police. ... "

When he resigned we posted a thread about how it had to do with Y2K ... :-)
Right and in a very unexpected way!

Gaawd it feels good to be spectacularly wrong in such a right way!
Keep the miracle holding, let the good times keep rolling!

Portland did not scoff nearly as much as many other cities. We had lotsa meetings, high-profile, and IT folks were top, front and center in the efforts to control the bug. There was an undercurrent of willingness to learn and embrace computers, technology impacts, and the need to upgrade and keep pace with the "progress" curves.

Portland is really a hip place; it got ready (not nearly enough, but earthquake consciousness helped); and it certainly never had even a whiff of "panic." The Mayor went to Senior Centers and demonstrated and assembled Emergency Preparedness Backpacks -- this was shown repeatedly on Cable TV.

Living in the Cascadian Subduction Zone, where geologists have determined a proven history of 9+ earthquakes, has awakened a certain level of independent self-reliance. Plus that old Oregon Trail individualist pioneering thingy :-)

Just a news article tidbit from the Silicon Forest ... ;^)

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), February 17, 2000

Answers

Thanks for the news tidbit.

>> Plus that old Oregon Trail individualist pioneering thingy :-) <<

As a third-generation Oregonian (admittedly, on just one family branch), married to a fourth-generation Oregonian (on a couple of branches) I want to issue a clarification here:

Pioneers worked like the dickens on their own plot of ground or bit of business. But they hung together and helped each other. It was often a matter of survival. Offering help was common. Refusing help was seen as turning your back on your neighbors.

-- Brian McLaughlin (brianm@ims.com), February 17, 2000.

Grew up on the Oregon Coast on Neah-kah-nie Mountain (south of Seaside). We always had a basement full of supplies and a couple of cords of wood laid in, because we almost invariably lost power and/or outside access during winter storms. Flooding and mudslides seemed like an annual event and everyone helped out with recovery. Used to be a point of pride for us locals to tell the outside agencies that we didn't need their help, thanks very much.

-- DeeEmBee (macbeth1@pacbell.net), February 17, 2000.