I guess I'm kind of a nubie to you folks. I've only been online about a year and just recently found this site. I'm high in the mountains of West Virginia. I have a garden, a well, a disel generator, a years food , all the hunting and fishing I could want literally out my back door. In spite of all that, with all the things I've read, I just become more and more confused. I'm also a Navy combat, VN vet and I'm bad scared at some of the things that might be.

I guess what I want to say to you folks is, in spite of my confusion, I'm glad this site is here for me and others to look to for some kind of insight.

Thanks

-- crybabyboy (crybaby@tearsforfears.net), October 24, 1999

Answers

And we're due to get our first frost tonight. The lettuce and two remaining tomato plants are wrapped in bubble wrap--I hope I'm as lucky as last season, when we collected tomatoes until mid-January. We had our first cord of wood delivered a few days ago and we have a small solar array, Sterno, Coleman stove, etc. I'd like to get another cord of wood before too long but other than that, I think we're in pretty good shape for the cold weather.

CBB, you sound in pretty good shape--certainly better than about 98 percent of the population. Despite being a scared, you must feel somewhat relieved, given your preps. Imagine how you'd feel if you didn't know until today what you've known for the last year!

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), October 24, 1999.

Thanks for writing back Git, I've been feeling kind of alone here. Folks here don't much consider such things happening to them. Mountaineers are notoriously independant and seem to handle whatever comes along but I think this is something even they can't cope with.

Anyway, thanks for writing back. I feel less along already.

Cbaby

-- cbb (crybaby@tearsforfears.net), October 24, 1999.

I think it was Ben Franklin who said "We should all hang together, becuase we most assuredly will hang separately". This forum has been a help to me too. Scared me some, angered me some like most everyone else. Nobody ever asked me to mud wrestle before either.

Sometimes I am still amazed that we are this close with so many problems. Capers Jones and his statistics have become the new Murphy's Laws.

It has been said before, but there are several people who post regularly who bring more than a touch of sanity to a nutso situation. Thank you.

-- Nancy (wellsnl@hotmail.com), October 24, 1999.

Eh?

-- Y2KGardener (gardens@bigisland.net), October 24, 1999.

Cry Baby: Things are turning to winter here in Alaska too. Me and the Mrs. spent the day cleaning up the garden, greenhouse and shop. All the tools are put away and double checked our fuel supplies befor the first snow flies. We have been preparing for the uncertain for about two years now and are in pretty good shape. I too am a VN vet,Army. Nice to see a posting by you , its good to see someone who is a little more reality based than alot of the postings of late. Good to see ol Git is still out there..

-- Capt Dennis (capden@hotmail.com), October 24, 1999.

CB,

Glad you found your way here. I think a lot of us feel this way sometimes. Today I was checking out my snow tires to see if they need re-strudding. Supposed to be a hard winter here. Then, I started thinking that, if there are oil shortages, I may not be driving much anyway, so maybe I should buy some more books instead.

Nancy, I'm sure you will be asked sooner or later, or KOS will have failed in his manly (and Kingly) duty. That would be very unlike him. Or, you could just get a name like mine and leave him wondering if he should ask you to mudwrestle or arm wrestle :-)

-- (RUOK@yesiam.com), October 24, 1999.

Thanks folks for so many kind responses. Each one has made me feel a little more secure and at ease in my choices and preperations. Thanks again for your simple kindnesses. CBB

-- CBB (crybaby@tearsforfears.net), October 25, 1999.

CBB,

If it helps, your not the only one from the Mountain State that's scared! Thankfully, we are independant minded and resourceful. I'm just grateful that my ggrandmother (98+) has given all the family her experience to draw on. She made certain that we all know how to do without a lot of "things" and to make do with what we have. This is the one thing that will hurt a lot of people, no close ties left with the past and their ways. :-(

me

-- me (me@me.com), October 25, 1999.

CBB,

You certainly are not alone in your confusion. I think most of us are afraid of what could happen to us in the coming year. It is the reason for our preps. I wish I had a crystal ball, and could see the future. Then again maybe I don't. It's a fact that the unknown quality about it is frustrating.

Sometimes the uncertainty makes me doubt my sanity. I look around me (most of my preps are in my computer room) and think I have lost my mind. I think of all the money sitting here in food and supplies and what I could have done with it this year. Most of the time, I feel satisfied that I have done my best to prepare for what MAY come next year. Then again, there are those times, when I am CERTAIN that I have not prepared enough, or thought of all the possibilities (I am a worry-wart by nature). Talk about confused! There are times that an argument from one side or the other (polly vs doomer) finds me in total agreement. Sounds wishy-washy doesn't it? It isn't. It is exactly what you are feeling. Confusion. What keeps me prepping is RISK, pure and simple. Because of something my family went through last year, I could not bear to think of any repeats.

This forum with all its wonderful posters has been a balm to a weary soul, so I know how you feel about it. Even those that are maddening, have had a role in uplifting me (kind of hard to stay depressed when you get mad as h***!). I hope with all my heart that next year is a piece of cake, that we never notice anything other than what we have seen this year. It is my fervent hope that we all come through this with flying colors.

God Bless

Dian

-- Dian (bdp@accessunited.com), October 25, 1999.

CBB, Sweetie is a Navy combat vet, but from some thousands of feet up (the Indy, Grenada and Lebanon). I was a Navy girlfriend and wife for less than three years but Sweetie worked for Naval defense contractors for six years after his service and we lived in a heavy Navy community in Norfolk. I also have some Royal Navy and Royal Dutch Navy connections.

If you'd like to keep in touch, you can reach me through Chuck's address.

It's nice of y'all to think I'm a bit of a sane voice. It probably has a lot to do with raising a child by myself in a foreign country--pretty damn scary! It made me quite a responsible person. But that was a long time ago; The Kid has been supporting himself for years, and I no longer have to scrimp and struggle--Sweetie takes good care of me. It's a happy life--I really do like my Sweetie--and I hope Y2K is a nonevent so we can all go back to what makes us inwardly smile, whether it be pink flamingoes or spectacular waterfalls, mudwrestling or pressed flowers, cat haiku or home-brewing.

I hope y'all are sleeping soundly and dreaming comforting dreams. Me? The foot's throbbing nicely so I'm awake for a while. No biggie, I can sleep tomorrow.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), October 25, 1999.

Old Git, please tell me you're talking about the real pink flamingos and not the yard "ornaments". I'd have to change my whole perception of you. ;-) Crybabyboy, Welcome. Sounds like you're in better shape than most. Good luck. ( I'd love to know why you picked that monicker.)

-- (rcarver@inacom.com), October 25, 1999.