Y2K Revisited (a flash-back treat)

At the end of 1999 I wrote a live account of what was going on in my town as we approached the date rollover.

This new year's eve I am reposting my 1999/2000 post as well as an account of this new year's eve following.

Enjoy...



Gun shots rang out intermittently as all over the neighbourhood the sound of festivity fills the air. Music blaring. Kids screaming. Adults talking.

The countdown had begun.

1999 was going to blur effortlessly into 2000.

It was make or break time for the doomsday profiteers. Either we'd be fine, with small minor hi-cups (as the politicians had been telling everyone), or we'd encounter such a tumultuous event, the likes of which we've never seen in OUR lifetime, that we'd be flung back to living like it was the 1900s.

Reputations were going to be made or destroyed on a single tick of the clock.

Never could I remember anything which had captured the world's imagination as this did, or for so long.

Sure we had the space shuttle explosion. And The US lost the America's Cup. And The Marlins won the world series. And George Harrison was attacked in his home. And The Spice Girls. And Ricki Martin. And ABBA. And Princess Di's death. And the Clinton/Lewenski thing. And so on.

But, as Sinead O'Conner sang back in the early 90s, nothing compares.

And so it was, on December the 31st, 1999, that while half the world partied and half the world sat and waited, I sat down to write this. An ongoing account of the last few hours of 1999 in my town.

If everything turned out relatively fine, I'd be able to post this to the internet for those in other countries to see, for those who still had hours and hours to go. If things were not fine, I wouldn't be able to post this at all.

So, if you're reading this online you can be a little certain that Australia wasn't flung back to the 1900's at the stroke of midnight.

The time is currently 9:48pm, Dec 31 1999. Two hours and twelve minutes to go. I just got out of the shower. Thought I'd have one in case it was my last one for a while :o)

Still the sounds of gun fire ring out every now and then. In a city it might be a worry. But in a small rural town, I'd expect nothing less. I only hope those doing the shooting haven't been drinking. I'd hate to read the news about some child being hit by a stray bullet that had been fired into the air a mile or two away.

CNN is showing live footage of celebrations in New Zealand. All the lights are still on. And the fireworks display is the largest ever in the country. So far it doesn't look like the doomsday guys are on the mark. However, we'll have to wait and see.

I wonder what Gary North is thinking, if he's watching?

Since CNN left the celebrations in NZ, after about ten minutes, they haven't been back. Wonder if there's a problem?

Feeling peckish. Might go up the road and grab something to eat - don't want to eat into my survival rations of SPAM. :o)

How odd, it's 10:30 pm and only three pubs in town are open. The rest are all closed. Of all the pubs that are open, they're all only about a quarter full. Only one restaurant open. KFC, Pizza Hut, Hungry Jacks, McDonald's, Pizza Haven and Dominos Pizza are all shut. The only food franshise still open is SUBWAY. That'll have to do.

While I'm in there six guys comes in to wish us all a Happy New Year. They also decide to tell us they couldn't get into a party because it was for gays and lesbians only. Interesting. They also said they were the only ones walking around - something I could backup as I'd just been all over town and it's was shut down tight.

Now I'm all set. I've had my six inch Satay sub, six inch Melt sub, six inch Pizza sub and I'm contented :o). I've got my can of Coke and I'm relaxing with a good cigar (Wee Willem). What a fine way to see in the new year. Bring it on. I'm ready!!!!

It's now 11:30 pm. I asked my cat and dog what they thought of it all. My dog just titled his head to one side and gave me that 'what on earth are you talking about' look. My cat meowed and started to clean himself.

Time to get online and await the date rollover.

11:35 pm. Gee the net seems a little slow. The board didn't load up as fast as normal.

11:40 pm. Nothing special happening.

11:45 pm. Still nothing special. CNN is showing footage of Sydney Harbour. They estimate upto one quarter of the city's 4 million people are along the foreshore awaiting the fireworks display.

11:50 pm. CNN says New Zealand still has power. But there won't be any flights until midday.

11:55 pm. Nothing special happening.

11:56 pm. Ho hum.... hurry up.

11:57 pm. Damn, I spilt some of my Coke. Now I'm all sticky.

11:58 pm. It's very quiet outside.

11:59 pm. I can hear some piss-head yelling.

12:00 am. There's a bunch of fireworks going off all around the place. My dog's growling at them.

12:01 am. I've still got power. HA! And Sydney's fireworks looks great.

12:05 am. I'm still here. Sydney's fireworks on CNN still look good. And the info we're hearing about them is amazing. Largest firework display in the world, for seven miles of the shoreline fireworks are going off, final blast is from a 16 inch shell shot over a mile in the air and exploding as wide as a quarter of a mile. Incredible.

Think I'll post this now...

Cheers! And Happy New Year To You And Your Family!!!

Michael Ross.



Here we are again... another New Year's Eve... and just like I did when the year rolled into 2000, this is an account of the last minutes of 2002.

Since my 1999-2000 account I have changed my diet - no wheat, no sugar (or artificial sweetener), no soy, no dairy, no alcohol, no caffeine.

Dairy is no problem. You try avoiding the other three food products... wheat, soy, sugar... it's near on impossible, specially if you shop in the middle isles. Every meat type product in the "deli" contains one of those three remaining ingredients - wheat, soy, sugar (surpising, isn't it?). So no Xmas ham for me.

So I'm forced to buy all my vegetables fresh - even canned sweet corn has added sugar. Which is not so bad anyway.

This year's evening meal was Mince in a Curry and Coconut Milk sauce topped off with a slices of cantaloupe.

Beverage... Green Tea - or pure water.

Some people ask if it's hard to eat this way- not eating MacDonald's, ice-cream, cookies, pizza, coffee, etc., etc.

The answer is

NO

It's easy. I don't miss it. Feel better - healthier.

Also since I last wrote an account, we've had the September 11 attacks and the October 12 attacks (does that mean the next major attack will be on November 13?). George Harrison died. The Spice girls split. We had Star Wars episode I and II, Lord of The Rings I and II, Harry Potter and the behemoth which was Spiderman.

And as with before, I took a bit of a drive around town. Last time I lived in a small town of 30,000. Now I live in a city of over 500,000 people. And what did I notice?

Some restaurants were busy - the Italian, French & Vietnamese/Chinese.

The fast food places - Take Away Pizza and Fish & Chip shops - were doing good trade.

Also, the Video Stores were VERY busy - maybe people want to get the extra free day of rental as tomorrow's a public holiday. Or maybe they just want the extra entertainment to see them through their "day off work".

Tonight, I'll see in the New Year updating this account as something happens worth writing about, while I watch back to back shows of Room 208 (an Australian TV show in which people come into the studio to dance off for the chance to win $1,000.00 - also seen in Canada - and where voting is done by people at home calling a 1900 number or sending a text message) and we (me and my wife) talk about where we want to take our businesses over the coming year.

So what's happening around me?

6:24 pm... some joker a couple of houses up started to mow his lawn. Go figure.

7:51 pm... my cat brought in a lizard. Played with it a bit. And it ran away under the door into the yard.

8.42 pm... some fireworks are going off somewhere. I can hear them but can't see them over the 3 storey walk-ups which proliferate the area.

9:06 pm... more fireworks somewhere. Hmmm. Probably our local ones.

9:08 pm... Sky News is reporting some indecision regarding the fireworks going off at Sydney Harbour - the 9:00 pm fireworks were cancelled due to bad weather and maybe the midnight fireworks will be cancelled too - too windy. So much for the four million dollars worth of fireworks they had planned for the night.

10:07 pm... sirens wailing outside.

10:41 pm... next door has a few friends over and they are starting to get loud.

10:55 pm... more sirens - lots.

11:00 pm... it's midnight in Sydney because of "Daylight Savings" and the four million dollars worth of fireworks are now going off. Unfortunately, pay TV isn't showing it. Grrr. >:[

11:23 pm... a few distant loud bangs outside.

11:32 pm... it's pretty quiet out.

11:40 pm... no parties going on anywhere near my place. Not even the apartment complex behind us has a single party.

11:45 pm... just waiting for the clock to tick over with a fresh hot cup of green tea.

11:55 pm... five minutes to go and all's well.

11:57 pm... not long to go...

11:58 pm... 120 seconds to go now...

11:59 pm... a couple of fireworks are going off near by - my clocks might be one minute slow ;o)

12:00 am... REAL fireworks are going off. I can hear them. We must have also had two lots of fireworks (9:00 pm and midnight) just like Sydney. Again, I can't see them.

12:05 am... still the fireworks are going off. Oh well, time to post...

Michael Ross