View from the Cab: From Y2K to '25

By Kent Casson

I am having a hard time typing and writing “2025” as the calendar has flipped to a brand-new year.

I still have a hard time contemplating that the Y2K hype was already 25 years ago and the big Blizzard of 1999 was 26 years ago. Both of those are memories which stand out for me.

We were all nervous about midnight on January 1, 2000 as there were many unknowns in the world such as what would happen to all of the computers. Some were saying the world would simply shut down as the power grid would be messed up, but guess what? The clock struck midnight and absolutely nothing happened much to the dismay of a group of teenagers gathered at my parents’ house around the computer screen.

I think the only thing I noticed out of the ordinary on our Windows 95 Packard Bell machine was that the date defaulted back to the year 1900 rather than moving ahead to 2000. No big deal, but it sure made for great hype heading into the new millennium.

A year prior to that, we had one of the worst blizzards in recent memory as over a foot of snow blanketed much of Central Illinois stranding country folks like ourselves for days. We were getting cabin fever after a few days in the house but found plenty to do like watching VHS movies and playing Monopoly. Throw in a few home-cooked meals from Mom, and we had it made.

I don’t know if kids these days would be quite as creative as we were. Rather than venturing out to sled in the snow or build giant snow forts, I can picture today’s youth playing video games in their room until their parents say it is time to come down for dinner.

Being the radio geek I was, my radio was tuned into the local station during the Blizzard of 1999 to hear about all of the closings and cancellations around the area. In fact, the announcer would spend a good 10 minutes at the top of each hour running down the updated list. Then, the weather guy would come on the radio explaining the entire situation.

I had started work as a part-timer at the radio station a couple of years before that but my boss called that snowy weekend saying not to try and venture in or if I did, I would be fired.

A quarter century later, we are faced with the threat of another significant winter weather system as of this writing. Before we know it, we will be 25 years into the future recalling all of the memories from this year.

I wish time would just slow down. Happy New Year.