Could carefully planned advanced shopping be your wisest investment?

What other ways are there to reduce Y2K anxiety and advance wellbeing?

Responses from our veteran posters would be most helpful to newcomers.

-- Watchful (seethesea@msn.com), March 17, 1999

Answers

"What other ways are there to reduce Y2K anxiety and advance wellbeing? "

We decided that we would miss icecream very much if things went bad. We eat as much icecream as we want. We'll miss it, but we won't regret not eating it while we have a chance. Stupid mind game, but we feel better.

"Could carefully planned advanced shopping be your wisest investment? "

Planning ahead makes all the difference in the world. It cuts down on duplicates of things we don't want. It's great to meet a goal.

-- Helen (sstaten@fullnet.net), March 17, 1999.

You are never relaxed, preparing for the unknown is an emotional roller coaster. How much is enough? What will I do if I run out of water? You have to prepare for that. What will I do if my supplies run out? You have to prepare for that. It's a never ending project. Then you start playing mind games because you hear different spins and information on the severity of Y2K. It's almost like planning your funeral, you just don't know if your going to survive or die. I try to take each day as it comes, do what I can do, stop and smell the roses. In the midst of all my preparation, I have to move my 75 year old mother's household, get the sell of her home completed, and hope she doesn't get sick again. It's been a stressful ordeal, I don't know if there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), March 17, 1999.

bardou, I think that you are a real inspiration on this forum. If people just followed the practical advice you give for personal prep they could do no better for themselves and their families.

-- King of Spain (madrid@aol.com), March 17, 1999.

I agree with bardou. Although, actually, I think I would be less anxious if I didn't become more aware through the new information that comes almost daily. For instance, I know its not popular, but Russias status appears to me to be as scary as 'Scotty" suggests. What can I do about Russia? Nothing, except prepare the same as I am for Y2K.

So Y2K , to me, is becoming not an isolated event that I can prepare for and then forget about, but an awakening to the world of chaos that it will help initiate. I wish it was just Y2K, the technological problem, and not all the dominos that appear ready to fall.

A person still has to remember they can't do everything, preperation is what you can do. The rest, for me, as Shakespeare once said, is "Gods privitee".

-- Jon Johnson (narnia4@usa.net), March 17, 1999.

The more infrastructures in place and stash stored the fewer nightmares and panic attacks I have. How much is enough? One doesn't need two tractors or windmills , but one might need two outdoor lanterns and several lamps for the inside. Is 500 gals of diesel enough? Sure, I am not going to buy fuel for 30 years. Is 500 gals of kerosene enough? Yeah, but wouldn't mind having more, but I'm not going to lose sleep over it. Foods? When I feel I've done the best I can do within my budget.

Give myself a break, realizing that I can only intelligently plan for, not control the future.

Get back to a normal life, realizing I have no control over general y2k impact. Smell the roses, play in the sandbox with the others, have a good time, strum the guitar and sing, party. Realize right now that I am very happy right now.

fwiw, my residual stress level went way down last week when Lehman's called and said my woodburning cookstove was being shipped. Three months early! Yes! The factory has knuckled under and ramped up their production.

-- Mitchell Barnes (spanda@inreach.com), March 17, 1999.

the simple answer is yes.

-- jocelyne slough (jonslough@tln.net), March 17, 1999.

Jon,

RTWY (right there with you) I also consider the cyber-terrorism threat, as much as it can be used as spin, I think it is a very real possibility.

As time goes by it is abundantly clear (at least to me) that these preps should simply be a way of life in today's world which seems to be in a rather turbulent time. (Alvin Toffler's Power Shift IMHO lays out some very common sense reasons for this)

Deborah

Watchful,

I don't really qualify as a veteran poster, but I always have an opinion. ;-)

"Could carefully planned advanced shopping be your wisest investment?"

No doubt.

"What other ways are there to reduce Y2K anxiety and advance wellbeing?"

Give thanks for what we have. Really give thanks. Make a list of every good thing. Do it every day. When you don't want to, is exactly when you need to. (of course, IMHO it would be best to direct that thanks to God, but I know not everyone believes that)

-- Deborah (infowars@yahoo.com), March 17, 1999.

It is knowing that with all the uncertainites we face, should something happen, food and heat will not be a major concern. Those things we will not have to worry.

Our concerns can be focused on other problems that might arise. It is like being ahead in the game. I pity those folks that have not prepared and have to immediately start foraging for food and necessaties.

-- Linda A. (adahi@muhlon.com), March 17, 1999.

The simple answer is yes and no. Yes, because we're confident in the preparations we've made and that they are adequate for the disruptions they remedy.

No, because as money runs tight in our preparations, we wonder how we'll be able to overcome some hurdle without proper supplies. Also, in hand digging our root cellar, we've found the water table on our property - at 5 feet. There went our plan for food storage until we figure out what we can do.

Ignorance is not bliss; ignorance is just prolonged bliss. For us also belonging to Jesus helps. He has never let us down.

-- Brett (savvydad@aol.com), March 17, 1999.

The more I prepare, the more secure I feel. Then another government report is released and I feel insecure again. So I prepare a bit more, get a bit more secure. Then another government report is released. . .

-- Insecure Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), March 17, 1999.

The more I prepare, the more relaxed I am about our personal conditions. But we have 8 children, only 2 of whom will be living with us next January. There is where my anxiety comes from. We have stretched our finances to the limit to be prepared, and cannot help them. My mother is helping out financially to make sure our married children have food storage. But 3 of them will have tiny children. No amount of preparation will be of comfort if I cannot communicate with them after January 1 to find out if they are doing OK. They can't all move home because of jobs. If they come for Christmas and stay for New Year's, and things "go down," most of their belongings will not be accessable to them. So we leave it in the hands of the One who knows the beginning from the end and just do our best to be in the best circumstances that we can.

-- linda (smitmom@hotmail.com), March 17, 1999.

"Relaxed" is a relative term... I'm certain that I'd be a nervous wreck if I tried to ignore the possibilities, had no storage and prepared for nothing but sunny days into the foreseeable future. Preparing has had a wonderfully calming effect on me... it gives me a sense that I am in control of at least a good chunk of my life. I still have moments of doubt and worry, but then I try to remember that one can prepare just so much, and after that it's in God's hands. I can't do anything personally about the power grid, oil refineries, or that the Russians may have planted a suitcase nuke in my vicinity. I just continue on because giving up would be tantamount to dying.

-- sparks (wireless@home.com), March 17, 1999.

I'm a list maker by nature. Once I realized Y2K could bring about radical change, I began gathering & organizing information. Planning is a key to any important project.

Fear, trepidation, elation, & so on were a few of the concommitant emotions which were simply unavoidable. I came to the conclusion that I had to get away from my Y2K preps/research from time to time. Stayed off the 'Net for a few days at a clip. Took several weekend mini-vacations. Stepped up my commitment to spiritual practices.

BTW, we've had some tremendous threads here on aspects of Y2K & spiritual matters (that's Spiritual, not Religious). If this is of interest, a thorough search of the archives would be a worthwhile pursuit.

Bottom line for me is this - I'm growing in all areas of this life due in part to the focus which the Y2K potentialities have forced upon me. I really appreciate the opportunity afforded to me by those who produced the broken code, those who ignored this fact, & most of all you folks!

Best of luck to you ALL

-- Bingo1 (howe9@pop.shentel.net), March 17, 1999.

Absolutely!

-- Busy (getting@it.now), March 17, 1999.

Now that I have the niche items out of the way (wood stove, water purification, lanterns, solar battery chargers, hand cranked washing machine, etc.), I'm not as tense. Part of the stress was wondering if would get these type of items in time. For example, I was somewhat pensive waiting for my Katadyne pocket filters...was relieved to get them after waiting for four months. Whew!

As for food, tp, soap, hygiene items, I have my "base", and am still picking up things, knowing that this is widely available/affordable at present.

It was sort of like Nike for me...JUST DO IT. For me, just reading and thinking about "what I should be doing" contributed to my worries. I still read/research (hey, I'm still here, aren't I? ), but I'm also busy working down my list...takes my mind off of things, and sometimes we even get a good laff.

My philosophy is that we'll never be ready for every little thing, but you can certainly try and adapt along the way :-) This can be applied to programming, investments, alot of other things in life.

If YOU take charge and YOU take action, you'll be more at peace with yourself than counting on someone else or some organization to do it for you. Give up worrying about what others may think...what they think may not be right for you. If you're worried about what others may think, you're going to clutter your mind and time trying to appease others' opinions. Just because everyone else is "pulling down their pants and firing off a rocket" doesn't mean that you have to!

Don't get me wrong I like being "accepted" and don't mind "fitting in", but if I'm concerned about something, I'm going to do (within reasonable/moral means) what I can to resolve it.

Hope this helps. :-)

-- Tim (pixmo@pixelquest.com), March 17, 1999.

Brett... Don't give up, bro. There are ways to make semi-above ground root cellars. Earth berming comes to mind with an extremely well insulated roof. If your water level is at 5 feet, maybe a 'spring house' utilizing the evaporation principle??

-- Lobo (Hiding@woods.com), March 18, 1999.

The more I prepare the more worried I get. Did I buy enough supplies? How can I store enough fuel?

What if nothing happens and the generator, guns, cord of wood, and all the other stuff I bought are for nothing.

Then I look at the senerios again, will it be a bump in the road, a winter storm, or a bottomless pit.

what about all those Kennedy 1/2 dollars and juck silver burried in the yard ? Will I need to go back to the dealer and resell them at a loss because nothing happens.

I have been counting down the days since last year and my wife thinks I'm obsessed.

Will my therapist be Y2K compliant or will I have to start sharing my inner most thoughts with my cat.

-- HOKANSON (HOKANSON@TELEPORT.COM), March 18, 1999.

Watchful....

Don't think I qualify as a veteran poster. But my .02 anyway. People go thru stages of acceptance just like the stages of grief. (Kubler-Ross "On Death and Dying"---Medical library, well worth reading) I believe it was mentioned in another thread 2 nights ago. The actual founder of the theory is Maslow. Anyway, here they are and my interpretation of how they fit.

1. Denial--This can't happen to me. This can't happen to ME! This CAN'T happen to me. THIS can't happen...to me. This stage is where most civilians are at. If y2k hits at this stage, the individual is in a heap of trouble.

2. Anger----Why is this happening to me?? HOW DARE IT HAPPEN TO ME??? Regretfully, this is where a lot of people stop with their acceptance of anything. They lash out at family and friends, God, anything including themselves. I expect to see this in the general population about November 24. The person that perceives y2k as a threat (as most of us do) reacts with anger at 'them' for getting us in this mess. Then proceeds to go absolutely nuts stocking up with everything he/she can lay their hot little hands on.....until reality sets in.

3. Bargaining---This is where the ill person makes bargains with God or other entity. "If you..., I'll...). The y2ker does essentially the same with his/her DGI friend, neighbor, spouse, etc.

4. Acceptance--Finally, the ability to sleep at night instead of lying awake wondering...Is Walmart sale tomorrow (maybe I should get up and check the paper) and how many of those storeage whatsis will fit in the back corner of the closet?/

At this point, a sense of calmness and serenity begins to invade your life and outlook. You methodically make your lists, buy your goods sensibly, store logically and once you have reached an acceptable level of comfort, you actually go back to living a somewhat normal life. For as long as you can. Oh, you'll still have panic attacks. (Oh, myGod!!Ireallydidn'tstorethathere, did I?) Knowing that you are as ready as you are capable of making yourself at this time lends a certain amount of satisfaction but a really deep feeling of comfort knowing that if your lights go out tonight for a week (mine did in February) YOU WILL SURVIVE!! "Plan for the worst, hope for the best".

-- Lobo (Hiding@woods.com), March 18, 1999.

Yes. We have had an interesting experience in becoming prepaired for whatever happens. We look at it as being prepaired for any disaster or emergency, we're acutally thankful in a way for this y2k thing. We have made a lifestyle change to a more simplified way of living.

As for you second query, we have just put more of our faith in God.

My wife and I have read 6 or 7 books on the subject of y2k and prepairedness and have come to the realization that without faith in God all the prepairing in the world will not relieve all of our anxiety. After all who can truely say they know what the future holds except God. We are praying for all of you and ourselves.

Thanks for you time. God bless.

-- mike (kre236@lnl.ws.giv), March 18, 1999.