Happy New Year

4 years ago, during the turnover 1999-2000, I didn´t spend the time partying like it was 1999. I spent it in front of a computer, with a phone next to me, calling various hospitals in Australia and posting e-mails to Pittsburgh, PA.

There's a 17 hour time difference between Canberra and (for instance) Minneapolis. My (acting, unpaid, supernumary) job was to canvass the local medical centres and report any Y2k problems that were critical to a central point. I couldn&acut;t save someone here in Oz whose Life Support system suddenly went on the Fritz, but by relaying the make and model of the equipment, I might be able to save dozens or hundreds in the USA and Europe.

I finally went to bed about 7 am local time - with no major problems reported, and remarkably few minor ones.

We coped pretty well with Y2k. There will be a few glitches in late February this year, there always are on leap-years. The boundaries of Human Stupidity are constantly expanding. But we should be right, at least until 2038.