I bought insurance for my family. Great! I have spent a lot more on more foolish things in the past. I have tons of great recipes to use all the canned goods and rice I have! We will have Y2K nights for many dinners and we will be able to buy lots of fun things with all the money I save on groceries in the months to come. Today I am happy, relieved and thankful. Happy New Year everyone.

Peace

-- star (star@catchone.com), January 01, 2000

Answers

Star,

Good for you, I agree.

Isn't it premature to believe that Y2K is a defunct issue? After all, most of the more moderately concerned authorities, including government voices, have been saying for months that Y2K is a chronic problem. These entities have advised that MOST of the problems, some *potentially* severe, would occur in the weeks and even months following rollover, when all business systems are up and interacting with each other. I am not saying that we should not relax. Only that we should not blame ourselves, as we continue to watch and pray.

As a husband who has invested a great deal of time and resources into researching and preparing for this thing all last year, I share the feelings of others who heeded the warnings, made responsible controlled preparations, and are now wondering whether they are duped fools. Please do not blame yourselves, my friends.

Those of us who have prepared will always have one precious knowledge in our memories in later years. We will know that we tried, the best we were able, given the information and resources available to us - to nourish and shelter ourselves and our families. No one can ever do more.

May God continue to watch over us all.

-- Jim Young (jyoung@famvid.com), January 01, 2000.

Jim... I agree. My preps will stay stocked up. I have always prepared to some degree every winter in case of severe storms. I won't be left unprepared again. I think everyone will feel better as the next days, weeks and months tick by. I understand that we can not breath easy yet, but I felt that a large part of the weight was lifted from my shoulders this morning.

Peace

-- star (star@catchone.com), January 01, 2000.

Agreed. We are now fully prepared for winter storms and other emergencies that may befall us. As with the insurance analogy - just because my house didn't burn down last night doesn't mean I'm going to cancel my policy today. The supplies stay put.

Invariably, at the moment, we're all on the same side of the fence - as a GI, I prepared for the worst but hoped for the best. DGI's hoped for the best without preparing. We can all only hope that in the coming weeks & months the reports from the trenches continue to be rosy.

A benefit in any case is that there's now a greater percentage of the population that is prepared to help out and/or be self-sufficient when disasters (natural or otherwise) occur.

-- Ford Prefect (bring@your.towel), January 01, 2000.