20000101 Y2K

I managed the Y2K remediation program at a core tech company. Our own code didn't need much work (time based on Unix epoch ending in 2038) but there were a surprising number of show-stopping bugs in systems from our vendors. Negotiating, coordinating, and updating everything was a butt load of work. I remember a consultant so keen for my blessing on his part of the plan that he got down on his knees and made full supplication. In a suit. I said, "We'll talk about it."

At home on the last night of the year we hosted a wedding. At exactly midnight, a crucial moment in the ceremony, I flipped the main circuit breaker. Everything went dark and silent, other than the plaintive beeping of UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) boxes. Of course the guests freaked out ...until someone eventually noticed lights were still on elsewhere in the neighborhood. Only the bride, groom, and my own wife were in on the prank. I stayed up for several more hours enjoying the reception and hoping my pager wouldn't go off. It didn't! Which could well have been because of a Y2K bug, and I was okay with that.