Think the world's going to end? All stocked up on bottled water and nonperishable foods and propane? Or have you already headed for the hills, in which case you'll miss this fascinating forum topic?

-- Anonymous, December 24, 1999

Answers

Oh, yeah, if you read the entry right after I posted it, I've now added the recipe for Y2K stew. That also works pretty well for starving college students; leave out the sausage and you have a really filling, low-fat vegetarian meal that costs about 15 cents a serving.

-- Anonymous, December 24, 1999

Um...Y2K goes down, I'm coming to your house for pork 'n' beans 'n' kibble.

I, too, went to Safeway Alhambra the other day and also was nearly murdered by bad drivers: a tag team, pissed at each other, jokeying for separate spaces yet not willing to move so either of them could get in either space. Charming. Same inside. However, I thought I should tell you that Jeremy's Triscuits are on two-for-one right now.

-- Anonymous, December 24, 1999

If I never hear the phrase Y2K again, I will be the happiest woman on the planet.

What is driving me crazy is that I don't think anything major is going to happen, but people are going to be such idiots that I have to do things I think are inane, like stock up a bit on food and have more than the usual supply of cash around. My local grocery store held a seminar on what to do when the looting starts. Our news is still reporting things like pacemakers not being Y2K compliant. Hello? Pacemakers are Y2K compliant the way houseplants are y2k compliant, in that there is nothing in them to be compliant about, since they don't know whether it is 1 Jan 00 or 23 Feb 77. No date tracker in them.

It scares me to see news about gun stores being sold out of guns and ammo, because of Y2K.

I want to just sleep until the 2cd of January, and forget about this whole millenium thing.

-- Anonymous, December 24, 1999

Actually, Kristin, we're with you -- we thought a little extra cash and food would be a good idea just in case the stores get crazy (plus we were totally out of things to eat, and eating is one of our favorite activities).

Sadly, I must admit that we always have that much dog and cat food around. We really need to give that 40 pounds of puppy food to the SPCA.

And H, you are absolutely invited over for our Y2K feast, as long as you make sure to loot the liquor store on your way over.

-- Anonymous, December 24, 1999

We're debating this at home -- I say it can't hurt to have a set of batteries for the flashlight and some canned food. Barry rolls bhis eyes and says I'm silly. What do you thin

-- Anonymous, December 24, 1999

We're debating this at home -- I say it can't hurt to have a set of batteries for the flashlight and some canned food. Barry rolls his eyes and says I'm silly. What do you thin

-- Anonymous, December 24, 1999

Well, I have lots and lots of water, but then, I always do -- I buy it eight gallons at a time. Everyone who knows me calls my downstairs closet the "water closet," because that's the only place left to store water, Calistoga water, and cases of Diet Dr. Pepper. I have batteries. Well, probably not the ones I'll need, like C's and D's, but I have tons of AA's for the pager I don't use anymore. Lots of canned goods, none of which I ever eat. No actual can opener, though. I'm assuming my electric one prolly isn't gonna work? Nothing non-electric to cook on, either. The SO will just have to haul his ass over here in his '71 Dart (I'm assuming the 85 Honda will not start anymore) and with his camp stove and save me! And I have a zip drive to back up my webpage next week. That should get me through, no? Hey, my priorities are in ORDER, man!

-- Anonymous, December 24, 1999

I myself am fully prepared to laugh my ass off if Y2K comes and goes, and absolutely nothing happens. That will be great.

Oh, and by the way, if Jeremy's alarm clock had been going off for an hour, why exactly does he have one? Isn't the idea to, you know, get up when it goes off?

Just asking. My wife used to have one of those, and she finally realized that, once she could sleep through it, it wasn't really helping much, so she unplugged it and just trusts me to get her up in time for work.

Me, I have to have an alarm that sounds like a pair of pliers in a blender, which wakes me up with that full adrenaline-rush feeling so I can't go back to sleep. I guess if civilization does come to an end, I'll sleep in more.

-- Anonymous, December 24, 1999

The civilized world is going to be extraordinarily disappointed if there's no widespread chaos come New Year's. And as things stand there won't be. Everybody's going to get depressed. There will be a couple small explosions, maybe a little riot.

To combat the Anticlimax Depression Syndrome (ADS) on its way, I plan to dig a big hole in the street and crash my car into it. Maybe make a big fire. Yell a lot.

All of you feel free to join me. Loot and pillage, burn and explode. If you don't, the long-term effects on society will be far more negative than a little smoke damage and smashed glass.

-- Anonymous, December 24, 1999

I already am in the hills so I will stay here not heading for the city. Yes I am ready, I cleaned my toilets so that the water would be fresh for the drinking. Not for me for the cats. I watered my plants, they were yelling at me every time I walked by them. I made sure I had extra batteries for the kids game boys. Lets see yes I have coffee, lots of coffee... and I bought extra batteries for the automatic kitty litter box, just in case. Oh and in case I have to start writing letters the old fashsioned way I bought stamps. All ready here Beth.

-- Anonymous, December 24, 1999

I am ever so impressed with you guys! As far as Jeremy's alarm clock goes, I insist on him using it. He's very crabby first thing in the morning, and I like to not be the first person he hears every morning. By the time I wander in with his coffee and juice, he's already been listening to White Zombie for half an hour or so, so the shock of my chipper little voice isn't so jarring.

-- Anonymous, December 24, 1999

tuesday night at work our modem crashed and we had to call all the credit cards in by phone for authorization. it took forever, made me grumpy, and every single customer who thought they were being cute made cracks about Y2K. just because of those buttheads, the world really IS going to end.

and i, personally, won't give a flying fuck about it.

i'll just be busy starving to death.

-- Anonymous, December 24, 1999

What is Y2K? What are canned goods? What hills? I'm too drunk on egg nog and Christmas cheer to be able to think about anything at all!!!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Beda

-- Anonymous, December 25, 1999

Oh, I am so sick of this whole Y2K thingee. Can't wait for it to be over. And no, we'll do nothing different.

-- Anonymous, December 25, 1999

I'm more afraid of the lunatics who are afraid that something is going to happen, rather than things actually going wrong. =/

Truthfully, I have plans for New Years. I am driving 8 1/2 hrs to a party to be with my boyfriend. I'm worried about whether he'll be allowed to cross the border from Canada. I'm worried that people will use all the gas and I'll only make it half-way. I'm worried that my bank won't let me withdraw the cash I need to make the trip.

But as long as he makes it there, and I make it there, the world could go to hell for all I care - just so long as we're together.

(Yes. Mooshy. Sorry. =)

she's actual size

-- Anonymous, December 25, 1999

At this point, I think most of the actual glitches have been fixed, or at least the most obvious ones. There might be a few snags, but nothing big. The power might go out for a while (I have no illusions about us having a stable power grid), there might be some billing snafus, and yes, we might need to use a camp stove for a day or something. I have my camping stuff available, I have lots of candles (aromatherapy and light, all at once!), and we always have a lot of food around.

I do think the problems that occur (if any) will be caused by people. People panicking because they think something is happening, people trying to force a panic if nothing does, people buying all the staples from the market so that we _do_ have to eat our canned stuff because of the hoarding. If people can keep their cool about it, and not treat a five-minute power outage as a sign of the apocalypse, it should be no big deal.

So... no special effort, just want to avoid needing to go buy anything for the few days around the first. And get everyone to calm down. I mean, if the world is going to end, just what do they think we can do about it?

-- Anonymous, December 25, 1999

oh, well...lets see... Think I'll be cowering in my room,out of site and out of mind. nah,I'll grab some extra batteries,candles,canned food,bottled water,a cheap water filter thingy...etc. My flatmates and I should be ready for our tussle with the new year-over. happy holidays all (:

-- Anonymous, December 26, 1999

I am so glad that the Y2K bug came with an expiration date. I did get an extra $500 in cash. My bank has two branches, and if any financial institution has problems from Y2K, it will be mine. Most of the other things I rely on aren't even going to notice that it's they year 2000. My local gas and electric company aren't even computerized except for billing -- I picture big gears in a concrete building controlling massive gates and chutes that determine how much gas and power I get.

Now that Lewinsky has gone and Y2K is about to expire as a story, the networks are going to have to invest in a whole new stock of file footage for the next Big Story. I have been keeping my eye on Boston for TV crews filming our Federal buildings, but so far, nothing. Where do you think the feeding frenzy will turn, next?

-- Anonymous, December 27, 1999

We're totally not ready. We have cups, champagne flutes, and napkins, but we still need hats and noisemakers. We have a countdown clock, but we need fireworks. My husband has the week off, so he'll have to drive to Wyoming for the sparklers and some big mortars. We also need caviar and some smoked salmon. And more cookies. You can never have enough cookies.

Um...I'm not too worried.

-- Anonymous, December 27, 1999

We're ready.

I always have tons of food on hand, so I have boxes & boxes of things like rice, cous cous, beans etc, and cans and cans of soup, beans, etc. We have our camping stove and propane. I always have about a million rolls of toilet paper around (and did even when we lived ina little apartment). Last summer I bought a case of it on sale and have been calling it my Y2K toilet paper supply ever since. We've got firewood and can huddle in front of the fireplace if we need to.

About the only thing I've done specifically to prepare is to buy a couple of those huge water bottles every time I go to the store. If civilization doesn't end this weekend, we'll use them for earthquake supplies.

-- Anonymous, December 28, 1999

I have a ton and a half of toilet paper, napkins, paper towels, kitty litter, coke, and a pound of fudge. I don't need anything else, do I?

http://www.bitchypoo.com/bitchypoo.html

-- Anonymous, December 28, 1999

"coke" and a "*pound* of fudge"? now THAT'S a Happy New Year! ;-)

-- Anonymous, December 28, 1999

Mr. Tom Dean, I hesitate to answer this, for fear that some stark-raving mad lunatic could be reading, but the NBS will, more than likely, in my ever so humble opinion, be May 5th, 2000.

That's the day when all of the planets will be in alignment. If the world doesn't end on Friday, everyone will learn about cinco de mayo y2k style and get all crazy all over again.

The scary thing is, I actually think something may happen in May. Nothing as earth shattering as the world ENDING, per se, but all of the planets in alignment?

Isn't that going to fuck with the tides, just a little?!

-- Anonymous, December 30, 1999