Man moves family from mansion to trailer in case Y2K causes chaos

By KARIN MILLER The Associated Press 06/01/99 12:58 AM Eastern

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (AP) -- How concerned is Jamie O'Rourke about the Y2K computer bug?

Enough to sell his million-dollar Nashville-area home with its pool and tennis courts, pack up his wife and eight of nine children, and move into a double-wide trailer on 350 acres near the Alabama border.

Enough to start stockpiling supplies and have his children learn to farm so the family can raise food if none is available elsewhere.

Enough to ignore those who say what he is doing seems crazy.

O'Rourke, a successful businessman and former football standout at Vanderbilt University, believes it's possible computer problems will be so widespread on Jan. 1 that power grids will fail throughout the country.

That would mean no running water for many people, no way to keep food fresh or frozen, no automated teller machines to get money. Grocery store shelves would be cleaned out within days. And that could cause panic, he said.

"I think you have a very real potential for anarchy and chaos, which we've seen in our times. Watts. The L.A. riots. When the Chicago Bulls win. It doesn't take much," said O'Rourke, 47.

O'Rourke is not alone with his concerns about the Y2K bug.

Others fear big problems when the year 2000 arrives because computers originally programmed to recognize only the last two digits of a year will assume it is 1900 and malfunction.

Utilities, government agencies, banks and other businesses and industries are spending billions to test and prepare their computers for New Year's Day.

While O'Rourke agrees the worst-case scenario of failed electric grids leading to anarchy is farfetched, he isn't taking any chances.

"The question becomes, what can you assume? And in the final analysis, I think that you cannot assume the power will be on," he said. "Therefore, in order to prepare, you have to assume it's going to be off. That's where I am."

So, three weeks ago, O'Rourke, wife Cyd and eight children ages 4 to 21 moved from their 9,000-square-foot home in Brentwood, about 15 miles south of Nashville, to their 2,000-square-foot trailer. (The couple's eldest daughter lives with her husband in Oklahoma City.)

The location of their new home -- which O'Rourke does not want publicized -- is so out of the way, he still sometimes gets lost trying to find it. The family's closest neighbors are Amish.

One day not long after moving in, O'Rourke's younger children spent a morning happily gathering eggs in a blue wire basket and washing them at the sink. But they couldn't cook them -- they hadn't found the frying pan yet.

Five tractor-trailers out back contained family belongings and the beige double-wide was packed with furnishings and boxes. A playpen was stuffed with clothes and a picnic table served as the dining room table.

"It gives new meaning to the Jeff Foxworthy joke about a redneck's job -- taking the tires off the house," O'Rourke said with a laugh.

Mrs. O'Rourke said her friends joke that she's like Eva Gabor from the Green Acres TV comedy. ("New York is where I'd rather be. I get allergic smelling hay," Gabor sings during the show's opening credits.)

The O'Rourkes' children seem to be adjusting well to their new home.

Michael, 15, said the move will "take a little getting used to. It's a big change." But, he added, "I actually like this place."

Daniel, 11, said it's been hard leaving his friends, but "it's kind of fun learning new things," like how the trailer's plumbing works and how fresh cow's milk tastes: "Better than store-bought."

Caroline, 6, likes milking the family's three cows, gathering eggs and "catching yellow butterflies."

The O'Rourkes' daughter Shawn, 21, moved back from Phoenix last year and spent a week with Daniel working on a farm in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley to get ready for the move.

She is in charge of livestock and the family's vegetable gardens. Her father says the closest he's gotten to the tiller was to pose for a photo.

Shawn said she never expected to spend her time "wringing the necks of chickens," but she's enjoying life on the farm. She met her fiance learning to can vegetables near their new home. He's living in a trailer on the farm while they build a house on the property and plan their wedding.

Little more than a year ago, O'Rourke could not have pictured himself in this setting. In fact, he didn't even know what his friends were talking about when they discussed Y2K.

"I said `Well, if it's a computer problem, I have computer people and if I have a problem, they'll let me know,"' said O'Rourke, who employs 30 at his Brentwood office and another 100 at a Mexican plant. His company, Kidpower, makes styrofoam swimming pool noodles, glow-in-the-dark flying discs and other toys.

"And that's kind of where I left it. I deflected it, like a lot of people."

He started to get interested last summer when some of his customers -- Wal-Mart, KMart, Target and Toys R Us -- sent letters asking whether his company would be Y2K compliant. His bank did, too.

He read a book about Y2K, and started paying close attention when "credible" people like Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan talked about it.

Then he found that some people he knew were stockpiling food and buying wood stoves just in case the computer glitch produced trouble. He was disappointed they hadn't told him but understood why.

"They didn't want to be thought of as foolish or extremist," O'Rourke said.

He doesn't either, but is speaking out anyway.

"We can do some heroic things in January, but they won't mean much compared to the semi-heroic things we do today to encourage people to be prepared, just in case," he said.

"It's like the dentist says, `You only have to floss the teeth you want to keep.' You only have to prepare for as long as you want to live."

Tim Wilson, publisher of the Y2K News Magazine in Crossville, said many people are stockpiling supplies, and a few, like O'Rourke, are moving.

"It is a little unique, but not totally. My staff writer knows of three people locally," Wilson said. " ... The guy who walks into this thing saying there won't be any problems worries me more."

When O'Rourke thought of the worst-case scenario, he decided to move his family from their home of 12 years and settle on a piece of property large enough to sustain them for as long as necessary.

He also sold several five-acre lots, at cost, to about a half-dozen friends and others who are worried about Y2K havoc.

The O'Rourkes sold their Brentwood house for much less than it's worth, just to ensure they could find a buyer. They bought the five-bedroom trailer because he didn't want to sink a lot of cash and time into building a house.

They got a wood stove and dug a well that is pumped manually. They bought long-burning candles, enough food to make it until the next harvest, and non-hybrid seeds -- to ensure their plants continue reproducing if no new seeds are around to be purchased.

They built a chicken house and filled it with 10 dozen chicks.

They bought a generator fueled by diesel. Once that runs out, they will use a windmill and solar energy to power the home.

O'Rourke hasn't forgotten his employees. Kidpower, which has had its computers retrofitted and tested, will shut down from Dec. 20 until at least Jan. 20. Before then, workers will get all their bonuses and the opportunity to cash in vacation time.

O'Rourke, a native of Long Island, N.Y., who spent his teen years in Florida before moving to Nashville to play football at Vanderbilt in the early 1970s, acknowledges the last few months have been a strain. But he is proud of how his family has worked as a team.

"In the beginning, some of the older children said, `What's going on?' But as we've discussed it as a family I think they've realized this is what we should do," O'Rourke said. "Now, if we voted whether to move to a farm and Y2K were not an issue, they would probably have been against it."

Even if nothing happens on Jan. 1, O'Rourke said the move is worth it.

"We'll all get our Eagle Scout badges, as it were. There are worse things. We're not going to live underwater or hang upside down at night from a tree," he said, grinning.

-- Tired (of@doomer.nonsense), June 01, 1999

Answers

At least he has the resources to move back to Nashville and buy another mansion when the smoke blows over. The guy I feel sorry for is a 62 year old who cashes in everything he owns to get his hands on a 20 acre rocky plot - and finds out next year he is still going to have to pay the taxes on the property, and he is still going to have to pay medical bills and he is still going to be living in a trailer and wondering why he took a $20000 dollar loss on the home he sold to move out and run.

And if a tornado hits a mobile home - what is left is put into the truck that hauls it off with an endloader. The way the storms are hitting in Tennessee now, I think the next house I build will be earth sheltered. Tornados are a MUCH bigger risk than Y2K IMHO.

-- Paul Davis (davisp1953@yahoo.com), June 01, 1999.

of course the article has nothing at all to do with the vast majority of folks who are preparing for y2k. The important thing is to prepare a little each week, and keep at it slowly and steadily.

Arlin Adams

-- Arlin H. Adams (ahadams@ix.netcom.com), June 01, 1999.

So what? People sell their houses all the time and buy a farm. Just cause this guy feels the need to protect his family and friends in the event of serious disruptions and you fault him for that? I think you are just jealous that you can't do the same. As far as the doublewide their are lots of farm families all across this country who WISH they had a new five bedroom trailer to live in.

GET OF YOUR HIGH HORSE!!!!

now 12 dozen chicks. Thats alot of chickens. Hope they didn't bite off more than they can chew.

-- country boy (I can skin a @buck.com), June 01, 1999.

Yes Paul Davis you god damn imbecile tornados are much dangerous than y2k.

projected folks Killed by tornadoes 2000-2001: 100

projected folks Killed by tornadoes 2000-2001: 100,000,000

You Fucking asshole.

-- SICK (of@lying.pollyannas), June 01, 1999.

I would bet that this is one transplanted family that decides they want to stay where they are even if things are OK. They must have an incredible amount of togetherness within the family for the older children to be so involved. Sounded like they knew what they were doing or at least were well on their way to finding out.

-- Shelia (Shelia@active-stream.com), June 01, 1999.

Paul, is that you?

-- FLAME AWAY (BLehman202@aol.com), June 01, 1999.

I suppose if we had a few million to spare, we might do the same thing. This isn't an option for most of us. His land alone, in that area, ran about half a million all by itself.

oh, and SICK: Why do you project such different tornado deaths for exactly the same period? I guess an awful lot must depend on which weatherman you listen to, eh?

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), June 01, 1999.

Did I miss something here or are all doomies this addled?

" projected folks Killed by tornadoes 2000-2001: 100

projected folks Killed by tornadoes 2000-2001: 100,000,000

-- Y2K Pro (2@641.com), June 01, 1999.

Ok tired, I would agree this may be extreme to you, but the question is "What is it to you that they moved? Why should you care?" It's no skin off YOUR nose! Just as no one has the right to tell YOU to move or to stay put (that is YOUR decision, right?), you have admit that we all have to make our own decisions as to whether to stay or move. I can deeply empathize with those who wish to move. This guy has evidently done some thinking and come the conclusion that he and his family are better off somewhere else. My family and I have decided to "stay put" where we are: in a small town of 13,000. But I'm not about to put down someone for a decision they feel is justified. And how do YOU know that what the "doomers" say is nonsense? Who gave you a crystal ball to see the future? Fact is: NO ONE KNOWS WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN. Based on our own studies, we each have to come to a conclusion as to how severe we believe it will be and then, live with the consequences of that choice. If some of the individuals on this forum believe a depression will occur, so be it. Start learning from individuals on this forum who have done some research and listen to them. Then decide for yourself what you can use, quit the name- calling, and decide on your course of action - or inaction - if you prefer. Grow up please!!!

-- luann (flataufm@hutchtel.net), June 01, 1999.

The guy has a game plan and the farm is better for a family no doubt.

The polly type though that mentioned the senior getting taken, you are dead on and if you guys want to make a good case for yourselves exposing people that ARE getting ripped off buy hucksters. Not talking about a $15 dollar book but there must be real rip off folk out there. One thing, if anyone asks for money cause they have the *cure* for your Y2K blues, and expect you to hand over hundreds or thousands of dollars, tell them to take a hike. No one should ever charge money for information on preparing for an emergency. There is just to much good information on the net.

-- Brian (imager@home.com), June 01, 1999.

Yep, just like those few dumb Jews that gave up so much to leave Germany after Hitler took over. All because they thought Hitler might do something "terrible" to them. Can you believe it? What nutcases!! Must be another example of doomer "memes" or something....

-- King of Spain (madrid@aol.com), June 01, 1999.

(1) If I had 8 kids living at home, I might consider a farm, too. You ever try to feed a family of 10? Having your own farm would be a good start!

(2) Kids seem to be enjoying it. Probably better than living in the city...

(3) Gives the kids an additional set of life skills/career options. It never hurts to know how to do something else.

(4) A trailer is a good start...saved time to getting moved to the farm. They can still choose to build a house later...and with a family of 10, they could build it themselves.

(5) Overall, it sounds like a good move for them.

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), June 01, 1999.

Man, you folks are just full of energy (must have been that 3-day weekend). I'm just too tired to respond to the "walking dead" any more!

-- Will continue (farming@home.com), June 01, 1999.

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Impressive. Wish we worked for this company!

-- (notenoughtimeormoney@here.com), June 02, 1999.

If I had eight kids I'd blow my fucking brains out.

-- Black Sheep (Wondering@about.com), June 02, 1999.

Have at it, Black Sheep. I'd love to have eight kids.

If Y2K is anything like seriously bad (even a Depression) then our society is jolly well going to have to learn to love children again. Only a society as affluent as ours can afford to treat them with such disdain. In any other society they are not only a spiritual and emotional blessing, they are a necessary resource for the continued survival of the family.

Our experience has been that the move from the city to the country is better for everybody in the family, especially the kids. His children are very fortunate; their whole family will be happier and healthier, come Y2K fizzle or H-bomb. So, far from doing something ridiculous, this man has been extremely wise. Nobody needs a 9000 sq. ft. house, even with eight kids. So he's learning to live more frugally, will likely have no debt, and will get back in touch with reality (like where food actually comes from, something I think the pollys on this forum still haven't figured out yet).

Sorry, Dear Bonkers, you'll never GI.

-- David Palm (djpalm64@yahoo.com), June 02, 1999.