No regrets in preparing for the worst. Some still in disbelief at lack of Y2K failure Jan. 4, 2000

By CHRIS SMITH Press Democrat Staff Writer

Although he'd stored some food and taken other Y2K precautions, Charlie Bloom of Sonoma isn't sorry the sky didn't fall after all."This is one thing I'm glad to be wrong about,'' said Bloom, a psychotherapist who months ago worked to persuade Sonoma Valley residents to prepare for cataclysms, shortages or disruptions that might accompany the switch to year 2000.While many people were pleasantly surprised when New Year's Day came and went as uneventfully as the spring equinox, the smoothness of the transition shocked those who believed computer chips might revert to Jan. 1, 1900, and all hell would break loose."In some sense I'm stunned,'' said Peter Rowell, a computer programmer in Graton who stockpiled food and water and sheltered some investments before Dec. 31, and who's grateful today that he and his wife talked themselves out of buying a $13,000 self-sufficient home power system.Rowell could hardly believe it when clocks clicked to midnight in one nation after another and, even throughout the Third World, the electrical, communications, air-traffic control and other automated systems kept working, virtually glitch free."I'm very surprised about China,'' Rowell "I'm surprised about Indonesia. I'm flabbergasted about Russia."I'm still surprised nothing happened in Italy -- they didn't get started (with Y2K preparations) until about four months ago.''"It was almost surreal for us to sit around on New Year's morning, and nothing happened.''Whether or not the danger has entirely passed is still being debated."I've spoken today to some people in the computer industry who think it's too early to tell,'' said Shepherd Bliss, a Sebastopol farmer and former military officer and college instructor whose Y2K provisions include 550 gallons of water, a flock of chickens and a large winter garden.Some of the people who took emergency precautions before to New Year's Eve believe it's possible that small businesses may yet run into trouble owing to computers that were not Y2K ready or that oil shortages and other disruptions may yet ripple across the globe as glitches develop in far-flung nations.Although they may fear that civilization isn't out of the woods, people who battened the hatches and braced for disaster on Jan. 1 are happy their worst fears were overblown. "It's definitely a good sign that nothing much seems to have happened at the turning of the year,'' said another of Sonoma Valley's Y2K preparedness organizers, psychology professor Ralph Metzner. He and others who stockpiled provisions and devised crisis contingency plans insist that some good has come from all the preparations for a Y2K disaster that didn't happen. For one thing, even Y2K doubters who feel somewhat foolish for stockpiling so much food, water, firewood and other provisions figure they can use the stuff now, share it or save it for the natural or man-made disaster that could strike any day."None of it's going to be wasted,'' Bloom said of his disaster cache.Already a few stockpilers are asking food banks and soup kitchens if they could use the crisis groceries. The Minneapolis-based Second Harvest, the nation's largest hunger relief organization, has launched the "Y Go 2 Waste'' campaign to encourage people to donate unneeded canned and packaged food."We've had a few calls,'' said the Redwood Empire Food Bank's executive director, Michael Flood. He said people who stockpiled food and now would like to donate it can call the food bank or drop the food at the holiday barrels stationed at branches of WestAmerica Bank.Another silver lining may be that the Y2K scare prompted a lot of people to think and talk about their dependency on technology and global delivery systems and to finally create emergency kits that could be most helpful in the event of an earthquake or other catastrophe.Chris Godley, Sonoma County's deputy coordinator of emergency services, said that thanks to all the talk of possible Y2K fallout, many local people are better prepared -- materially and psychologically -- for a disaster.Sebastopol-area resident Alicia Wills, who helped put on emergency-supply planning workshops last year, said that since Jan. 1 she has heard from two of the people who attended."Both of them just wanted to tell me that even though nothing happened, they're happy they got prepared,'' Wills said. "It was worth the effort.''Bliss, who provisioned himself for Y2K and also sold hardy chickens to people who wanted a way to feed themselves and their families in case supermarkets went bare, said although his fears apparently were unfounded, he now feels more self-sufficient."I think it got people to thinking about how vulnerable we are,'' he said. He figures another benefit was that some neighbors came together to solve problems and that some nations worked together to reduce the likelihood of nuclear accidents."The long-range implications of that are very positive,'' Bliss said. Besides all that, he has for sale at his farm a lot more chickens and winter crops than he would have parted with

-- Jean Wasp (jean@sonic.net), January 04, 2000