May I interject something here folks?

Huge amounts of bandwidth are wantonly thrown around here in an endless debating loop.

Most of it is boring at best, downright tedious mostly...

I have been here since the summer of '97 and I assure you all that the trolling and baiting haven't changed at all. The new guys haven't got a thing on Paul Neuhardt or Professor K.

It would be refreshing if we could move on.

We can all disagree about the eventual outcome of this most interesting event, but there should be no disagreement about the need for some level of preparation. There is far more than enough evidence to create a reasonable doubt regarding the continuation of the status quo for some period of time. I suggest that less time is spent in pissing contests with anyone that hasn't prepared at all.

Anyone that doesn't prepare at all isn't worth talking to or cluttering up the forum with. So Flint, Stephen, Mr. Decker et. al. what are you doing to provide for you and yours in the event that your oft stated view of y2k is wrong?

If nothing... then in the immortal words of W. C. Fields,

"Go away kid, ya bother me!"

If something, then give us some idea of your level of prep. It is my NSHO that you will not a) prepare or b) admit it because either one of these is in itself an admission that you could be wrong. Being wrong is something that almost every GI that has ever posted here has admitted is possible. Tell us you have prepared to some extent, come clean and we can have at one another and merrily tear each other's throats out right up to the big night. Me? I love a good fight!

Otherwise, you guys just clutter up the forum and distract the rest of us. I for one would find other old timers' current experiences invaluable. Alas, we don't come out much anymore because of all the newbie bullshit.

You think you are being so thoughtful and so clever. It isn't so, buckos. This forum has become like that movie Ground Hog Day, where the main character lives the same day over and over and over.

and over...

We really don't have time for this people.

Regards,

Will

-- Will Huett (willhuett@usa.net), May 22, 1999

Answers

Geez Will, you sound like someone who has never raised any kids. If this forum and the way that information is passed around doesn't suit you, why bother to look at it? And if we don't have time for this, just what do we have time for? This Y2k stuff got you down?

-- Gordon (gpconnolly@aol.com), May 22, 1999.

The Gringe stole Chri.....Y2K!

-- ready for y2k (ready@fory2k.com), May 22, 1999.

Prep? Okay....

20 kW ng/propane-fired generator, + house wired w/200 amp genny circuit & transfer switch.

500 gallon "auilliary" propane tank.

NG plumbing "valved" to re-route propane INTO the house NG piping, along w/furnace LPG conversion kit.

8 55-gallon water barrels + Berkefeld filter

4 55-gallon gasoline drums

6 months' food, the "eat every day" variety. "Bulk foods" included.

$20k+ invested so far.

Enormous first aid kit (Cecil B. deMille would be proud).

Some ammo too....

Preparation enough?

-- Dennis (djolson@pressenter.com), May 22, 1999.

AWE MAN..... If you've been lurkin' that long, you have GOT to know that Flint is even better prepared than I am, and I'm pretty much at the 3 month going on 6 stage with some of the requirements to cover a MUCH longer set of disruptions.

Chuck

-- Chuck, a night driver (rienzoo@en.com), May 22, 1999.

Will:

Why do you assume that those who don't panic don't take sensible precautions either? As I've said often before, I can't possibly use *all* my preparations, because that implies a world nobody could survive in. I believe I'll be ready for everything I can be ready for, be it infrastructure failures, shortages, unemployment, first aid problems, riots, etc. I'm also ready and able to help my neighbors if they need it.

I don't know what to expect, the situation is too fluid and there are too many unknowns. So I've done the best to cover all the bases I can think of. I consider the worst-case scenarios we've heard here to be very low probability events. Not NO probability events, however. I don't expect my house to burn down either, but I freely admit carrying insurance against that too, your NSHO notwithstanding. I also have a tested fire extinguisher in every room. Belt and suspenders.

Yes, Will, it's possible to be cautions without being shrill.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), May 22, 1999.

The price of admission? For Harry Haller in Hesse's "Steppenwolf," the price of admission to the Magic Theatre is his mind. "Anarchist Evening Entertainment. Not for Everyone. For Madmen Only."

Not that this has anything to do with anything. At least I don't think it does.

Well, maybe it does.

-- Don Florence (dflorence@zianet.com), May 22, 1999.

"The price of admission is participation..."

-- . (.@...), May 22, 1999.

Will,

Six month newbie here, must have missed your best days. Can't see argument regarding degree of prep as a waste. Except for the baiters, scenario guesses with reasoning help the rest of us sift through all the raw info out there. For the honest here (most of 'em), differences in prep reflect simply differences in preception on a subject where preception covers one hell of a spectrum. More info, more honest analysis for me. Would though like to see God fighters butt out. Can't see their efforts being appreciated on high. ps: Flint is OK.

-- Carlos Mueller (riffraff1@cybertime.net), May 22, 1999.

Will-

Check out alt.survival.y2k.old-fart

-- Thistle (answer@your.questions), May 22, 1999.

"Any one and any act that contributes to complacency in the face of the monumental uncertainty that is Y2K is guilty of SEDITION...}{...In the aftermath of Y2K the de Jagers, the Bennets and Koskinens will be brought up on these charges, assuming the State survives. " -- Will Huett (willhuett@usa.net), February 06, 1999

-- Willy Whiner (willymakit@USofA.net), May 22, 1999.

Willy,

Geeze, don't start that stuff. We'll have cpr over here taking names again.

-- Carlos (riffraff1@cybertime.net), May 23, 1999.

Carlos,

cpr in not home today ; )

-- CT (ct@no.yr), May 23, 1999.

What amazes me is the number of NGIs who seem to think that NO disaster is possible...not just Y2K. In the next year, we on Kaua'i have hurricane season, dock worker contract renegotiations on the West Coast and Honolulu (possible shipping disruptions), GPS rollover, meteor shower, and solar storm...not to mention Y2K. And that doesn't mention earthquakes (on a volcanically formed island) or tsunamis. I haven't found a place on this planet without its little problems. Add in an overvalued stock market, a shaky world economy, and foreign involvement with a shrinking US military, and I think I'll add a bit more to what I purchased today.

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), May 23, 1999.

This response is for Flint:

You have a tested fire-extinguisher in EVERY room? WOW! I felt it a prudent effort to buy ONE, and I keep it in the garage next to all that flammable stuff...the kerosene for the lamps, the self-igniting charcoal briquettes, etc. How do you test them, BTW?

I feel as though I should buy at least one more (now that you've brought the matter to my attention) simply due to the lamp/candle danger. My cooking (if conventional means are unavailable) will ALL be done outside. I'm too much of a klutz to even consider lighting a campstove indoors. Of course since I live in Texas I can do this even in winter. My thoughts are that if a fire got out of control outside, I could simply let it run its course. Of course knowing my klutzy nature, an asbestos suit would comfort me.

Anita

-- Anita Spooner (spoonera@msn.com), May 23, 1999.

Anita:

We have six fire indoor extinguishers, one next to each of our six oil lamps. These are the type where you can pull a pin, squeeze the lever momentarily, then put the pin back. They also have gauges. We also have a large one in the garage like you, which may be adequate if our dozen gallons of lamp oil catch fire. If our gasoline stash goes up, we'll probably be killed to quickly to realize it. And if the power and water go out and someone sets their house afire upwind, we probably can't do much either. There are limits to these things.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), May 23, 1999.

Thanks, Flint.

I think one more will serve our purposes. We tend to cluster in one room anyway if the electricity goes out. We place the lamp, candle, whatever on the fireplace base.

Regarding the lamp oil, I keep THAT in my bedroom closet. I never even thought about it being equally combustible to the kerosene in the garage. It emits no odor, so I figured it would be more stable.

I'll check the fire-extinguisher for a "pin."

Thanks,

Anita

-- Anita Spooner (spoonera@msn.com), May 23, 1999.

>>Flint, Why do you assume that those who don't panic don't take sensible precautions either?<<

One man's panic is another's prudent preparation, nicht wahr? But to answer more directly, it is an assumption based upon the lack of evidence (of preps) in most polly posts, hence my thread in the first place.

Someone that prepares and then says "Don't panic" is far more interesting to talk to than someone that doesn't. Also they are more effective in contributing to the general welfare of our State.

Prepare, don't panic is perhaps the best slogan for this entire adventure. Keep in mind that in '97 the official line early that year was that there was NO PROBLEM AT ALL. Quite a few of the pollyannas in 97 and 98 were adamant in their refusal to prepare and quite derisive in their attacks on those who did.

My definition of panic may be very different from yours and an assumption that preparations beyond one's own constitutes panic is flawed.

My early diatribes were specifically targeted to those who preached that basic preparations were unnecessary. I had and have no patience for such fools.

Perhaps my post also reflects my boredom with the debate on what the outcome will be. I enjoy the posts on news and anecdotes but as soon as it devolves into an arguement, you know, my eyes kind of glaze over and the scroll button moves faster and faster.

While my preparations have been made, my opinion still modulates. Watching this unfold is utterly fascinating to me. The great benefit of this forum, and the reason I still hang around is that it manifests a 'collective mind'. News, personal stories, glimpses into others' lives and thoughts. This forum, even more that c.s.y2k IMO is the best place to take the pulse of this unfolding drama.

I merely feel that the position that the effects of the millenium bug will be mild enough that basic personal preparation is unneeded is beyond the pale and anyone defending that ground is irrelevant and adds nothing to the texture of what is transpiring around us.

Regards,

Will

-- Will Huett (willhuet@usa.net), May 23, 1999.

Hey Wlll!

Nice to know that some of the old Y2Kfarts still lurk here.

Flint,

Store your gas stash away from the house laddie! Jeepers man, how dare you say that I'm a bit dense at times?

;)

-- Unc D (unkeed@yahoo.com), May 23, 1999.

Hey Wlll!

Nice to know that some of the old Y2Kfarts still lurk here. UncD

Yeah, Unc, I get up and dust these old bones off once and a while. Hell, its like a moth to the flame. And y2k is a very bright flame indeed.

BTW, did you know that as you age, your stomach produces less acid. Therefore the digestive process becomes more fermentation. This produces methane, hence the connection between old and fart.

Regards,

Will

-- Will HUett (willhuett@usa.net), May 23, 1999.

Thanks for the heads up Will, that explains a lot about an awful lot of what goes on here at home.

Of course, it's always the dogs who are at fault ;)

-- Unc D (unkeed@yahoo.com), May 23, 1999.