This is probably one of the best tools I have found to help get some perspective on the global Y2K picture as seen through the eyes of the Gartner Group. Wow. Why can't we have one of these here in America?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/millennium_bug/countries/us.stm

-- Anonymous, December 09, 1999

Answers

The Gartner group is based in London, therefore we can assume it is made up of mostly British people. Let me tell you about the British and their definition of trouble or disaster. I suppose if they were wiped off the face of the earth they might call that a disaster. Anything less than that would be a minor inconvenience. Remember these people went through WW II.

A number of years ago hurricane force winds swept across England. This is very unusual. The weather forecasters didn't see it coming and received criticism for not alerting the people.

Sometime after that I was in London visiting my son. I was at the house alone and he was doing his documentary film work in London proper. The night before I had seen the weather report. You have to pay attention because it is fast and gone, not like the US weather channel giving details everywhere in the US. England is not that big to start with. The weather fellow said there might be a "bit of wind" the next day. I specifically remember those exact words.

So, as I said, I was alone there in the house and son, Wayne, was out and about London. It seemed to me that I could hear wind. About 99% of houses in the greater London area look like what we would call townhouses because they are attached to the ones on either side. Because of that there are no windows on those two sides of the house. I went to the back of the house and looked out. The wood fence on one side was leaning in toward the garden. I knew this was not normal (I am from Texas hurricane country.) That fence became my barometer and it was looking worse and worse. After a period of time, Wayne arrived in a Taxi. He said he had gone to the train station and glass had started falling from the six story ceiling onto the waiting people. He knows hurricanes. He rushed from the building and got a Taxi. They had difficulty getting to the house and saw lorrys (trucks) turned completely over, being swept from the freeway. We turned the TV on and several people had been killed during the hurricane force winds. They just don't have this kind of wind and don't get out of the way of it. Now, here comes the lesson that may apply to the Gartner Group. The weatherman came on and patted himself and the station on the back for warning the people in the forcast the night before. This time, he said, they knew it was coming and they reported it. This hurricane force wind was the "bit of wind" forecast I heard the night before. If the Gartner group says y2k may be a "bit" of trouble you should go hide in a foxhole.

An elderly lady, in her 80's, was coming for dinner that evening and driving her car to get there from across London. No way did we think she would come. There was debris everywhere on the roads. At the appointed time she arrived. We told her she shouldn't have come. She said, "I couldn't let a little wind stop me." She lived through WW II and was one of the women that worked in the war room moving ships and planes across the war boards. She said one day she went to the hairdressers and it wasn't there, just a hole where it had been.

The British downplay what we would call adversity because they have either lived through the real thing or their parents lived through it and have imparted the experience to their children who have imparted it to their children.

I don't doubt the sincerity of the Gartner Group nor their conclusions but we are the sum total of our experiences and that colors everything we do. I expect the British would survive a y2k disaster more easily than Americans. Most of the British I have been around wear sweaters indoors so they can conserve heat resources. How many of us consciously do that? Conserving is in their blood and for good reason. If we experience a severe y2k problem, we may find our tolerance level for discomfort is higher afterward. We may understand the British "bit of wind" mentality better. The British may call it that "bit of y2k trouble" while we call it that "y2k disaster."

Don't believe I said "electricity" in this post. I may get dumped. That's okay. I was thrown out of the Ritz hotel in Paris, but that is another story.

-- Anonymous, December 10, 1999

Thank you reporter,

I agree with you that a global view is getting more and more important. Time is running fast and we are approaching the deadline. A status report is only an indication of readiness. More important is a Y2K-watch with detailed information about the rollover in Tonga, New Zealand, Australia etc. so that workarounds, like setting the clock back, can be performed before the rollover.

If you are interested in the Y2K-status in the Netherland, go to :

http://www.mp2000.nl/millen/millen.nsf/frames/EngFrameset?OpenDocument

-- Anonymous, December 10, 1999

Marcella:

Great post but I was confused when I clicked on the Link to the Gartner Report. According to Gartner, we are goibg to have moderate disruptions in Air and Oil and severe disruptions in Trade or imports. I don't understand what they mean about "air". Would you or anybody else know and would share this with me. Thanks.

Chuck

-- Anonymous, December 10, 1999

Oh, crap!!! Now the oxygen is going to be cut off! And I thought i had planned for just about everything! Where do you store air? ;)

Terri

-- Anonymous, December 10, 1999

Chuck, look at the Gartner report more closely. The "Distribution" column means "how widespread will it be?" The next column is "Impact", as in "how bad will the impact be?"

Oil is isolated problems/failures with moderate impact. Trade is isolated problems/failures with severe impact. Moderate and severe sound like more than a "bit" to me (head for the foxhole.) If you just look at the "Moderate" or "Severe" column it sounds bad, but when you look at the other column the problem is only in isolated cases. Then it doesn't look that bad.

Air is isolated problems/failures with moderate impact. Everything I have read about air travel is not abuut the planes (very little has been said about them except they "won't fall from the sky,)" but the focus is on airports from baggage handling/transfer to the tower. I feel sure it is airports that are evaluated here.

We have a swell pilot fellow on this forum whose name I don't recall. Speak up, swell pilot fellow. What is your opinion about airplanes at this time?

One other thing about air travel. I have been to many countries. When you get on the plane you are giving over control of your life until the plane is once again on the ground. Most people who fear flying do so because they can't give control of their body to someone else (please, let's don't get into that phobia thing, again.) Since I know that to be true, I talked to myself mentally evey time I flew. I would say, "Self, these pilots are professional people who are highly trained. It is o.k. to depend on them to get your body to the destination." Right now and for a long time to come, I do not trust the airport towers, the planes, or the pilots. I add pilots because they may come up against problems they have never faced, maybe on their planes, but more likely tower problems. Will they make the correct decisions in a split second when confronted with problems that have never happened before? Color me phobia red.

-- Anonymous, December 10, 1999

Terri, I nearly split my sides when I read your post! You can buy oxygen bottles at a Medical Supply (where they sell wheelchairs.) Most of the time these stores have the capability to fill the tanks. If they don't they can tell you where to get them filled. If you know an EMT he/she can buy the bottles for you as you have to have a doctor's prescription or be a professional medical person to buy them. At least that is the way it is in Texas. Teri, Teri, that is so funny. I can't stop laughing. Your other choice would be to take a bunch of boxes outside and when they fill with fresh air, like instantly, slap the cover on them. Label them as "Air" as I am sure you have also labeled your food boxes. Now you are ready.

-- Anonymous, December 10, 1999

Terri,

The shelf life of air stored in plastic garbage bags is much longer than that of air stored in cardboard boxes. Be sure to pack away the freshest air you can get your hands on. Also, air dehydraters are highly recommended, (I use a blow drier myself). Dehydrated air can last much longer than moist air and is very easily reconstituted with a spray bottle. If you and your family are accustomed to polluted air then to make the air a little more comfy and like the old air you were used to you can capture some rain water and use that in a spray bottle to reconstitute your dehydrated air. Catch the rain just as it gets started because after awhile the polluted air will be clean and you won't have the effect you're after.

Bottled air is an expensive alternative, so again, I suggest using plastic garbage bags. Dark colored bags are prefferable in order to limit degradation of the air from light. Also, it's really easy to figure out how much air you should store. Just exhale into bags for a day, count how many you've got filled up, then store that many for each day you are prepping for. Me? Officially I'm prepared for a three day outage, but privately I've got the crawl space under my house stuffed full of air and could last maybe a week or more.

For fun and variety I've captured a fair amount of air on windy days. This will break the monotony of having to use bagged air, breaking open one after another. These are my stash of wind bags. Imagine the surprise and merriment when I break wind after we rollover!

-- Anonymous, December 10, 1999

All good points, Steve. Smokers should blow several puffs of smoke into each bag if they are light smokers, and heavy dude smokers should, of course, add more puffs. Are you concerned at all about chemicals leching out of the plastic bags and into your lungs? Maybe the plastic bags should be food grade bags?

-- Anonymous, December 10, 1999

You people are so funny. I have laughed so hard; I even had to get my husband. Its great to laugh about Y2k for once. Keep up the good work. Debbie

-- Anonymous, December 10, 1999

Yep, a funny, funny thread. I have really been ROTFLMAO. A "bit of wind" coming up. Too much. All good comments. Bagged air? Sure, and I'm glad it was mentioned because I totally forgot about that prep! And Menno, you are a stitch. Menno, have you ever watched a good Bob Newhart sketch? You know, where he pretends he on the phone and talking to someone about something? Like, he might be talking to people from Tonga, on New Year's eve, and he would be saying: "You have *what* happening, the power is out now, and people are rioting, and the.......hello.....hello.....hello......well I guess their phone just went out too. Hey Bill, better set that computer clock back cause I think there may be a problem coming, not sure, but just to be safe." That about it Menno? God Bless you, and have a Happy New Year.

-- Anonymous, December 10, 1999

I am very concerned about this thread. Afraid it violates Rick's rules. Does anyone know where the forum is for air hoarders?

-- Anonymous, December 11, 1999

Marcella,

Try the FAA web site. They're the ones who are trying to make the air safe for travel, and if it's safe for travel it must by default be safe for breathing and hoarding. Just a thought. Haven't seen anything about this issue (air hoarding) on the Gary North site though.

-- Anonymous, December 11, 1999

Gordon, Gary North thinks he is so smart, well, he missed the boat on air unless he wanted to get all the best air stored before he clued us in on it. My guess is he will soon come out of the closet and admit he has stored air we should have had. He is such a money grabber he will probably charge blackmarket prices for it. I am thinking of a class action lawsuit against him for having a monopoly on air. It may be that he and Bill Gates are partners in this conspiracy to corner the market on air. Well, we deserve our fair share of stored air. If any of you feel the same way, please send me a donation of $1,000 for my expenses in this matter. Monopoly money accepted.

-- Anonymous, December 11, 1999

Folks,

When I came back to this forum on Saturday afternoon, I was shocked!!!(That line was to make sure we link this thread to electricity.) I certainly don't want to be accused of being an air hoarder - but I am, at this moment, filling my barn, corncrib, basement and attic with the stuff. We've also installed heavy duty weather sealer in order to keep the hosue - er, um, air-tight. FEMA has issued a press release that we really don't need to worry about air - all we should prepare for is a three-day's supply. That's about six large cardboard boxes or six, dark plastic bags per person, per day. Unless, of course, you have a family member like Steve who is making merry about breaking wind - then you will have to have a little extra.

Thanks for the giggles folks - we all need a little lighthearted humor every so often.

Terri

-- Anonymous, December 11, 1999

I have let this off-topic discussion slide, because I think this topic is deserving of a proper airing. My immediate concern is windpower "farms", and the potential long term implications for green power.

I am also concerned on how this could impact those in this (and other) forums who are absolutely dependent on hot air to express their views. We all know that hot air is NOT a storable commodity, at least for the long term.

W/regards to hoarding of air, it occured to me that maybe I should hike down to the dollar store and pick up a gross of mylar balloons. They seem to remain inflated much longer than regular balloons.

-- Anonymous, December 12, 1999

Thanks, Rick. I figured you must be out of town or so busy with work that you had not read this thread. We must remember that along with fuel (my area of concern on this forum,) air is necessary for the combustion of fuels to run the generators. If air is cut off and the remainder taken over by FEMA, who will they give the air to first? Also, air for the survival of electricity personnel to keep the plants working is paramount. I would imagine that the President's y2k bunker has arrangements to provide their own air. I need to revise my electric equation to read:

Fuel + air = electricity. I also need to add air as a dot in my "Connect the dots" analogy.

Thank you for understanding the importance of air.

-- Anonymous, December 12, 1999

Hi all, I have been watching this forum for awhile now and I have to admit this thread is great! OK, I have stopped laughing now, but I have to ponder another question, what about windmills. Do you use your stored air to make the windmill rotate, or do you breath in the air from the bag and just hand rotate the windmill?

Thanks again all for bringing a lighter side to this.

-- Anonymous, December 12, 1999

Specificaly regarding storage of certain types of air:

Containers for the storage of wind need to be date-checked so as to avoid the possession of an elderly container. In case you share your wind, you certainly don't want the possibility of overhearing your friends say, "What an old windbag!"

Keep your bags in a cool location, again for the sake of sharing. There's nothing worth than giving others a lot of hot air, especially in coping with Y2K. Although there are many people who take in all of this hot air, there are a few who can discern that it is not good, and you might not be able to get it past them.

The posting of other safe air storage tips will be appreciated.

-- Anonymous, December 13, 1999

This thread is a gas! Thanks to Rick for allowing it to balloon all out of proportion. We need it!

-- Anonymous, December 14, 1999

Okay, maybe I'm kicking a dead dog here... But I was pondering Rick's answer about Mylar bags, and I thought - "You know, if word about this air cut-off gets out, everybody will want those Mylars bags."

And you know what will happen then - yep, inflated prices.

Terri

-- Anonymous, December 15, 1999