We had a reporter from the Milwaukie Journal-Sentinel at our home on New Years Eve. The story he did was quite balanced. I thought I'd share it with my friends on the TB2000 bbs.

HOTLINK

I have appreciated much of the discussion on this forum over the past year, and it had helped me to prepare for the worst. I am now CAUTIOUSLY optimistic. We didn't have instant failure and mass rioting. Always a good thing.

Now, let's see what the new week brings...

-- Dennis (djolson@pressenter.com), January 02, 2000

Answers

Dennis,

I heard a story on you on CBS radio. They made it sound like you're turning in you 475 boxes of Hamburger Helper. Is that true? I've spent much more than you though, so don't feel bad in any way because I believe that the "fun" hasn't started yet.

-- PJC (paulchri@msn.com), January 02, 2000.

Wow 475 boxes of Hamburger Helper! Did you know that Hamburger Helper makes an excellent soup, want a recipe?

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), January 02, 2000.

475 boxes of hamburger helper???????? That means he needed 475 lbs of hamberger to help! Did he have it in "nuggets"? Just curious.

Taz...who has never bought "helper" in her life!

-- Taz (Tassi123@aol.com), January 02, 2000.

Gee Dennis, you must be so proud.

-- Look (at@the.facts), January 02, 2000.

I have about 30 boxes of dried humus, but I like the stuff--pesto flavored.

-- Mara (MaraWayne@aol.com), January 02, 2000.

Dennis, I saw your picture and read the article. IMHO, get rid of the fattening foods and keep the nutritious kinds. And please walk for your health.

-- dinosaur (dinosaur@williams-net.com), January 02, 2000.

Dennis,

How are mom and baby Berks doing?! You are all to be congratulated on representing us "survivalists" so well--truly an instance of grace under pressure. Your kitchen in the photo looks warm and happy. Hope the champagne was wonderful.

-- silver ion (ag3@interlog.com), January 02, 2000.

Dennis, I just read the piece--it's nice. God bless. You're one of the good guys. I still love the Doomers versus the dumb pollies.

-- Mara (MaraWayne@aol.com), January 02, 2000.

Thanks for sharing, Dennis. I must confess that I'm a bit jealous of the generator: you're in excellent shape to weather the ups and downs of the next decade!

-- (ladybuckeye_59@yahoo.com), January 02, 2000.

Dennis, you took in the baby and the mother..my god thats heart wrenching...!!!! I am beyond words. Your blessings are ten fold. A hundred fold. I was wondering what happened to that little one. Will you and your wife be adopting the baby? Oh God, that was awesome!

-- kritter (kritter@adelphia.net), January 02, 2000.

Dennis (and family),

Congratulations on showing how open hearted some folks can be - very good of you to take in the mother and child we had heard about. I can only imagine how it felt to temporarily take on responsibility for 2 more people - and to share food you had stored for YOUR family :)

Happy new year to you and yours!

Sincerely,

Kristi

-- Kristi (securxsys@cs.com), January 02, 2000.

First, I was misquoted. It's only 250 boxes of HH, TH, and CH combined (chicken & tuna). Also have 75 cans of chicken, and about 200 cans of tuna (kitty LOVES tuna!). Have about 60 lbs of HB in the freezer.

Bardou,

I'd LOVE some recipies. My email is real. Feel free...

Kritter,

Mom and son are doing fine. She wants to try and raise baby herself for a bit, with help from grandma. Jury's still out on adoption, but it may (probably will) come to that in a couple months, once things stabilize. I don't know WHO will ultimately be the parents if she adopts him out, but at least the process can proceed in an orderly and careful manner, which is the way it SHOULD be.

To all: we could sure use some baby stuff, as our prep funds are completely gone, and since the mom originally intended to have little Michael adopted, she has little for him as well. If you could see your way clear to send a few things (toys, clothes, diapers, Enfamil with iron, etc), or a few $'s for formula & diapers, I'd be forever grateful!

Thanks everyone. (And about the fatty foods & stuff: yeah, I know. Bummer. Most computer jockeys don't get out much...)

-- Dennis (djolson@pressenter.com), January 02, 2000.

Why sure, Ive got some more money to waste. Lets see, between preps, videos, books, animal shelters, etc. there must be some more money to send off to Dennis to help him offset his expenses. If I hurry, maybe the money I buried in the PVC pipes can be dug up before the hard freeze sets in. I just made the connection here with Dennis and the online adoption deal. When will this b******t end people?

-- Bill Collector (Due@in.full), January 02, 2000.

Dennis,

You were also mentioned at the beginning and end of this CNN article:

"Y2K watchers brace for Monday - They hope workweek repeats holiday weekend calm"

http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/01/02/y2k.reports.roundup.01/in dex.html

-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), January 02, 2000.

Dennis, now your story is on the DrudgeReport web site.

-- dinosaur (dinosaur@williams-net.com), January 02, 2000.

The DrudgeReport links to this article:

"Wisconsin family spent dlrs 20,000 preparing for Y2K"

http://news.excite.com/news/ap/000102/01/y2k-big

-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), January 02, 2000.

Also see this article:

"Wis. Family Spent $20,000 for Y2K"

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20000102/us/y2k_big_spender_1.html

-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), January 02, 2000.

Well, it's MUCH more "fame" than I bargained for when I granted the interview in what I thought would be a LOCAL article....

Jeez....

I'm just glad that it wasn't the other way around, like:

"Wisconsonite shoots 5,000 rioters who were after his food after lights go out accross the country", or something similar.

MUCH better this way. Really.

;^)

-- Dennis (djolson@pressenter.com), January 02, 2000.

I just wanted to add my gratitude. I'm gratefull you all went public, makes me feel good to see people participating in life, going forward at full speed. I don't believe we have seen anything yet, so don't go giving away any of your stores as yet. God Bless You and Yours! stev

-- steve vaughn (billw86@aol.com), January 02, 2000.

Dennis,

You're not going to believe this. You were mentioned on Nightline, too:

http://www.abcnews.go.com/onair/nightline/transcripts/nl000103_trans.h tml

-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), January 04, 2000.