Millennium Bug Watch

THINK FOR a moment what you're actually going to do in the few days before and after the weekend beginning on 1 January 2000. Given thatsome people are predicting problems caused by the millennium bug, perhaps you have planned to fill up the car with petrol and withdraw some extra cash - or maybe all of it? Ever thought millions of other people will have had exactly the same thought?

That is the sort of scenario that already worries Jon Fullinwider, chief information officer for Los Angeles County, the largest county government in the world. "If everybody decides on the last week of 1999 to go out and fill his or her gas [petrol] tank, there isn't enough gas to do that. If everybody decides they want to take $500 from their ATM, there isn't enough cash," he said.

"If everybody wanted to go out and buy an extra supply of groceries, there aren't enough groceries. Our whole thing is supply and demand. We need to be careful that we manage this and we don't go into the hysteria."

So if you're going to panic, do it nice and early. And pay with your credit card.