Hey! Just read the book! Now I'm thinking WHAT THE F**K DO I DO NOW!! Do you think I have time to prep? Or is it too late. Have about $10,000 in the bank for a rainy day. What should I do with it if it POURS come Y2K. Live in burbs, work in the city. HELP!!!

Need guidance,

John H.

-- John (scared@timebomb.2000), September 29, 1999

Answers

John.....

look here:

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q- and-a.tcl?topic= TimeBomb%202000%20%28Y2000%29% 20Preparation%20Forum

it's the Yourdon Prep Forum.....you should be able to find answers to any questions you have there

hope this helps

ps.....if you've got $10,000 sitting around.....you're better off than most who need to prep : )

-- andrea (mebsmebs@hotmail.com), September 29, 1999.

Welcome aboard the good ship 'Prepared' John. Think man, think! What do you NEED to survive. Shelter, food, light, heat, water, clothing. Get stuff that works without power, like a windup flashlight from Baygen, with a solar panel to charge it. Get matches. Get a small camping stove that works with twigs. Get a manual water distiller from puresurvival.com that produces clean water without electricity. Find a secure spot away from the city. Warm clothes, grain, a grainmill, a water source. Get busy man....

-- owl (w@s.com), September 29, 1999.

John, More important than ANYTHING else.....

GET OUT OF POPULATED AREAS, NOW!! Run, don't walk.

"If you live within 5 miles of a 7-11, you're toast."

-- Paul Milne (fedinfo@halifax.com), September 29, 1999.

John, IMHO.... START PREPARING! You still have time use it.

-- Stash (Stashin@yahoo.com), September 29, 1999.

John, First, look at the shelter thing. How would you keep yourself and your family warm if the electricity and gas were off for, say, 2 weeks? Second, you MUST have plenty of drinkable water. Assume you can't get any from the faucets for 2 weeks and plan for that. Third, 2 weeks of food. Assume your stove doesn't work. So either you eat cold things, or get a camping type thing. Fourth, a pistol and some ammo, and learn to use it, so you can defend yourself and family from marauders.

After that, work towards one month, two and so on. ASSUME that today may be your last day to prepare and be extremely vigilent in your efforts.

May God bless you in your efforts. I think if you pray to him he may help you with things like priorities and such in your effort.

-- psychotic (doom&gloom@y2k.com), September 29, 1999.

Arggghhh! This is the last straw! I *will* learn how to hotlink!

John, there is a thread that one of our forum regulars, Stan Faryna posts entitled "14 Days of Preparations", and it is geared toward folks in your shoes!

In addition to all of the excellent advice given before me, it contains many great, workable links to other resources, and it is presented in a calm, logical, yet, 'GET WITH IT, NOW" manner.

I would be grateful if someone who has the magical linking powers could help us out here.

-- Wilferd (WilferdW@aol.com), September 29, 1999.

John H.,

The first time I heard about y2k,a women told me to get the basics first.

heat; wood stove,kerosene heater or vented propane heater

water: 1 gal. per person per day

food: 6 months+

light: oil lamps

first aid kit,any medicines that you may need,extra pet food,propane bar-b-que with side burner and an extra filled propane tank.

You could also cook on the wood stove.These are just the basics.There is alot more on the prep forum.

-- Maggie (aaa@aaa.com), September 29, 1999.

John,

Here's the thing that Stan has posted about 100 times (today is probably one of the few days that he DIDN'T post it!). It's actually got some pretty level-headed recommendations without going overboard. You should do just fine with 10 grand, just get your butt in gear before all the brain-deads figure it out or the government starts telling them what to do.

Good luck!

prep info

-- @ (@@@.@), September 29, 1999.

Here's a hot-link to our sister forum that andrea mentioned. <:)=

TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) Preparation Forum

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), September 29, 1999.

John: Here is another thread that you may find helpful.

Y2K for Newcomers

Get moving and Good luck!

-- Rob Michaels (sonofdust@tryingto.help), September 29, 1999.

John,

In addition to all of the good, practical "action items" suggested by others on this thread, I think you're also going to find that you need to have someone to talk to -- someone to whom you can ask questions, share concerns, etc.

There are lots of articles and books to read, but that provides only one-direction communication. I think you'll find that if you visit this forum from time to time, you'll become part of a community with shared interests and concerns. It gives you a chance to post all kinds of questions, large and small, silly and serious. You may not have that opportunity amongst your current circle of friends, or even the members of your immediate family.

Best of luck with your ventures...

Ed

-- Ed Yourdon (HumptyDumptyY2K@yourdon.com), September 29, 1999.

John,

Good luck on your preps and don't hesitate to email me if you want a bit more personal contact than forum threads: faryna@groupmail.com

Sincerely, Stan Faryna

-- Stan Faryna (faryna@groupmail.com), September 29, 1999.

Pay good attentionto all of the above including Ed Yourdon, match your personality with what is required to maintain sanity, increasing your fine tuning to earn greater confidence and be a champion to your highest possible level.

Yes, there is time for sucess - keeping a clear head!

NOT ONLY MAINTAIN SANITY, BUT TO INCREASE YOUR LOGIC AND

COMMON SENSE DEVELOPMENT. -INCREASE YOUR CONFIDENCE LEVEL

AND RECOGNIZE THERE ARE VARIOUS OPINIONS.

HONE

-- Living in (the@real.world), September 29, 1999.

Forget reading! You don't have time to read! Basics man basics! IN THIS ORDER, THINK IN THIS ORDER....

WATER, FOOD, WATER, FOOD, WATER, WATER, FOOD. Save some cash in $5, 10, $20. Get rid of bank accounts, don't worry about debt too much at this point. Keep your rent and mortgage paid up till January 1, at least. Your time should be spent on getting WATER, FOOD, WATER, FOOD, WATER, WATER, WATER! If you can afford it a 12 gauge shotgun would be on my list. Then alternative heat for warmth and cooking. If you can't get that, INVEST IN LOTS OF SWEAT SHIRTS AND PANTS, and look into some type of solar cooking, that is if the sun keeps shining. Got a fireplace, then get firewood. Get garbage cans for water run-off from gutters.

Here I go again, I said that it's too late and here I am advising again.......good luck! Think water and lots of it. You can read all you want, but you new to ACT NOW!

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), September 29, 1999.

I smell a TROLL!!!

-- Porky (Porky@in.cellblockD), September 29, 1999.

John... If I were you I would pull out most of that money real soon and have it in bills smaller than a $100. bill.

If you have a Sams or Costco nearby, go shopping. Start with staples in cans such as veggies and fruits. Buy beans & rice & spaghetti in bags. Get sugar and salt and spices. Get lots of bottled water.

There is still time to prepare but the clock is ticking. Speed read the 2 Yourdon forums. If you still have questions then post them.

Good Luck

-- rb (ronbanks-2000@yahoo.com), September 29, 1999.

At this late date, you don't have to worry about special packaging for storage foods. A cheap way to bulk up your supplies is to buy 50 # bags of grains from the feed mill. Rolled oats, barley, corn, wheat, and get a grain mill or some means of grinding up the grains so they are more easily used.

There are lots of recipes on the net. For a couple hundred bux you could have almost a thousand pounds of grains from the feedmill. It won't be a clean as the stuff you would buy from Walton's, but it is cheap and available, and it will keep you going if food gets scarce. At that price, you can afford to have some to share as well.

Don't panic, but get started, and good "luck." (Just an expression.)

gene

-- gene (ekbaker@essex1.com), September 29, 1999.

Porky

You may just be smelling the stool over on the wall (thats what a troll smells like). That John post (and john is another name for potty) looked like bait and all of us GI fish went into a "feeding frenzy" to help another lost soul.

John is getting good & honest answers to his question and if he is LOL then gee whiz, he fooled us.

-- tc (trashcan-man@webtv.net), September 30, 1999.

The easiest way to look at preping this late in the game is simply, "how can I survive a full year without spending money?". This strategy covers both sides of the problem, i.e. money is worthless and/or unavailable. It can get overwhelming, but to think of things on these terms decreases mistakes of wasting time/money/resources (such as buying a generator without first having massive fuel storage capacity), and can be of much assistance in prioritizing.

-- DAN (Not@thistime.com), September 30, 1999.

Thank you for the help! It seems so overwhelming right now. Going to concentrate on food, water, heat, ammo, and light. So much to do in 3 months! Sure hope it's not as bad as I'm thinking it might be! I'm the only one I know who is worried about Y2K being bad. Lots of stuff on the web, but TOO much IMO. Don't have time or money to do everything, going to do what I can I guess.

Thanks again,

Gettin going!

Helpful hints appreciated. Will check back!

-- John (scared@timebomb.2000), September 30, 1999.

My Dear John

My first hope(and my first advice to you) is that you calm down. While time is indeed short, it is not too short. The advice you have been given so far is more than adiquate. But to run around likw a wild person will not help.

Set down at your table with a pen and paper, list first your needs and likes in food. Any medicines you might need. Femine hygene comes to mind, every 28 days there are needs for your wife / daughter etc. Next is the lighting, candles, gas laterns and such. Clothing for winter (like long johns) which will help you get along in chilly weather more comfortably. Books!! Survival or surviving is a pretty boring job most of the time (unless you are in an inner city) Then it might be the ride of your life! The old Boy Scout Manual will be one of the most useful in you libaray.

As for fire arms, use what is comfortable for you, if you are familuar with fire arms. If not, then go the parts of the internet that deal in those subjects. List SURVIVALIST on you search engine and start looking at the web pages that come up.

My second piece of advice is...Calm down, you are not too late for anything.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Shakey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-- Shakey (in_abunker@forty.feet), September 30, 1999.

I'm in the same boat as John,but have no savings so all the talk of "move to the country" is wasted I feel like I am alredy dead

-- Craig (dogmeat@Im.screwed), September 30, 1999.

Hi John,

Here are some sites I have found helpful for both information and purchasing supplies.

Since you have some resources, and only if you believe this is going to be a long lasting event, first read about the different options for storing a years supply of dried foods, a variety of beans, grains, and other staples.

If you are planning to be in an area where a garden will be feasable, you will need seed, and you will want the beans and grains that you are storing for eating to be good for planting as well. I have heard that the nitrogen used for food storage, in some cases, will affect the viability of the seed for growing. I would suggest the DE from the site I will be listing, 5 gal buckets, and mylar bags to fit them. However, this will require filling the buckets yourself.

You can order buckets packed already to save time, but they will not have the DE added, which is a very excellent pest killer and will be much safer than without it. The mylar bag is metalic and blocks light and moisture. This extends the shelf life and improves the chances that nothing will affect the food. Read about mylar, DE, and check out the different options and prices for a few days until you are sure of the method, amounts and kinds of food that you want to get.

If you get lots of wheat so that you can make bread, you will need a good mill that is durable and easy to use. This is a major purchase.

Here are a few links, sorry I could not make them hot right now.

Watertanks.com homepage http://www.watertanks.com/main.html

U.S. Plastics, y2k homepage http://www.usplastic.com/y2kmain.htm

Survival Instinct homepage http://www.survivalinstinct.com/survivalinstinct/index.html

Just In Case homepage stoves, toilets, heaters, light, batteries, etc http://www.justincase-online.com/

Realgoods homepage http://www.realgoods.com/products/

Petromax http://www.petromax.com/

they sell the best quality, durable, brightest lantern and a camp stove

http://www.totalsurvival.com/welcome.html Total Survival homepage

http://www.wholewheat.com/Pages/perma4.html Permaguard DE for food protection from bugs

Harvestbasket http://www.harvestbasket.com/index.html Organic food storage, non-electric tools

Grains and beans:

http://www.bobsredmill.com/display.asp?catid=2

HTTP://www.discountgrains.com/

http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/

Information:

http://www.waltonfeed.com/grain/faqs/

Hope these are helpful. Good luck!

Lora

-- Lora (artemis45@hotmail.com), September 30, 1999.

Thanks, ED. Some of us are trying to see to it that the Forum stays that way.

Chuck

-- Chuck, a night driver (rienzoo@en.com), September 30, 1999.

Make the best of what you got. Make some mistakes. Make some correct guesses. You are in a good position. Think logically. You will be amazed at the good direction you will follow on pure instinct. If you feel down, feel down. If you feel up...purchase basics. I will champion the Ed comment. I'm shy. But everyone seems nice here. M

-- Meandi (Viks2000@aol.com), September 30, 1999.

John, you can do it if you act calmly. Sit down with your significant other and ask yourselves, "What would we hate to run out of most?" Be sensible here--Godiva chocs are on the "luxury supplementals" list, not one of the four food groups! Buy only food you know you will eat. If you buy lots of dehydrated, remember you'll need water to cook it with. Go to garage/yard/estate sales, where you can find oil lamps, fondue sets (use with Sterno for heating water for coffee indoors), camp stoves and other equipment, extra comforters and blankets, hand coffee-grinder, candles, spare Walkmans, etc., etc. These are all among the items I've found at ridiculously low prices. I even found a bag full of rechargeable batteries for $2 (containing $50 worth of AAs!) Last, but by no means least, don't forget your pets--stash for them too. Oh--also go to Wal-Mart, load up on OTCs you know you will use. As for priorities, think of anything manufactured in developing countries--they are most at risk for supply disruptions. (80% of pharmaceuticals are made overseas--get your doctor to overprescribe so that you can get a quick stash together. If s/he won't do it, get another doctor--quick! Pay for medicines yourself if necessary.)

I have had good luck with the following companies:

soybean.com (buckets of complete dinners, very low price, something like $70 for 240 servings, approx. 21-day delivery time for Y2K foods, much less for regular line of meat look-alikes)

adventurefoods.com (lots of great luxury supplementals, including freeze-dried butter and cheeses--extremely high quality)

realgoods.com (some neat solar stuff, water filters--has $25 hand-pump filter good for 500 galls, takes out organisms liek giardia}

ccrane.com (good price and quality on rechargeables, wind-up radios, etc.)

gardenerssupply.com (rain barrels and 10" Dietz lamps, other neeat stuff)

Check on the preps forum for more info.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), September 30, 1999.

John:

You don't have three months. You may not even have two months. This is an EMERGENCY, and you must act immediately. Any thoughts, such as "I have three months to get this done', will almost guarantee failure.

Start with the food and water, as suggested above. Paul Milne is probably correct that the urban and sub-urban areas will be the most dangerous if TSHTF.

So, concentrate innitially on light weight and portability in your supplies. You should be ready to flee on short notice WITH your essentials (plan 'B'). You should have a remote and secure locale scouted out. It would be excellent if you could cache further supplies there, in advance.

You will find many of the refrences and rescources you need right here.

Think and act. Think and act. Think and act.

You are on the cusp of a great adventure, and you're gonna need

Godspeed.

-- Pinkrock (aphotonboy@aol.com), September 30, 1999.

John: You can do it! Don't worry. Just read "prep" information, forget about the opinions.

Go to a Costco/BJ's and stock up on canned food etc. Camping stores are a good place to start also.

It will only take you about a month if you're serious, and you sound like you are.

Go to www.homezen.com for an X36 Alpaca Kerosene cookstove, then get a kerosene heater. You can store kero safter than other flamables.

Make SURE you get plenty of Water. From what I can see, drinkable water is going to very scarce.

Email me if you need more help.

Good, good luck

-- mar (derigueur2@aol.com), September 30, 1999.

And for godsake man don't try to GI everyone you meet. They had their chance right now you have to think about YOU. There is still good pickins on the shelves so be quick.

Craig you can make it think survival! It really doesn't take much to live for 3 months the important thing is to start don't roll over and play dead.

-- todays Tom Sawyer (RUSH@2112.rockon!), September 30, 1999.

get VERY friendly with your local harware store--I was able to do alot buying directly or ordering from them--from guns to pressure canners---ACE Hardware here in the west. Take some time to deep breath and for god's sake take Ed's advice and get someone to talk to. Come here and go to the sites above--good luck.

-- catherine plamondon (wasthere@onetime.com), September 30, 1999.

Craig--You're only dead if you want to be dead. Doing something is better than doing nothing.

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), September 30, 1999.

One more thing to add--Now is a good time to hit WalMart for discounted prices on camping gear. I saw sleeping bags, coleman propane lanterns, and propane fuel marked down. Saw solar suits (a basket full of them) for $2.50 each! Hit thrift stores like Salvation Army for sweat shirts and sweaters. Yesterday was discount day and I bought sweatshirts (like new) for $1.25 each. LL. Bean and Eddie Bauer flannel shirts for $1.25 each. Hit army surplus stores, etc. If your thrifty, you can do well.

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), September 30, 1999.

Craig...DO NOT GIVE UP!!! Many, many of us don't have savings, live in cities or suburbs near cities (try envisioning outside DC, and you'll feel better wherever you live!) but plan on trying to survive no matter what it takes. If you have youth and health in your favor, then you're also ahead of a lot of us here. Despair is a surer killer than circumstances, however bleak those may be. Pray also and seek your inner strength from the Lord to keep going.

You too, John!

-- Elaine Seavey (Gods1sheep@aol.com), September 30, 1999.

Sometimes having some checklists helps John. This thread provides links...

LINKS REQUESTS: Which Are Your Favorite Y2K Preparation Checklists? (For The New GI)

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id= 000shh

Stay calm. Breathe. You're fine.

And smile... be thankful you have the fun*ding to prepare.

;-D

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), September 30, 1999.

John, you are better off than most people. Most people are either not preparing, or do not have the funds you have available. So first sit and breathe deeply, and be thankful.

The basics are indeed Water, food, shelter, defense etc. I advise you to spend your reading time in either the Prep Forum (link given you above) or in the archives of this forum that deal with preps. You already 'get it'. Don't waste precious time. There are many things available for you to purchase right now thanks to the great government spin put out. Don't count on this lasting.

When you make your list and prioritize, don't forget to notate what may be difficult to acquire should demand suddenly rise. Also, the poster above who told you to think as though you had to live without spending money was wise. Therefore, you need to make all your dollars count. Search the archives and other information, but if a critical acquisition decision needs to be made quickly, post for advice. Watch for Taz and Old Git in the archives. Also Lilly, BigDog, Kristi@securx etc. Doc Schenker has a good medical checklist out there. These are people who have lived or are living their practical advice. If you want to directly email me, I can send you my bookmarked best and favorite sites for preps.

Start with a harshly critical analysis of your present living situation. Water supply, heat, what kind of neighbors, defense etc. Be ready to think clearly and act quickly. If you decide to relocate, be sure to check out the neighbors, along with the rest. Neighbors can make or break you.

The Cassandra Project and Ted Derryberry have good lists, and Michael Hyatt has some good articles on sequential prepping.

Best wishes!

-- Mumsie (Shezdremn@aol.com), September 30, 1999.

Craig, what is your situation?

Do you have current employment?

Do you have family or good friends in a more rural area?

Do you have any assets at all that could be sold for preps?

Do you have skills that could be bartered for acceptance by another GI person to take you in?

Your attitude will partly determine what happens to you.

-- Mumsie (Shezdremn@aol.com), September 30, 1999.

TrashcanMan - it doesn't matter if John is real or a troll. For every troll there are a thousand lurkers looking for information. They all get the benefit of good answers, even if the original question came from a troll.

All you late-arriving lurkers - this is good stuff, there's lots more, it's all free. Very few here have ill will, and virtually all of us started as lurkers.

Prepping rarely will hurt you, and not prepping can kill you. Get busy, stay focussed, find someone to talk to, or someplace you feel free to talk (maybe this forum). The herd is moving slowly, you still have some time.

-- bw (home@puget.sound), October 01, 1999.

Location is the secret of survival.

We have plenty water, Biggest cattle ranch on earth, plenty of ocean fishing, absolute fertility with 3 growing seasons, you can camp and live on fruits and wild pigs.

Go to:http://www.uneco.org/ namahinaai.html

come join the eco- gardeners. Bring a tent and some tools.

-- KKanaka (Kanaka@uneco.org), October 02, 1999.

When I "got it" about a year and a half ago the first thing I did was make sure I had guns and ammo,then I moved on to food water and warmth.A lot of people on this forum are a bit touchy feely and would most likely take exception to the necessity of arming yourself for the potential downfall of everything that makes up society,but I wonder how many of those who pooh-pooh on guns have actualy been in violent encounters.

-- zoobie (zoobiezoob@yahoo.com), October 04, 1999.