I was at a scientific meeting last week followed by two days with my totally GI brother and sister in law. Some notes:

(1) I managed to alert (maybe convert) a pile of chemists all in one shot. I've never had so much luck. One who had heard the song and dance before said that I was "getting better at it."

(2) About an hour into a fairly interactive discussion, one real quiet guy said, "You sound like my bother-in-law. He's really nervous about this whole thing." Quick questions revealed that this brother-in-law is a systems analyst at Computer Associates. I turned to the group and said, "Does this bother any of you?" It very much did.

(3) At my brothers house, a dinner group of 9 people including a GI who works for a relatively small Colorado transit authority (maybe 100 buses) was interesting. The bus guy said his boss is scared to death 'cause they plowed through the allocated $50K with no measurable progress. The rest looked pretty much unalarmed despite my best shot.

(4) We watched "The Postman" -- a must see for GIs.

(5) Wrapped the whole thing up with an incredibly dark discussion of the darkest sides of the worst case scenarios. Sheesh!

See y'all on the other side...

Dave

-- Dave (aaa@aaa.com), July 22, 1999

Answers

(1) I managed to alert (maybe convert) a pile of chemists all in one shot. I've never had so much luck. One who had heard the song and dance before said that I was "getting better at it."

So, Dave,

What information exactly did you use to "convert" this pile of chemists? Was it factual with hard evidence of your theories or did it rely mostly upon the intricate plot of "The Postman"?

I for one am anxious to see your data.

-- (doomers@suck.com), July 22, 1999.

Shut up DS, no one cares what you think or post.

Dave,

I guess this may be an unpopular opinion here, and I generally consider myself to be a doomer, but The Postman ranks up there as one of the worst 20 movies ever made. I actually liked parts of Waterworld, but The Postman was horrible. I'm not saying that they didn't spend a lot of money on it or that it was cheaply made, I'm saying that the direction, the acting, and yes even the plot were just awful.

I consider myself to be a connoisseur of dystopic fiction, but if I ever have to sit through The Postman again, I will wretch.

Thanks for posting about informing the chemists, however, it's always fun to hear how other people react to possibility that Y2K is not OK.

-- nothere nothere (notherethere@hotmail.com), July 22, 1999.

I wonder which I loathe more, the thought of spending January huddled around a wood stove, eating beans & rice, crapping into plastic bags, eating my cats, going without baths, fending off hungry neighbors -- OR being forced to watch another Kevin Costner film?

-- not a big (fan@of.kev), July 22, 1999.

Yes,the movie of The Postman is bad. However the book is rather interesting. If anybody American ever read anything longer than a web screen these days, I'd go ahead and suggest reading The Postman. But that is hopeless under current attention spans.

-- Ct Vronsky (vronsky@anna.com), July 22, 1999.

used-to-be-yuppie mohawked cannibals will rape your asses, steal your food, and burn up your matches for fun.

-- zoobie (zoobiezoob@yahoo.com), July 22, 1999.

Please tell me what you said to those chemists!!! Most people look at me like I'm a nutbag when I try to explain why I feel so strongly about buggin' out to the hills. I want to know how you convinced them.

My husband, Zoobie, has helped me understand that people can be HARSH to each other and that it does not mean that one has to sacrifice compassion or understanding. One must not shy away from man's inhumanity to man...This only results in suffering. Only by acknowledging and facing suffering in life can the causes be found and removed, thus ending the suffering.

Self-defense requires no apologies or excuses. SURVIVE or your children never will.

-- zoobiette (zoobiette@yahoo.com), July 22, 1999.

Zoobiette,

That was my quesion as well but apparently coming from a "polly" makes it a non-point. All I want to know is what Dave said to all these chemists to make them cry Unlce.

By the way, "The Postman" also had a happy ending to it despite all the trials and tribulations Costner went through as his character. I wonder if Dave and his chemistry buddies bothered discussing that. Or was it all about the Laws of 8 and how we'll all be "diggin' holes with a shovel" after Y2K.

-- (doomers@suck.com), July 22, 1999.

Zoobie, the nature of the audience (scientifically educated, so accustomed to objective thinking) and their previous experience (what they had heard re Y2K before that night) were probably decisive. No offense, Dave, but if they weren't at least already somewhat primed, you probably would have had a significantly harder time with them. This is not to cut your eloquence down at all, but to characterize DGI thought patterns. Sucksself, you sound suspiciously like a government flunky, with your excessive interest in what Dave told those chemists. Don't be so obvious, or everyone will catch on.

www.y2ksafeminnesota.com

-- MinnesotaSmith (y2ksafeminnesota@hotmail.com), July 22, 1999.

Look at it this way: If you noticed a bunch of doctors heading for the hills, and you said "Why are you heading for the hills?" and they said "Ebola has come to America" would you head for the hills too, or stick around to see what really happens?

"Ebola huh? You don't say."

-- Amy (leoneamy@aol.com), July 22, 1999.

is DS really Decker in disguise? come on...you can tell us.....

-- sarah (qubr@aol.com), July 23, 1999.

Dr. Doomsuck and Mr. Decker?

-- please (delete@him.now), July 23, 1999.