It was December 31, 1999, the day before the world would come to an end. For a year and a half, we knew there was a problem. When entering dates on forms or computer programs, the year was only assigned two digits. 1999 would normally be entered as 99. What would happen when the new century began and the date was 00? Worldwide, the computer geeks worked tirelessly to adjust programs so that the date would not mean 1900. If that happened, computers and all they control could come to a sudden standstill. No power, no water. Planes would fall out of the sky. Ships would be stuck in the middle of a sea somewhere with no way to communicate. Nuclear arsenals might blow up. No one knew what would happen, but it wouldn’t be good.

I was living in Khartoum, Sudan and I, along with some British, Australian and other American families decided to spend that crucial night in the Nubian desert, far away from anything that might explode. Well, we were near an oil refinery.
We arrived in the early afternoon and enjoyed climbing on the huge stones that looked like giants had walked away and left their marbles behind. As dusk descended, we built a campfire and pulled out our pots and pans and food. We laughed and joked as we sat around the fire eating our evening meal. Afterwards, we got out the marshmallows and the children roasted them over the fire. They brought them to me to put on digestive biscuits (the closest thing we had to graham crackers) along with bits of chocolate. S’mores were a new hit for the non-Americans among us.

While all this was going on, we tuned in by shortwave radio to hear what was happening in the rest of the world. We first heard that New Zealand and then Australia had continued to function. As we listened, the world seemed to have averted tragedy. As it neared midnight, we watched the oil refinery to see if it would suddenly go dark. Thankfully, the lights stayed on. We contentedly slipped into our sleeping bags and watched the stars and the Milky Way pass quietly overhead.
In the morning, we saw the sun rise on this new century, grateful the world was still turning and our electronics would continue to function. And now you know why forms have four digits for the year. Next time, we may not be so lucky.