will y2k or the threat of it change your life in any meaningful way??

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I've got a question for all of you that I've been wondering about. Do you think that a Y2K "event" or the potential threat of one has/will change your life in any real way? No- beyond stocking up on dried milk and peanutbutter. I'm talking about in a meaningful profound way in how you look at the world, technology, your family, community, where you live, how you live; that sort of thing.

If not much happens come 1/1/2000, will you be glad? Will you keep on with your life as it's been pre-Y2k awareness? Or will you be making any fundemental changes? Are you hoping that something big will come of Y2K? Why? Are there things you would like to see change and maybe you hope/think this is the way it could happen? Or are you happy with how things are at this point?

I don't know about you, but it seems that beyond the questions of food storage and generators and open pollinated seed and stuff, there are some real questions we should be asking ourselves? There is an often repeated statement that says basically that those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat the past (or something like that). Do you think there is a message for us in all of this that we need to be listening to?? Just thought I'd ask..

-- anita (hillsidefarm@drbs.com), March 15, 1999

Answers

Hi Anita,

I'm on my way out the door ... but wanted to quickly respond to your entry.

For our family, we are making fundamental changes. We are preparing for Y2k (maybe for a 4-5 on a 10 scale). We simply don't have the funds to do more. But more importantly, Y2k has caused us to rethink our responsibility to our children and parents. The things we have done in preparation has become a new life-paradigm (for us).

We hope Y2k doesn't come with all its fury --- we will be happy that it doesn't. On the other hand, we are thankful for Y2k in that it has ramped up our adjustment in lifestyle (giving us a relative deadline). Our preparations for a more family centered, "self- sufficient" lifestyle extend far beyond Y2k (this includes a change of location).

We will have other challenges coming in the future --- maybe potentially more devastating than Y2k. As they come, we will be living a more prudent, wiser lifestyle.

Sincerely, tim

-- tim daniels (tim@commonsense.com), March 15, 1999.


Simple is better. Our entire family has gained a better appreciation for God and humankind due to the pending circumstances. I don't see how these revelations can pass without affecting how we look at things in the future.

Mr. K

-- Mr. Kennedy (here'slookin@you.kid), March 15, 1999.


It has made me realize how fragile our lives are and how we are so dependent on the luxuries of life instead of an appreciation for the simple things. I don't like the feeling of being a scared rat everyday, insecurity is the pits.

-- woewoewoe (woewoewoe@woe.com), March 15, 1999.

I feel like I have prepared for the physical needs of my family and myself. It hasn't been easy, but, should this crisis hit hard, we should be alright. As I was preparing, however, it became evident to me that there must be more to our existence than this physical life and meeting the needs of our bodies. Through much soul-searching and with many questions, I sought to find peace and enlightenment. I began studying the Bible and attending a local church. I have found the answer to all my questions through Jesus Christ. I acknowledged my sins, recognized that He gave His life for me, and believed that He rose from the dead and is coming again. He has given me a peace that I have never known. I KNOW that, no matter what happens with y2k, I have everlasting life. What a wonderful Saviour!

-- Glinda Nofzinger (A Believer@Peace.com), March 15, 1999.

With a name like Glinda Nofzinger, I may even have become a relgious right whacko.

-- gilda jessie (jess@listbot.com), March 15, 1999.


"With a name like Glinda Nofzinger, I may even have become a relgious right whacko.

-- gilda jessie (jess@listbot.com), March 15, 1999. "

Gilda, you obviously are scared to death.

Got PEACE?

In Christ, Mr. K

-- Mr. Kennedy (soul@peace.ah), March 15, 1999.


Good question. I would have to say that I have been pretty happy with my life overall pre-GI. I will probably go back to a very large semblance of it after all is righted. The thing that's likely to change the most is that I normally only had a bottle of water, a few sodas and an apple (exaggeration but only slight) in the house at any given time. As I live in earthquake country, I will most likely change our M.O. regarding this especially in the winter.

I have never been a huge fan of technology and as such, I don't have an ATM card, I use hand tools in the kitchen to prepare foods and to clean house, my investments tend to be in lower yield treasuries and Series EE bonds for the safety of my capital. I'm a low-tech kind of gal in a high tech occupation. If anything, this event is likely to reinforce the low-tech preferences. Now my husband is truly the gadget man who never met a new electronic thingamagig that he didn't like, so I think we will still have boat loads of gadgets, if the Y2K thing fizzles.

Other than that is living on the assumption that others employed to do so will keep your personal safety and well being in mind. I will likely insist upon redundancies hard wired into my next home and will most likely be looking out for myself a little more.

-- Ramp Rat (Aviation_R_us@noname.nocity), March 15, 1999.


yes, y2k has already had an impact, a negative one. a major university was going to work together with my husband this year on a new technology project. in january, they said it would have to wait until next year because they will spend all their time and money this year on y2k remediation.

-- jocelyne slough (jonslough@tln.net), March 15, 1999.

When I asked the above question, I was hoping that if others were interested in same, we could have a civil discussion. There are no right answers, nor wrong answers. There are only our own answers, and all are equally valid. It doesn't matter if your reaction has been to move or simplify your life, find God or vow to keep more than an apple in the fridge. They are all (hopefully) honest responses to the question. I would hope that we could all respect eachother enough to allow for answers that might be different than those you would provide. I surely did not ask this to have anyone's beliefs rediculed in any way-

-- anita (hillsidefarm@drbs.com), March 15, 1999.

I'd have to say its changed it in a meaningful way if I've spent 1000's of dollars on it, and it monopolizes my thoughts all day long.

I think you make an assumption that may turn out not to be correct...that the worst will happen on Jan 1. I am opting more for the worst happening later in the year. Many companies will have stockpiles to carry them through the first few months, and it may take that long for their accounting to really get screwed up. So...Possibly economic things will start to slowly unravel and you will see the worst later in the year. Also as someone else once meantioned...what if we have trouble holding the Presidential Election? This is a heavily computer oriented event now.

I think that we will all deserve a pat on the back if we make it through the whole year, and not just January 2000. I just don't think it will be that simple or short lived. It may get slowly uglier as the year goes on.

-- Apple (villarta@itsnet.com), March 15, 1999.



I hope y2k is a big fizzle, so I can continue with my life, as is. I don't relish growing a garden and canning or chopping and burning wood. I LIKE having electricity, running water and central heat. I am fully prepared, and capable of living without them, but I prefer my creature comforts. We've worked hard to insure a comfortable life and I don't have any desire to give up one aspect of it. I hate to think of my granddaughter growing up pioneer fashion.

-- Eye On Y2K (bugscaresme@mellinium.com), March 15, 1999.

Most of you talk about material things. No, my life will not change in any meaningful way. Whether I have materials things or not doesn't matter to me. I will remain the loving and caring wife and mother and daughter or the bitch I've always been. It all depends on your point of view.

-- Lucy (interested@myhome.com), March 15, 1999.

No offense Glinda but Gilda just cracked me up!!! Too funny! I needed that Gilda, thanks!

Deano

-- Deano (deano@luvthebeach.com), March 15, 1999.


When I read your question, I wanted to yell YES!! at the top of my lungs. Along with someone else who responded, I think about this from morning til night. If you believe the consequences to be serious, how could it not monopolize your thoughts? At the present time we are struggling with the decision to sell our home and move to a rural location. We are trying to be sensible and factor in the posibility that Y2K will be only "a bump in the road". Would we be happy with this decision in that event? The preparations have so far reaffirmed convictions I always had that our materialistic society was out of control, but for the most part we were all caught up in it. I realize now, that even at age 51, one can drastically change the direction of their life. I have a very real and close example of that happening in my family and that is what is inspiring me right now. For 70 years, my maternal grandparents lived in Chicago apartments, growing up and raising their two children. In 1960, my grandmother was willed her sister's house in Phoenix, Arizona. Without too much hesitation, my grandparents made the move to a suburban subdivision. As they had travelled in Chicago by streetcat or taxi all their lives, they realized that mode of transportation would not work in the desert suburbs. My grandma learned to drive a car at 70 years old and continued to drive until her death at 81. Their son also made the decision to leave Chicago with his family at the same time. My mother would not leave St. Louis because of the heat there although my father and the rest of her children wanted to move. I have always had a spiritual life and realized the futility of material goods, but I think that backround has helped me be steadfast in the need to do what I can, with God's help, to make the transition to the new century as safe and secure as I can for my family. Mary

-- Mary (SWEEP6@prodigy.net), March 15, 1999.

Y2K really hasn't affected me all that much, since I've been practicing preparedness for many years. I will remain the "right-wing wacko" that I have been all my life, devoted to individual liberty and self-determination, and the silly idea that less government is better.

My fervent hope is that the Gildas of the world fail to prepare in any meaningful way.

-- sparks (wireless@home.com), March 15, 1999.



"My fervent hope is that the Gildas of the world fail to prepare in any meaningful way." --- sparks

And THAT, in conjunction with the attitude the vast majority of us has toward our panet, is why I believe that, regardless of how Y2K plays out, we will not usher in the 22nd century as a viable species.

Hallyx

"Your tongue is to speak with when you know what to say and how to say it. Your teeth are to keep your tongue in your mouth until you figure it out."---Blackwolf Jones

-- Hallyx (Hallyx@aol.com), March 16, 1999.


Halyx::

WELL PUT and MUCH more politely than I was about to. Gilda AND Glinda are welcome in MY world, anyway.

Chuck

PS WELCOME BACK!!!

-- Chuck, a night driver (reinzoo@en.com), March 16, 1999.


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