On the way to Y2K

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Back in the early 80's we purchased wheat grinders, both manual and electric. We also purchased large amounts of wheat, beans and corn and packed this in buckets with dry ice. We still have this except some of the packed grains which due to age, and poor storage conditions thru several moves had to be tossed.

The reason we did these things was because with the deficits of the early Regan years I could not see how we could make thru the 80's without an economic collapse and we almost did not, 1987. I did not understand that our elected leaders had rabbit after rabbit they could pull out of the hat. I do not know how many rabbits they have left but I suspect it is not many.

What I am getting to is the possibility that before the end of 1999 we could be in economic collapse and Y2K may be a back burner issue as it is currently in Japan. This does not bode well for Y2K remediation.

Economic collapse here could mean the complete collapse of our banking system and all that entails. It could even mean the collapse for all pratical purposes of the federal government. The only government that would have any real meaning would be at the local level in the smaller cities and towns.

From what I hear this is the case in Russia today. Japan is going from bad to worse. Indonesia is not a place in which to be a city dweller. We seem to be headed for a similar fate here. Unlike Y2K we can't pen a date on when this could / will happen but when it happens it will come swiftly like a thief in the night.

I have not had the opportunity to read Paul Milne's pre 1998 postings but I gather correctly or not that his background lead him to see bad things in an economic context unrelated to Y2K and then his awareness of the Y2K issue was another ten nails in the coffin.

We live in a rather small town some ways from a city. I have never been one who enjoys the city except for the bookstores. Early in 1998 I left my job here and took one for much more pay in a town of 30,000. Going to a city would have meant an even greater pay increase as I program in a COBOL like language. While at my new job I assessed what it would be like for my wife and two young boys in this town of 30,000 durning an economic collapse and with Y2K less than two years away. I tried to convince myself that it would be an OK location but after many soul searching nights I could not. I took back my old job at the old low salary and have not looked back since.

I suspect that the buying up of kerosene lamps, long term food storage, etc. is not due solely to Y2K but also there are bankers who feel an ill wind that is not Y2K or not just Y2K.

Before moving to the smaller town we now live in we had acreage in the wheat fields of central Kansas. In 1987 I installed a concrete storm celler behind the house. I received much ridicule for putting in a bomb shelter. Six months after we sold that property the great Andover Kansas tornado first dropped down in a wheat field to the south of our place. If you have seen on the weather channel the lengthly vidio of three great tornados one is the Andover tornado. It is shown dropping to the ground and racing north accross a wheat field. The house in the background it is moving toward is our old place.

Be prepared.

-- Ed Stevens (ed@terraworld.net), December 27, 1998

Answers

Yes, you are following the yellow brick road. You are leap years ahead of most. Feel free to share any advice you can give us

-- Moore Dinty moore (not@thistime.com), December 27, 1998.

Good post, Thanks for sharing

-- Linda A. (adahi@muhlon.com), December 27, 1998.

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