Ah yes - the Roman soldiers knew this - when marching across bridges
     they would fall "out of step" so that the bridge would remain intact.

     Happy Holidays to everyone-
     Janet


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: [HP3000-L] OT: Y2K, electricity and you
Author:  TPierce ([log in to unmask]) at internet
Date:    12/17/99 11:00 AM


Thus the best thing to do is an extra backup and leave everything running
normally.  One little computer is about as significant as one little toilet,
and if they all go off (on) at the same time, results can be pretty
spectacular.

On the GGB's 50th anniversary there was a pedestrian party on the bridge,
and not a thought was given beforehand to the fact that people are MUCH
heavier than cars.  While there were 1000s of peds partying on the bridge,
it actually bowed downward instead of its normal upward curve, while several
engineers worked frantically to determine how many people the bridge could
safely hold.  Good thing all those people didn't start dancing to the same
tune.

When you buck a system, it can buck back.  When everybody bucks the same
system at the same time, it definitely will.  Be careful, not paranoid!


Tracy Pierce, Systems Programmer
Golden Gate Bridge, Hwy & Trnsp Dist
P.O.Box 9000, Presidio Station
San Francisco, CA  94129-0601
phone 415-923-2266
email to [log in to unmask]


> -----Original Message-----
> From: HP-3000 Systems Discussion [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
> Behalf Of Winston Kriger
> Sent: Thursday, December 16, 1999 3:14 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: OT: Y2K, electricity and you
>
>
> Boris Kortiak wrote in message ...
> I keep hearing about more and more companies that are going
> to turn things
> off on 12/31/1999 and then turn them back on 1/1/2000.  I
> don't know about
> you, but this has me a little concerned.  Is anyone aware of a(n)
> (agency|industry group|*) that is going to help control this
> action?  I mean
> if everyone were to go off and then back on at the same time
> I would be
> concerned about the initial surge and later drain on the
> systems causing
> some power problems.......................
>
> Back in the '70s when I was in the Digital Plotter/Digitizer
> business, I
> went on site to install our graphics
> software on the Los Angles Metro Water District
> mainframes/minicomputers
> that controlled the power
> sequencing for all of the water-pump motors that pumped water
> from Northern
> California to Southern
> California.  I recall that there were large numbers of huge
> electric motors
> that had to be very carefully
> sequenced when starting -- to avoid a major blackout.  We're
> talking about
> hundreds of 20,000 HP
> motors that do this work on a demand basis day-in and
> day-out.  I'm not sure
> how the power grid is
> arranged there, but let's hope the system doesn't allow some idiot to
> override the sequencing program
> and try to start all of these at once.  On the other hand, if
> the sequencing
> program isn't Y2K compliant,
> maybe they will all (try to) start up at 00:01 on 1/1/2000
> and black things
> out anyway.  The Chief
> Engineer told me that all of Hoover Dam's capacity would not
> handle the
> start-up surge of even half
> of the motors if they were all turned on at the same instant
> .......................................
>
> Winston K.
>