Ray Kowalski signed deeply as he tried to explain to his mom one more time how computers work.

"Now, watch me, Mom. This is the key you press to do this....this is the key you press to do that."

Barbara Kowalski leaned in close to the keyboard to see which keys he was pressing. "Ok, let me try. This one?"

Ray took another deep breath as the computer screen turned an ugly shade of green. This was going to be a lot harder than he thought. 'Thank goodness I'm not trying to teach her how to drive' he thought.

As patiently as he could, he explained again, "No, Mom. This one."

He shook his head in mild frustration, understanding how Fraser must have felt when Frannie was learning how to use the precinct's intricate computer system.

'Maybe, if I color coded everything, she might understand.'

"NO! Mom! Not that one! This......." But he was too late. Suddenly the lights went out all over Chicago. Televisions, telephones, everything stopped. Debit cards wouldn't work at ATM machines. Gasoline pumps stopped as filling stations shut down.

"Shit." he said. "Mom? Do you know what you just did? You activated the Y2K virus! The entire world has just come to a complete halt months ahead of time."

He had to feel a little sorry for her as she quietly said "I'm sorry, Stanley. All I wanted to do was post this little story on Hexwood."