Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for December 30, 1999

I remember all the work which was completed for his.

I was like 19 on this date. I was studying electrical engineering and design at MIT. My dad called that very day and asked if he should prepare for Y2K and what I thought would happen. He explained that one of his Navy buddies had told him cars would not start, the electrical grid would shut down and take years to restart, hospitals would go dark and stay that way for years to come, etc etc. I told him to calm down, that Y2K wasn’t quite what the media was making it out to be; that it wouldn’t turn off a single lightbulb; most computers and control systems would either roll with the new date or if they weren’t patched or replaced, they would simply roll over to 1900/1. He sounded unconvinced but calmed down.

New years day, he called to say that I was right and he was glad for it.

I remember watching the news, and they cut to LAX airport, normally a ridiculously busy and crowded place, and on new years’ eve, it was nearly empty. Nobody dared to fly, I guess.

Y2K was a standard maintenance activity for most IT shops. It was no big deal.