This New Year, Y not 2K

What were we doing 10 years ago?  Some of us were freaking out about Y2K.  Why?  OK, when computers were just babies memory was scarce and programmers were trying to save every byte they could.  So they only used the last two numbers of the year, because everyone knew all the years started with 19.  Now the 19 was going away.  Computers would go completely nuts! You'd lose all your stuff!  No one would know how to fix it!  Actually not everyone reached those particular conclusions. But those conclusions were pushing our freak-out buttons like the guy who wants the elevator NOW.   
What we thought would happen:  
Catastrophic economic crash. 
Civilization in chaos.
And everyone's favorite, nuclear holocaust.
But the whole she-bang passed without, well, a bang.  So we've got that going for us.  Happy New Year!

Source:  Countryside and Small Stock Journal, Sep/Oct98, Vol. 82 Issue 5, p16, 6p.

as accessed through EBSCOHost

All six locations of the Des Moines Public Library will be closed on Thursday, December 30, Friday, December 31 and Saturday, January 1. Thursday is unpaid leave for the staff.