FW: not HUMOR: The heroes of Y2K

[Brent Perez]

I hope you all will not think too badly of me for sending this to the =
VNC
list.
I thought this was worth reading (patting myself on the back!) :~) :~) =
:~)
=A0
Brent W. Perez=20
IT Manager - Venkel Corp.=20
=A0

-
Subject: Fwd: not HUMOR: The heroes of Y2K


> > The heroes of Y2k
> >  By Judy Backhouse
> >
> >  The truly crazy headed for the hills with fortified bunkers and
> >  ammunition. The more cautious bought water and tinned food.
> >  Even the most optimistic drew some extra cash the week before.
> >  Everyone speculated about the outcome.
> >
> >  But in the IT world, we worked.
> >
> >  We checked code.
> >
> >  We corrected code.
> >
> >  We tested code.
> >
> >  We rolled dates forward and backward and forward and backward
> >  until our nerves were paper-thin.
> >
> >  We upgraded hardware.
> >
> >  We upgraded operating systems (to cope with the new hardware).
> >  We upgraded compilers (to cope with the new operating systems).
> >  We modified more code (to cope with the new compilers).
> >  And then we began the cycle again of testing and rolling forward
> >  and testing and rolling backward.
> >
> >  We initiated great, complex Y2k projects.
> >
> >  We compiled project plans.
> >
> >  We filled in endless forms about the state of our Y2k projects.
> >  We wrote monthly reports about the progress of the Y2k projects.
> >  We went to meetings where we were told how the future of the
> >  company depended on the Y2k project being completed in time.
> >  We dealt with panicked business people.
> >
> >  We soothed troubled nerves at dinner parties.
> >  We were asked to predict the outcome by distant cousins who
> >  knew we were "in IT".
> >
> >  We became overnight experts in the working of diesel generators,
> >  photocopiers, motor vehicles and washing machines.
> >
> >  And, collectively, we averted the disaster.
> >
> >  Like superman of old, the IT professionals of today managed to
> >  intercept nothing less than the end of the world. In an industry
> >  where projects run notoriously over the most pessimistic time
> >  estimates, we met the deadline.
> >
> >  The clocks ticked over to the year 2000 with nothing more than
> >  minor hitches.
> >
> >  And were they grateful? Did the world thank us and laud us as the
> >  heroes we quite clearly were?
> >
> >  No!
> >
> >  They turned around and called it "all hype".
> >
> >  They questioned the money spent.
> >
> >  We did our jobs so damned well that the only question remaining
> >  was whether there had been any need to do the job at all.
> >  So, to all those IT people out there who slaved away at the Y2k
> >  problems over the past few years, who endured the pressure
> >  of fearful but helpless managers; who lost endless sleep testing
> >  things at night because there wasn't a separate test machine; who
> >  cancelled their December leave; who couldn't be in exotic places =
to
> >  welcome the start of the new millennium; who stayed sober on
> >  New Year's eve because they were on standby; who went to work
> >  on the 1st and the 2nd to boot up the machines - I say put your
> >  feet up, pat yourselves and each other on the back and go and get
> >  some much needed sleep with a smug smile on your face.
> >  We did it.
> >
> >  The IT people across the planet are heroes - even if unsung ones.
> >  Like housework, what we do is not appreciated unless we don't do
> >  it. But like the housewives of old we go on doing it, knowing
> >  that it is good, honest, necessary work - and that it gives us
> >  inordinate power.
> >
> >  So, my fellow programmers, system administrators, database
> >  administrators, operators, analysts and support staff -
> >  congratulations on a job well done.
> >
> >  Ours may be the youngest profession on the planet, but this 21st
> >  century belongs to us.
> >
> >  Judy Backhouse is an IT professional who does freelance writing in
> >  her free time.
> >  Online Editor: Carel Alberts +27 11 789-1808
> >  @ Copyright 1999 Systems Publishers (Pty) Ltd -
> >  All Rights Reserved
> >



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