Remember Watergate and Deep Throat and, "Follow the money"? Well, I know a person who delivers Porta-Potties. He just delivered some to the offices of a very large electric company. The work order was notated with, "Y2K preparations."

Why would an electric company need Porta-Potties? Let me count the ways: the electricity fails and/or water fails and/or sewage removal fails. Now, why would an electric company order these potties? Because they think one or more of these services could/might fail. If they were absolutely certain services would stay up they would not need these potties. Maybe they are preparing for a 3 day winter storm?

Get in your car and go to the Porta-Potty rental center. Follow the delivery truck. Perhaps you, too, will see potties going to your electric company. Then go back to the rental place and load one up and take it to your house. If the electric company needs some then you need one.

Follow the Porta-Potties.

-- Anonymous, December 22, 1999

Answers

So Marcella... is your friend under some sort of "potty non- disclosure agreement" here? :-) Can you provide a name please? I don't see how revealing the specifics here could be a problem for anyone.

Thanks!

Bob

-- Anonymous, December 22, 1999

Bob, would never give names. The point is, for me, one or more electric companies are not absolutely sure services will be there. So they made a plan. If they are not sure then that tells us something. They have assured and reassured us for months that nothing will happen. A Porta-Pottie signifies a plan in case something does happen. The big point is we just don't know and they don't either. Just be sure you have a potty.

-- Anonymous, December 22, 1999

Hey - I'll bet there's very FEW electric companies that have considered that they might need this type of service. I applaud the electric company involved with at least thinking about it.

I remember organizing a townwide event several years ago. It was an early summer weekend event. The committee did a wonderful job of putting it together, but there was something nagging at us until the last moment - we knew we forgot something, but couldn't remember what it was. The first vendor showed up at 7:00AM to set up. About 7:30AM, she was looking for a restroom.

Now remember, this is early summer - there's a lot of outdoor events going on, and all of them need porta potties. At that point, all of the committee members did the collective dope slap. After a few anguished phone calls, we located a couple of ratty porta potties, and they were delivered at about 10:30AM. There were a lot of anguished people lining up as the porta potties slid off the flatbed. ;-D

-- Anonymous, December 22, 1999

My favorite company is "Johnny on the spot - We're #1 in the #2 business"

-- Anonymous, December 22, 1999

I knew this was going to develop into a crappy thread.

I'm gonna have to delete myself. ;-D

-- Anonymous, December 22, 1999

Marcella,

Perhaps I wasn't clear. I am asking for the name of the power company, not the porta-potty driver.

While I understand all of the non-disclosure agreements about specific power components, etc. I can't see the harm in telling us which company is backing up for if and when their sewers back up.

I am with you on the need for preparation. I am with you when it comes to protecting sources when necessary... I've had to do it myself many times in the past two and a half years. I am definitely one who would be classified a "doomer" in the Y2k debate.

With that said, (and admitting that I don't know this situation fully) I can't see the harm to anyone, or the legal jeopardy, in simply revealing the power company's name. If they ordered potties, that's a verifiable fact.

Set me straight again if you must. :-)

Bob

-- Anonymous, December 22, 1999

Here I am, doing the best I can to provide quality research information, and my post gets _ _ _ _ _ _ _ on! Don't ask for forgivness, it won't happen. You probably don't even have a stand-in (oops, I mean a back-up, oops I mean an extra) potty.

-- Anonymous, December 22, 1999

Bob, I just can't do it. Can't risk the trace. Please get a potty.

-- Anonymous, December 22, 1999

My post about forgiveness was not clear. It is for Rick and James, not you Bob. You are trying to get information. I'll have to police this thread since Rick can't resist, either. O.K., so I know it has a humerous aspect. Now you people keep yourselves together. What is going to happen later today when the regulars get home from work? Gish

-- Anonymous, December 22, 1999

Marcella,

Thanks for the clarification on forgiveness. I was getting really mystified at the state of our culture that one couldn't even nicely ask for further information without accusations of being an attacker.

As for a back-up potty... I have one that will work... power (there's the electric link) or no power. I am part of a neighborhood of GI's who are ready... and ready to help. We can feed literally hundreds of people for more than six months... God forbid that it should ever get that far. We have back-up water run by windmills (connecting from the tower to my house is the last BIG project for me... the pipe arrived today). We are as ready as possible... and praying like crazy that we'll not need it.

One of us actually came up with a plan--and shoved it through the local governments--to make sure our whole county would have water if things go down. When he first approached them, every utility admitted that they couldn't pump water to anyone in the power was out for more than 24-hours. My friend paid half the cost of generators and installation in several locations (and we're talking some big generators and prices here) just to be sure people for miles around would have water. And the talk around town is that we're a bunch of cultists. OK, end of cathartic rant.

Marcella, you're right. If the power goes out (electric... there it is again), and people don't have a back-up potty... they're in deep. Way too deep. Disease will take out more people than anything else if the power is out for any length of time. God help us.

I understand about not revealing your source Marcella. I guess I'm just on the same frustrating end that many of my readers have been over the years (shameless plug, as Lane would say... then again, it was free... while I published it).

Grace and peace Marcella, Rick and all,

Bob

P.S. From now on let's try and keep our minds and verbiage out of the... ... you know. ;-)

-- Anonymous, December 22, 1999

Bob, we were all posting about the same time and the posts didn't line up to answer the one above. When I saw how they were I was afraid you were thinking I was "fussing" at you. Not the case.

Ah, yes, you cultists. I have never understood why making sure you stay alive is a cultist activity. The people around you are lucky.

If an electric outage brings down sewer systems, I now know what that smells like. Two days ago the sewer line became clogged between our house and the neighbor's house. Didn't bother us, but the underground holding tank is closer to our house than theirs. The fixer fellow had to remove the manhole cover and use a machine thingy to unclog the drain from the neighbor's house. I cannot tell you how bad that smell was. I was sweeping off the porch at the time (leaves, leaves, leaves) and I stopped and went in the house. A small wiff said, "disease." We don't realize that electricity means health. I don't think public officials have spent any time on this. What on earth will we do to prevent disease? I am thankful all over again that I live in the country in a small gated community. Without electricity we are going to have a major disease problem. I hope not one electric connection fails.

-- Anonymous, December 22, 1999

Hello everyone. I am a lurker, enjoying your postings. Like all of you, on the front lines- building power systems to get the juice to people when its down (is it going down?) to the thread: A friend repeated, I dismissed as rumor: "Detroit Edison was supposedly calling rental places to ascertain the number of porta potty units available. I said: "ridiculous", and didn't think much about it 'til this thread. Without names, we are not dealing with anything but rumors ..interesting anyway. We will soon see, yes?

-- Anonymous, December 23, 1999

James, I wouldn't post a rumor and represent it as fact. I know the man who had the potties on his truck and I know where he delivered them.

-- Anonymous, December 23, 1999

marcella...

you don't have to explain to polly's or anyone else for that matter. why anyone would assume that you were manufacturing data is beyond me.

it is too late to do anything other that duck. all the rhetoric that is 'blowing in the wind' is about to come home to roost.

you do not have to explain yourself to anyone, as far as i am concerned... your word is as good as gold.

...too bad we can't say the same for many others.

never in human history have so many humans blindly trusted that so many other humans won't screw up.

ed yardeni

-- Anonymous, December 23, 1999

Please,please not to be offended. I didn't communicate clearly. I meant to imply that what I had heard was a rumor; one that you added credibility to. No offense intended, nor any implication that what you said was a rumor. I'll go back to lurking..I mean no offense. Happy New Year, my fellow alarmists!!!

-- Anonymous, December 23, 1999

No, James, don't go back to lurking. I wasn't offended. It's difficult to assess the accuracy of information when you can't verify the parties involved. As the car salesman says, "Trust me."

We have beaten y2k to death on this forum. What can we do now? Wait, and put oil in the lamp. Let's do Christmas and say a prayer.

-- Anonymous, December 24, 1999

Marcella,

I am glad that porta-potties are 'headed' for a power company. If they need them, this is the first place I would like to see have them.

-- Anonymous, December 24, 1999

Marcella, You are right, some utility facilities do indeed have Y2K porta potties, I have seen them myself. This is part of their contingency plans (for cases where water is supplied by city/county, etc).

Regards,

-- Anonymous, December 29, 1999