If you are just getting it (GIing) or starting on your preparations, READ THIS POST. If you are a regular, you've probably already read this in another form in a previous post. Preparing for the worst (or near worst) of Y2K (whatever you imagine it to be) demands intelligent decision-making. In a past post, Arnie Rimmer outlines the basic prep issues: location, water, food, shelter, heat, and sanitation.

Focus on these first things. Otherwise, you might be spending good money on secondary or unnecessary preparations. Even if you focus on first things, resources may be such that mistakes can not be afforded in the problem-solving process. The new GI needs general and local expertise in order not to waste money on inappropriate products and services-- not to mention that one needs to keep paying bills! So ask a lot of questions.

Narrowing one's focus to first things is not just good advice. It is great advice for the new GI who has a tight budget! Maintaining this focus may also be hard advice to follow. For example, you drive by the camping store (that you've driven by a thousand times)and you're curious enough to turn around and check the place out (since you know from your copy of the F.E.M.A. disaster preparedness check list that you should consider getting some camping gear).

You pull in, go inside, and start looking around at the four person- 4 season tents, sleeping bags, and other stuff. You see a fantastic four person tent that is on sale at 50% discount (say, it's now selling for $250) and, heck, why shouldn't you get it now! You shouldn't get it now: you need to focus on first things. I almost did this. Big Dog (a regular, here) advised me about not worrying about the things I might not get. His advice was helpful when I decided not to buy the tent.

Ok, so you are a new GI and you are focusing on first things, but you may be focusing too hard on getting the "best in breed" of preps or what may seem to be the best preps. Unless you have the financial position, this also is not a reasonable way to proceed. This kind of focus can also lead you to an early defeat: things can be very expensive and some things may always be way out of your price range.

For example, you decide to bring in a back hoe, drop a 3000 gallon plastic cistern/tank into your backyard, fit the tank with a hand pump, and all for $1,700. But if you only have $1,800 for Y2K preps, this is a bad decision-- regardless of all the funny looks you'll get from your neighbors. Get all bases covered in terms of first things. You may have water to last you a long time, but you don't want to have to relocate to a shelter because there's no heat or food after a week.

How much water, calories, vitamins, and heat is needed for each person are questions that new GI's need to know and calculate-- if they are going to make good preps. Previous posts from Anita, D, Rd, Valkyrie, and W.J. Turner about keeping simple in the preps helped me to further clarify this issue for myself. Some suggest preparing for two weeks and then, enlarging these basic preparations to one month, and so forth according to your decision of how long and how bad it will be.

Another problem to be avoided when preparing for Y2K is panic-buying. It really doesn't matter that the last generator is on the shelf at Hechingers (or wherever) and you can buy it. If you are on a tight budget and don't have a medical reason for that generator, forget it! I think these kinds of mistakes are likely to be made by new GIs who are trying to sort out their apprehensions and plans for preparations at the same time.

When you first GI, there are a lot of emotions going on and this is a bad time to be making decisions. If you can, you might turn your mind from Y2K for a day or two and enjoy life before jumping into these decisions. There is no need to get everything done, today. There is no general panic. Why should you panic? You shouldn't. Not, today. (grin) Don't obsess over Y2K. Time is short, but there is time to prepare.

Sometimes, rumors can panic new GIs who just feel like they need to be doing something now and fast! A few months ago, I was at a web site that said that gold coins of the 1/10th and 1/4 ounce American Eagle and Canadian Maple variety were not going to be available for much longer. Another site had a post saying the same. "Move it or lose it!" the author of that post exclaimed. The post made me somewhat nervous.

I called around and there wasn't any shortage of supply. But you know, those web sites and posts are still online. I can only imagine that some people are feeling pretty bad that they won't be able to get their gold coins. Of course, for me, gold coins are still not a real option at this point. In fact, I can't find silver coins at a decent price in small quantities. That's ok. There is still time to prepare.

As Sysman once noted, this forum has really made an effort to maintain a quality of information standard... and that really helps people when dealing with rumors that can cause panic and leave one with a sense of defeat. New and old GIs communicating more and more publicly about the realities of actual potential Y2K problems, availabilities shortages of goods, delivery delays (nationally and locally), and reputation of the dealers is a valuable aspect of this forum.

If you're in a less than positive financial situation, you really can't afford to make a lot of mistakes in your preparations... much less the mistakes of the trial and error variety. The insight of those who have done prepping (or those who are prepping) can really help newbies from avoiding trial and error mistakes. Some feel like they are beating a dead horse when ideas are repeated, again and again... and again in lots of different posts. But most are very helpful.

Obviously, local insight on stores and prices is important as Mary Howe pointed out to me in a past post. Whether you are near or far from the person who has some ideas for you, this is the "edge" that you need to prepare for the potential troubles ahead... and an "edge" that you need to get these preps done in the time remaining. You may not have ever thought of it this way. You may never have imagined that you might actually be needing the wisdom and insight of a stranger.

Don't be shy. Don't hang back in lurk mode if you have questions. If you can, go to one of the get togethers of Yourdonites-- if it's not too far from you. If you think your question is silly or stupid, just ask your question and let the regulars decide if it is really silly or not. If you are a sensitive person, email me or another regular who uses a real email address. Many of us are happy to answer questions privately.

Sincerely, Stan Faryna

-- Stan Faryna (info@giglobal.com), May 11, 1999

Answers

This is MinnesotaSmith, author of the Y2K website http://y2ksafeminnesota.hypermart.net. Thank you for your well- considered post; I think that the "Food" article on my site goes well with it, but that's another story. Say, how do we find out where and when these local gatherings you alluded to are held? Except for gov't/utility feel-good wastes of time, there's been precious little of this sort of activity here in the Twin Cities that I've heard about, and this is a GMA in the 7 digits population... Thanks, MinnesotaSmith

-- MinnesotaSmith (y2ksafeminnesota@hotmail.com), May 11, 1999.

Stan,

Too logical. Expect to be flamed for telling people not to prepare. How can I be a true GI without an underground tank with a year's supply of fuel?

-- walt (walt@lcs.k12.ne.us), May 11, 1999.

I am extremely encouraged by the recent activities of two bordering towns which are focusing on neighborhood readiness. The idea is that resources and skills can and should be pooled since there aren't enough supplies or money to go around anyway. One person might have the wood stove, someone else might have accessible well water or a generator that could be borrowed to operate a sump pump. This kind of sharing, in addition to creating a very important working relationship with your neighbors, can go far towards no-pain preparations on a budget.

-- Brooks (brooksbie@hotmail.com), May 11, 1999.

Great advice Stan--

Food---Shelter---Clothing basic requirements for survival

Take them in that order, focus on one at a time, and commit to doing something each day to empower yourself against the unknowns. With each action you take, you'll begin to lose the sense of being overwhelmed . It works, it really does.

I like this rule of thumb: Store what you (already)eat,eat what you store, replace what you eat(rotates stock)

I include everything that passes my lips to be in the food category, including water, prescriptions, etc just to keep it simple.

Storage is as diverse as the person doing the prep. I'm personally leaning to more dehydrating because it decreases volume by 10 to 50 percent, will store excellantly, and there is almost nothing that can't be dried for later use, even sauces, broths, and watermellons.

I found "Chilcoot Trail Supplies", Alaska gold rush days, an interesting historical and informative starting point.

Check out Brians Archive Link> It's great. Thanks again Brian

-- spun@lright (mikeymac@uswest.net), May 11, 1999.

Thanks :o)

Year 2000 Preparation Archive

Choose the category you are interested in and press Enter. The link will appear in a new page. Close window to return.

Category	Year 2000 Preparation ArchivePersonal ConsiderationsPreparationFamilyHome FoodFood Storage and PreservingGrowing FoodFood - Cooking< option>ClotheswaterSanitationHealth LightingHeatFuelAlternate powerMoney and Y2KCommunity PreparationRural LivingUrban LivingBugging outSecurity and gunsHam Radio - CommunicationsBooksLeadershipAnimals

-- Brian (imager@home.com), May 11, 1999.

By the way it is not my archive it is the forums archive. I just read and bookmark, you folk provide the information and that is what is valuable.

-- Brian (imager@home.com), May 11, 1999.

Superb advice Stan.

My path to Y2K preparation was as follows:

1. The most difficult step was to solidify in my mind the potentialities of Y2K problems. To what extent must I prepare? How many weeks/months without basic services do I wish to be prepared for? Research, research & more research. This gave me a foundation to build upon. Fora such as this one provide a great walth of information, opinions, links. But you know that already!:-D

2. Next I created a list of items to acquire. The internet is a tremendous resource for such lists. Research, research & more research! The following is a good place to start:

Stan & Holly Deyo's site

3. I then targeted items with a long lead time & placed orders for them.

4. I placed orders for grain, beans, sprouting seed. Stored them in buckets using the dry ice method.

5. I began to buy easily accessed items such as canned goods, toiletries, etc. This goes on even today. Becomes a bit of a compulsion at times!

6. Last but not least, I give myself the opportunity to unwind. Y2K is an emotional rollercoaster ride for each of us. I haven't allowed my preps to disrupt my life too much. I've taken several weekend trips. I've doubled my efforts on the spiritual front.

Most importantly, I make sure to open my heart to all I come in contact with. Love has never been more important.

Best Wishes,

-- Bingo1 (howe9@pop.shentel.net), May 11, 1999.

Great post Stan. You've touched on something thatis, I think, of great importance. for those that are new to this whole concept, the whole prep thing can be very overwhelming. And they will soon be aware that time is of the essence if they are really concerned that it'll be more than a bump. So- how to make info more easily accesible to newbies?

Is there a way, computer literate types, that a permanent posting with links to the basics covered in this forum could be kept on this forum. Maybe headlined- basic preps for newbies- start here or something?? The sheer volume of stuff is overwhelming. To wade thru it takes too much time. When I'm looking back in the archives for something it's really difficult to find ANYTHING!! What about it? Is this possible to do and is there any interest? IMHO, the basics would include some of the stuff Stan has discussed, evaluating risk, preps on a budget, etc, and would skip all the OT stuff, flame posts, polly and troll baiting, etc, all which serve no point to a newbie but confusion.

-- anita (hillsidefarm@drbs.com), May 11, 1999.

Anita,

What you suggest is very simple in terms of html. The main page of the forum is simple enough to add a GETTING STARTED ON PREPS hyperlink to Brian's Preparations Archive. Brian's doing a great job and deserves some good reward. This kind of decision belongs to Ed Yourdon as it is his forum. I'm sure he will want to weigh the value of such a link against other concerns. I'm not sure how our collective ideas match up with his prep book. I got it, but haven't read it yet. Therefore, you might email him and ask if he'd consider this. Perhaps, we could help put together something under his direction that would meet with his full approval. His email (as provided on his site) is ed@yourdon.com.

Sincerely, Stan Faryna

-- Stan Faryna (info@giglobal.com), May 11, 1999.

and representing the nutbag element....if you're going to buy firearms,you might want to buy them first,water filters too....

-- zoobie (zoobiezoob@yahoo.com), May 13, 1999.