ANOTHER reason why I pray for a BITR daily

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I finished my (sometimes) annual trip to the Heart of the Mohawk Valley to see my family yesterday with the (typical) trek through the snow around Rochester, Buffalo, and Silver Creek. Driving through that snow while my wife slept, and riding while she drove, I had a LOT of time to think. This, for me tends to be dangerous.

I now have several more reasons to pray for a BITR. My 4 year old nephew enters the hospital Wednesday, when his family gets back to Naraganset from mom's house. He will be there for about 3 weeks in traction. At the end of this time the Orthopods will re-evaluate his hip and decide on surgery to repair a shallow to the point of flat acetabulum and possibly to repair a femoral head which is not exactly round.

He is then scheduled (with or without surgery) for about 3 months of body cast to allow the hip to grow/develop into a normal hip. The situation is called Perthes, or Congenital Hip. I had the same condition, but in 1953, they put you in traction for 6 months in the hospital while your hip grew in correctly.

CLEARLY I am praying for a BITR.

My grandmother-in-law, where we stop on the way home (devoirs, if you knew Aggie you'd understand how tough that devoir is), parted with us by asking about stocking water etc. IMPOSSIBLE for her to have done any real prepping where she is and impossible for us to help her for so MANY reasons. When the biggest DGI you know can become concerned by the front page article in the Buffalo paper, you KNOW the "herd" is about to move....

CLEARLY I am praying for a BITR.

My mom, who is a wonderful lady, has MAYBE a few days worth of food in the house, a fireplace insert she almost totally refuses to use because she can't breathe as it gets hot in the living room. She is on a series of meds that are pretty much required for her to maintain a quality of life that is comfortable. From Cleveland I can't do squat for her.

CLEARLY I am praying for a BITR.

My brother is looking at a job change, to a little company that appears to want him to build a Solutions Group to go with their Hardware/Software products, before they IPO. This change could be how I get back into IT, as I talked with him about exactly that and he indicated he'd be interested in my (somewhat rusty) talents.

CLEARLY I am praying for a BITR.

SO before you all acuse those of us who are able to see a possibility of uglyness, of DESIRING this uglyness, stop and reconsider. We each have families. We each have relatives that we KNOW may be impacted if the promised BITR turns into a Will-o-the-wisp. Most of us, regardless of the rhetoric, are FRANTICALLY praying for a BITR. Many of us have very intense, personal reasons for this prayer.

Chuck

-- Chuck, a night driver (rienzoo@en.com), December 27, 1999

Answers

Chuck, we are with you 1000%. Fervently praying for even less than a BITR.

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), December 27, 1999.

Totally agree. I have been accused of wanting big disruptions. My son is having eye surgury on Jan. 4th. At the most basic level, it means many, many visits for follow-up to the doctor's office. It would be easier to do this if there was no problem buying gasoline.

I too, pray for a BITR.

-- David Holladay (davidh@brailleplanet.org), December 27, 1999.


Amen!

-- Jerry B (skeptic76@erols.com), December 27, 1999.

Hear hear.

Although I don't have the unfortunate reasons you do for wanting a BITR (or less), I, like many others I am sure, have my own hopes etc for the future, like a first house, kids (someday), and other more personal luxuries which will most likely be drastically postponed if things get bad. If the market contracts next year, and interest rates rise, I won't be able to afford a house (The market around here is stunningly high, and even if prces drop, they won't here just because people won't want to take a bath on the sale), and there is no way I will want to try to bring a kid into the world in the middle of a depression, when we will be trying to make ends meet as it is.

The only bright spot is that if gas prices skyrocket, I may get that m'cycle I've been wanting for a while...;)

-- Little Pig (littlepig@brickhouse.com), December 27, 1999.


ditto on the BITR. my mom is in the last days of lung cancer.

i also think of all the older folks and ill or mentally disabled people in group homes, nursing homes, hospitals and can't bear to think that their lives would be harder. or the poor or the homeless whose lives are a struggle everyday already. or my children who we sponsor in foreign countries.

i would, however, like a selective plague to befall the polly politicians and leaders on January 1!! How about that?

-- tt (cuddluppy@nowhere.com), December 27, 1999.



Let's not be ridiculous here.

If nothing at all happens at the rollover, then on Monday morning everyone at my office will be teasing me, endlessly, about how I was all worried about nothing.

It will be massively & unendurably boring, annoying, and stupid.

How can the suffering or death of thousands of people possibly compare with that...?

-- let's get our (priorities@straightened.out), December 27, 1999.


Exactly! My most fervent wish is to be the butt of hundreds of jokes from 5 or 6 co-workers at BBRU, Inc (Ball Breakers R Us). It'll be great!

Or so I pray.

Chuck

-- Chuck, a night driver (rienzoo@en.com), December 27, 1999.


I concur! A month ago I was almost done prepping and pretty much ready for all but an 8-10 (who could REALLY be ready for that?) Then an exceptional woman came into my tidy little paranoid life and things have become very complex indeed. I have always prayed for a BITR, but now I do even more so. Anyone who thinks that we "doomers" (for the most part, there are exceptions) are lusting after the apocalypse are misguided at best. Reading the writing on the wall and liking what you are reading are two entirely different things. If April comes around and nothing cataclysmic has happened I will be all too willing to wear a dunce cap for the next several years...nothing would make me happier!

-- Ludi (ludi@rollin.com), December 27, 1999.

What we want, and what we get, are not always the same thing.

This saying cuts both ways...Mad Doomer and Polly alike.

Hope it stays a 2, FWIW.

-- GoldReal (GoldReal@aol.com), December 27, 1999.


Right with you Chuck...Got a baby due on July 1st...don't want to have to play the 'catcher' on that 'field'. Leave it to the pros!

-- Billy Boy (Rakkasan101st@Aol.com), December 27, 1999.


My mom kept saying nothing would happen then her pastor urged the church to start prepring. This happend one month ago. Mom is low income and has a mentally disabled daughter at home. For the past months I have been trying to put back for both of them. My brother thoguth Y2k a big joke. At Christmas he said he might have to come here if things got bad.

My life for the past 18 months has focused on Y2k. I am sick of it and just want the whole thing to be over and I never want to hear the words "Y2k" again. I hope the New Year rolls in with a yawn. I want friends and family to make jokes about all the food that is stored in my pantry, under my bed and in my closet. I want us all to laugh about the time Linda went overboard with a little thing called Y2k.

-- Linda A. (adahi@muhlon.com), December 27, 1999.


Welllllllllll.....Chubby Hubby and I do have to admit that we have one friend that we would like to see his world turn dark just to scare the beejeesus out of him. CH says he is going over there and at midnight he is going to pull the guy's main breaker. LOL We both get ticked off at him as his wife is terrified of y2k and he has FORBID her to do any preparation. (cold day in hell that CH would forbid me to do anything.. or I him, for that matter)Yep...would be really fun to pull his switch. Fortunately he is on a small city power plant that I expect to go down from the 'get go'. Being as we are in Florida, he is in no danger of freezing. Has a fireplace, but God forbid that he would dirty his hands with wood! Probably hasn't sense enuff to open the damper anyway. For the rest of us I hope that nothing happens. For him a good BITR would be a lesson well learned.

Taz

-- Taz (Tassi123@aol.com), December 27, 1999.


I don't recall ever praying to be wrong about anything in my life. I'm one of those people who loves to pontificate and tell everybody how to do things MY way (some moms are like that, you know!). But Y2K is one of those situations where I pray every night that I am wrong. The innocent are the ones who will make the biggest sacrifice-- their lives are on the line. If the government's list of priorities shows "preservation of life of citizens" as #3, after their own preservation and "success of mission" then we need to be VERY wrong about this. I'm prepared to be wrong: I wouldn't mind having to wear egg on my face every day for a year. I wouldn't even mind having to make a public apology. And if doing all of this would make a #8 on the scale suddenly become a BITR, I'd do it in a New York minute. But I am afraid that I am going to be right, and I don't like the feeling one bit. I'm prepared to be wrong. I just don't know if I'm prepared to be right. I feel burdened, even though I know I can only do so much, I feel the weight of responsibility for others. The closer we come, the more I look around myself and wonder if I've done enough, even though we are reduced to "trails" around the house. We have four in the household; and so far, I haven't given "the lecture," but it will come either tonight at supper or tomorrow at breakfast. My "California kids" need to understand that they will not die without daily showers and laundry, or leaving full glasses of water sitting on the counter, or using hair dryers and curling irons, and that we might have to all sleep in the same room soon. They need to learn that not EVERY pimple and bruise requires medication. Rice and beans, kids. Rice and beans. (Well, maybe I'll flavor the rice on Sundays.) God help us! I pray I'm wrong. Please, Lord. Let me be wrong this time...

-- Liz (lizpavek@hotmail.com), December 27, 1999.

Billy Boy,

Hey..we had our last 2 kids at home! Find yourself a good midwife. One of the best experiences of my life. The little wife agrees.

-- TM (mercier7@pdnt.com), December 27, 1999.


Good Stuff TM! Actually, our midwife at the hospital during the visit asked about Y2K and what we thought. Usually I don't mention the preps but in this case I did and she said "Well, at least I know where to come if its bad! HaHa!"

Little did she know that I just may encourage that...(we see her tommorow!) This is the only time that I couldn'tve agreed more...

-- Billy Boy (Rakkasan101st@Aol.com), December 27, 1999.



And another Post-Script :To all my friends here on TB200 who helped me with the advice on getting a midwife, my most profound and grateful thanks. I am deeply in your debt.

-- Billy Boy (Rakkasan101st@Aol.com), December 27, 1999.

At the end of Januray, I'll hit 68, and believe me this entire business isn't what I planned on doing at this time in my life.

Throughout the years, I've been called worse things than "dumb" so if someone wants to teast me, go for it!

However, when I was a kid a popular saying was, "...and ounce of prevention was worth a pound of cure." Well, the pounds of cure that I have on hand won't go to waste.

I still believe, "...something wicked this way comes."

-- Richard (Astral-Acres@webtv.net), December 27, 1999.


Well, I've no wife or kids...wanted them but things like that seem to be just a dream for my life. I've enough insulin for 6 months...will try to get a few more bottles before the rollover. Woamn I am with-in her 50's and I have prepped best we can-if it were just us, we're prepped for 6 mos. However, we're living with her parents...they have known and are worried but haven't fone a thing to prep, preferring to gamble at a local casino.....

Her brother and his wife lives locally, they haven't done a thing...her brother is IT but the wife controls the purse. They made some mention about having a loaf of bread and lunchmeat at home if they need it.

Her other brother is here too...he is a DGI....soooo...you can imagine where the stocks we put back will go.

Got family down in Texas...nephews and a neice plus my own parents.. All DGI's...as you can imagine...I'm hoping for a BITR.

PRAYING for a BITR....keeping faith in the Lord but my powder dry.

Sometimes wish I'd have cashed out 5 years ago when I was homeless...better than this.

-- Satanta (EventHoriz@n.com), December 27, 1999.


Couldn't agree more. I know too many people that need critical support--support that would not be there if y2k is more than a speed bump. And yet, my impression has always been that there are people (here) who actually WANT a crisis. Am I wrong? Hope so, but if you are someone who truly looks forwards to a disaster then how about "coming out" and telling us about it?

-- Lars (lars@indy.net), December 27, 1999.

Many blessings to the little guys who will be relying on medical care as well as to all those with special needs and vulnerabilities. God keep us all safe and give us the strength to handleb and challenges that come.

-- Mara (MaraWayne@aol.com), December 27, 1999.

I have an aunt having major surgery at Cleveland Clinic December 31. They anticipate her being in ICU immediately after, and at least a week before she's released. She can't/won't change surgery date because of insurance problems.

Reading everyone's comments, I guess I am praying for BITR also.

I don't wanna sound dumb ... but I don't know what BITR means. Please explain. Thanks. [BITR = bump in the road = small disruptions only, but nothing life- endangering. # 3]

-- Cheryl (Transplant@Oregon.com), December 27, 1999.


Yep, long-timer on this forum, prepped for about an 8, MAYBE a 9, and praying DAILY for a zero! Actually my exact prayer is that God saves us from ourselves! Seems appropriate, as we did this to ourselves.

I want to echo the sentiment of those who just want to get this over with. I have been living/eating/sleeping/breathing Y2K for 20 months, all while living a double life.

Also, about kids getting used to things: AMEN. I have a 5 yr old who MIGHT be learning very soon about not wasting, eating what is given to her, entertaining herself, etc. We have been accustoming her to these things anyway. We took some canned food to a homeless shelter and I have been explaining to her that not everyone has a nice home and a warm bed and plenty of food and people who take care of them and love them. She is grasping it, slowly. I am trying not to be soap-boxish about it. Just matter of fact. I started over a year ago when I realized she thought fruits and veggies just came from the store. We built a garden out back and she learned where all fruits and vegetables come from!

Count me among those praying for nothing. We hope to put our house on the market and move to the suburb my parents live in and where I now work. We are looking forward to that. We might even try to get a bigger piece of land out from the city a bit (our dream). Our daughter is supposed to start elementary school in the fall of 2000. I have a cousin getting MARRIED January 1. My husband's best friend will be a daddy for the first time in July. I have several friends who are major DGI's who have little children, some infants. I have a newborn cousin who has major medical problems already. He just got out of NICU. Has a cyst in his brain and is on a feeding tube. Was born two months premature and doesn't even weigh 6 lbs. Born with a staph infection (mom had it, too).

So I, too, clearly am praying for a BITR (or LESS!!!!!).

-- preparing (preparing@home.com), December 27, 1999.


I too *pray* for a bump in the road.

As my current plans are, I'll be arriving in the US with a brand-new MCSE in mid-February, to be with my girlfriend. Immigration and survivability DEPEND on my getting a job, which RELIES on this economy holding up to some extent.

Of course, not to mention that Lauren (my girlfriend) isn't at all prepared and doesn't really have the means with which to do so.. and that she'll be in Los Angeles (probably the most undesirable place in the world to spend y2k) over the rollover..

Leo

-- Leo (lchampion@ozemail.com.au), December 27, 1999.


Chuck, good post.

I think that saying a Y2K prepper is hoping for a 10 is like saying a person who buys a car with airbags is hoping for a head-on collision. No thought involved.

I don't think all these new grey hairs are from looking forward to TEOTWAWKI... even the thought of my oh-so-smug DGI big brother's withering gasp of "Oh, shit!" when the lights go out isn't enough for that!

BTW, they's gots LOTS of snow, your kin, don't they?

Ever been to Cooperstown? Really nice little town, dontcha think?

-- Arewyn (isitthatlate@lready.com), December 27, 1999.


Chuck, I am also praying for a bump in the road. Like most of you, I have children. I would like to see them have good lives. I've also been told "you're hoping for the worst because you're unhappy with the way your life turned out" !!!!!! Well, there are things that I'm not too pleased about, but can you imagine anyone being so SELFISH that he would want society to collapse just so he/she could start his/herr own life over???????? I also tried to encourage my brother to prepare; he told me he's buying lots of beer! I told him beer would make him get more dehydrated, and he said he would just drink more beer!!! So, there you have it. Nothing but irrational thinking all the way around. So I intend to just keep praying.

-- Scarlett (creolady@aol.com), December 27, 1999.

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