In these last few days, I ask myself:

Do I buy a gun? A gas mask? Both? Neither?

Do I buy more gas cans? Do I fill them up? Do I bring one car or two? What happens if we (wife, children) get separated?

Do I load up the car on Dec 31? Do I take the dogs if we need to bug out really quickly. Do I put the stored gasoline in the car or is it more important to have food?

Do I buy a generator? If I do, do I take it with me so that I have power, at least, to bargain with?

Do I take important papers or leave them in my safe?

If I buy a generator and a gun and I stay at my house, if someone tries to steal the generator do I defend the house and generator or just let them have the generator? Do I use the generator during daylight hours or at night?

Just some last minute questions.

-- Ralph Shnelvar (ralphs@dos32.com), December 28, 1999

Answers

Dear Ralph, At this point in time your post almost qualifies as a troll.

Tell you what, you tell us what precisely is going to happen, and we'll tell you what to do.

Baring second sight on your behalf, read the 7282 comments and links on Gary North's site. Gary also has various forums that you can post your questions to. After you have done that, Ed Yourdon has close to 2Meg of his personal comments and observations on Y2K you might find interesting. The Westergaard site would be another source of info. I'll assume that you have read all of the posting on both of the forums under Ed Yourdon's site.

Oh let's save the best for the last. The General Accounting Office and the Office of Technology Assesement has many megs of info, some of the best are written/compiled by a guy named Williamsen (Williamson?).

P.S. Also forgot to mention that you should read the reports by the EIRC, I think there are a total of 4 of them by now.

P.P.S. If you want a slightly broader view than the above mentioned sources check out the comments by IEEE, IEE, and NATCA (Institute of Electronic and electrical Engineers = American group, Institute of Electrical Engineers = British group, National Air Traffic Controller's Assoc.)

After reading the above I'm sure you'll have just as clear an idea of what to do as the rest of us have. ;)

Take your time, Y2K isn't going to be here for days.

-- Ken Seger (kenseger@earthlink.net), December 28, 1999.

>Tell you what, you tell us what precisely is going to happen, and >we'll tell you what to do.

See http://greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=0027Zh

I have posted my predictions. The predictions seem to be on the optimistic side compared to most of the (implied) others here.

No, I am not trolling (whatever that might mean). I am trying to stimulate some last minute conversations on preparations.

Did _you_, for instance, agree with your family on a place to meet in case you are separated?

Did _you_, for instance, give your youngest children a card indicating where they live and who to contact in case of emergency?

Do _you_ have your identification papers in order? Might be useful if martial law is declared and you have to show that you belong in a particular area.

Do you have the right ammo for your gun (assuming you have a gun)? Target practice ammo might be good for barter but you might want to get the more expensive "personal protection" ammo that is safer in confined spaces and has more "people stopping power."

Do you have enough hand powered can openers?

Do you have hand tools in case a critical household repair needs to be made ... and there is no power.

Do you have a bucket? I didn't a few weeks ago. Might be very useful if the toilets don't work.

How about an extra fire extinguisher?

Do you have a water line repair kit? If there is no heat, pipes might spring small leaks. These devices can be put in place very cheaply and will work until things get back to normal.

Have you decided what to do about portable wealth? Keep it with you? Keep it in a safety deposit box?

And, last, do you have a good backup of your computer? See www.dos32.com (Note: I wrote this software.)

What I'm looking for is the cheap things that can be done at the last minute that most people may not have thought about.

-- Ralph Shnelvar (ralphs@dos32.com), December 28, 1999.

I can't imagine anyone all of the sudden coming up with all these questions at this late date. What? you didn't bother to read all the other info on how to prepare all over the net and thought we'd do all the thinking for you? Some how I'm thinking troll too. You might try thinking for your self to answer your own questions. Feel sorry for you family.

-- sue bray (provgold31@aol.com), December 28, 1999.

Last minute preparations

No such thing.

If you waited until now to prep you would never survive any serious crisis.

Send your family to visit a relative or friend who has their act together!

-- cgbg jr (cgbgjr@webtv.net), December 30, 1999.