Y2K BUG CALLS IN WITH THE FLU; Y2K BUG FIZZLES AROUND COUNTY.

Byline: Jason Z. Cohen and Rick Orlov Staff Writers

The millennium bug didn't show up for work Monday, the first business day of the year 2000. Maybe it called in sick.

In fact, the flu bug hit government and business offices harder than the Y2K bug on the first day back to work after computers switched from 1999 to 2000.

``It's like any other day,'' said Melissa Robinson, spokeswoman for Westlake Village-based NetZero. The flu bug ``was a bigger bug than Y2K was, definitely.''

Los Angeles city and county officials also were surprised that the year 2000 transition went so well.

``We felt it would not be a major event, but we did expect there to be some minor disruptions. We never imagined that the 2000 rollover would be this smooth,'' said Jon Fullinwider, chief information officer for the county.

After collectively spending some $270 million to prepare, Los Angeles city and county officials said the investment was worthwhile and turned up a few minor problems. Four computer system clocks had to be reset, said Frank Martinez, the city Y2K czar.

``We have a better understanding of our system and a handle on the network that we didn't have before,'' Martinez said. ``We got some new computers and programming that will serve the city well far into the future.

``We will be monitoring it for several weeks as we go through all our firsts - first payrolls, first audits, first end-of-month statements.''

Superior Industries Inc., with factories across the globe, said its business was humming, as did mom-and-pop stores across the Valley floor.

At Pasadena-based EarthLink Networks, a glitch that surfaced Monday wasn't directly related to Y2K, said spokesman Arley Baker.

A server at EarthLink sent an erroneous message to some 2,500 customers saying the credit cards they use to pay for their service had been rejected. The message was dated Jan. 24, 2000.

Baker said the company was testing a billing server to make sure it would work through the changeover, and someone forgot to switch it off.

``We sent those people a follow-up e-mail telling people it was our error,'' Baker said. ``It was more of a mistake of us not shutting down that server after we were done testing. The content of the message could have been anything.''

No credit cards were charged, Baker said.

Only one customer of All City Computers in Camarillo reported computer problems related to the date change, and the story was similar at other computer repair shops.

Service manager Phil Kitlinger attributed the smooth transition to good preparation in the weeks leading up to the new year.

``We have been busy the past several weeks in upgrading and testing for Y2K,'' Kitlinger said. ``I think it was overblown by all of the media hype.''

ABMS Computer Repair Center in Sherman Oaks advised its clients not to be connected to outside sources during the rollover, said consultant Allan Aboulafia. Some customers took the advice a step further, though.

``They decided because of the change they wanted to shut down over the weekend,'' Aboulafia said. ``Now the first one in the door doesn't know how to fire it up in the morning. Everything has boiled down to operator error.''

That's not to say Y2K concerns were much ado about nothing.

``It did create a clear and present danger if all those participating were not compliant. There would have been major problems,'' he said. ``I believe it was very vital that word got out.''

The transition to the year 2000 for government and business was so seamless that Martinez finds himself defending the work he and others have done over the past year.

``We never said the world was coming to an end,'' Martinez said. ``What we did say was there is a problem and we have to deal with it.''

County officials were so confident that Y2K was a nonevent that they deactivated the Emergency Operations Center on Sunday night, a full day early.

``We're not aware of any problems causing any impact on the public,'' Fullinwider said. ``We'll run across minor problems, but we will fix them quickly.

A few trivial problems occurred Monday in scattered county offices, with some computer reports reading the date as 1900, Fullinwider said.

``Those were quickly fixed,'' he said. Checks with all 88 cities in the county will be made at least twice this week to ensure that everything is running smoothly, he said.

``It kind of begs the question, Was all this worth it?'' Fullinwider said.

- Staff Writers Phillip W. Browne and Steve Carney contributed to this report.