Doug made a good recommendation in this note... (if we can digress from the
"999999" topic for a minute:

>>> I was listening to a radio show last night where the host was suggesting
that the companies he owns do nothing at all about Y2K except to back up all
of their data in late December, 1999 and lock it in a drawer. If the Y2K
problems hit they can go back to that backup because it will never have been
loaded on a computer that saw a Y2K date so the data will be OK. He left you
with the impression that Y2K was a virus that was only going to hit a small
amount of the population and he was not the least bit concerned. He missed
the point that his data was now frozen in time if his software wouldn't
operate. His show is to give out financial advice and not computer advice.
<<<

We don't look at this as a Doomsday event, but it dosen't hurt to deal with
a few "preventative" measures to protect your internal business operations.

Although all of our internal software and hardware have passed Y2K tests (at
the urging of our insurance company, accountant and attorney), we have
definitive plans to hold off our New Years Eve party until all systems are
backed up twice, with one copy stored offsite.  (That shouldn't take a long
time, thanks to HiBack :)

Doug is right, in that if the software wouldn't work, the data would still
be useless, but - and here's the big BUT -- you still have financial and
other business records as of the end of the year stored in a safe place, and
one can always backdate a system to restore the data if needed.

Hardcopies of all Financial Statements and other business documents as of
COB 31-Dec-1999, stored offsite, would also be a good idea, and we plan to
do that as well.  Why?  Your bank, vendors and customers can tell you
whatever they please - but if something DOES happen, you have hardcopies at
least, to go back to.  We are on the latest version of Quickbooks Pro
(Quickbooks 99) which is Y2K compliant, but generating business records to
paper is an hour at the most...  YMMV.

I wouldn't go so far as to start hoarding foodstuffs and building a bunker
behind the house (my homeowner's association would frown on that big time!
:) because I think that all the "militant" talk these days about 1-Jan-2000
becoming "doomsday" is ridiculous -- but to have hardcopies of everything to
at least run your business temporarily would be a good idea.

Only after the backups are done and safely stored, and the financial
statements are filed away in a safe place, will we pop the champagne.  We
fully plan to be in the office on 3-Jan-2000, conducting business as usual,
but we want to be ready, and so should everyone else responsible for running
their business.

My US$0.02 worth (which won't even buy a stick of chewing gum these days,
but maybe a drop and a half of petrol in the UK ;)

Joe