Y to K or was it Y2K?

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So 20 years ago today, many people were worrying about the Y2K bugs and many people in IT and support were paid large sums to be available after midnight ..............

What a damp squid that turned out to be

Where have the last 20 years gone?

 
I’m convinced the Y2K panic was deliberately started by IT consultants to boost trade.

Our companies IT department certainly panicked the plant management by saying they hadn’t the time to check all the process control gear. I got lumbered with the job and couldn’t find any problems. The proof came when the plant started perfectly after the 99/00 Christmas shutdown.

A year later the IT department caused absolute chaos by replacing DOS6-2 on all the plant PC’s with Windows 95 corporate. I told them not to do it, they ignored me and the plant didn’t restart on time. I had rewrite the config file on every plant PC.

 
My late Dad was very old schools....he maintained that technology would never take off; went ballistic when I started us doing IT installs, said we'd never make money working out of town

paris, Berlin, Amsterdam were frequent visits

any way the tills at our shop,were wooden drawers with a till roll and bell that tinged.....one till for cash sales and one for account clients. All figures entered in biro

Y2K some nonce in an accounts dept wanted to know what systems  we had in place for the millennium conflagration

my old man took umbrage at this insolence so he took a pic of the tills alongside a pic of a biro and a pencil.  With an added hand written note..."rest assured sonny that if the biro breaks/runs out there is a William Hills across the road and we can get more..if they are shut OR out of stock we have a pencil and all our accounts staff are qualified to use it. Satisfied?"....this was then faxed to the  enquirer 

no reply was received

 
my old man took umbrage at this insolence so he took a pic of the tills alongside a pic of a biro and a pencil.  With an added hand written note..."rest assured sonny that if the biro breaks/runs out there is a William Hills across the road and we can get more..if they are shut OR out of stock we have a pencil and all our accounts staff are qualified to use it. Satisfied?"....this was then faxed to the  enquirer 


so thats where you get it from

 
so thats where you get it from
Yep....it's a family trait and I am teaching my son (36)👍

ha ha ha

no computers back then!
There were a few BUt he insisted on using his Burroughs hand cranked adding machine..I electrified it for him, disconnected as it was too,fast

all,invoices hand typed

envelopes hand typed,as he wouldn't use window envelopes 

 
he took a pic of the tills alongside a pic of a biro and a pencil.  
Love it  .

Some years ago I  my cousin  my electric typewriter had  packed up and was I having a problem  locating a new one . 

" Are you  crazy"    were  his actual words ,  " You need a computer"     ( He'd been on a course  !!!!)  

   So now I have a PC  and yes they are excellent devices ,  bash my invoices out with Word  but never mastered envelopes .    Now they are mostly emailed .  

Things move on , sometimes we get left behind .    When  its "Celebrity Quiz Time " on TV   I have to ask the missus  who they are . 

Take my first van ,   see photo , not the actual van but same colour , everything .    ( Except I painted the grille red  , don't ask) 

Handbrake  ........useless

Foot brakes.........Useless 

Steering  ...... ......non assisted .

Seat belts ...........non existing .

Direction indicators.....  see trafficator arm in door pillar.    ( Lean across , bash with fist to release. )

Seats ...........................pivoted at the front only .  ( Emergency stop , seat tips forward )

Heater .........................  Eh! 

Radio .........................   nowhere to fit one . 

Security ........................ Hah!  

Lost keys...................... lift bonnet (not locked)  two fuses by battery , short them across with silver paper to turn on ignition , press starter . 

Austin A30 AV4 5cwt Van front.jpg

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Handbrake  ........useless

Foot brakes.........Useless 

Steering  ...... ......non assisted .

Seat belts ...........non existing .

Direction indicators.....  see trafficator arm in door pillar.    ( Lean across , bash with fist to release. )

Seats ...........................pivoted at the front only .  ( Emergency stop , seat tips forward )

Heater .........................  Eh! 

Radio .........................   nowhere to fit one . 

Security ........................ Hah!  

Lost keys...................... lift bonnet (not locked)  two fuses by battery , short them across with silver paper to turn on ignition , press starter . 


The cars we bought as apprentices to get to college were wrecks, no MOT’s back then. When the mini’s drivers side door fell off we just tied it on the roof with T+E. What do you expect for £5?

The only computer on the works was a Ferranti Argos 100, it would fill my bedroom nowadays. You used a teletype to alter the program (essential tools being scissors and sellotape).

 
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