There is good news and bad news to any geography. SW Arizona would be hard to beat in the dead of winter..not often below 32 degrees F..but it is a desert climate. You may wish to visit next holiday season. We have lots of outdoor swap-meets and lots of sunshine. Any power failure of less than (or more than) one week would be less painful here! You know you can have mucho water and food but without proper shelter (warmth) you are up y2k creek without a paddle. Have some thermal "long johns/long handled underwear" (with the flap in the back). Cook with Sterno canned heat (safe inside house). Gary North calls them Fire Canisters... Lots of wet naps/ handi wipes will help sanitation. I believe we have about 4 more months to continue our preparations on "harder to get items". Its almost like we are playing a life or death game with no clear rulebook..... There are many things I have now such as water, long term food, ammo, cash, generator.....but most canned food, fuel etc will be mid 99. I am willing to do more extreme things if I see or sense any imminent trouble. Enjoy the Holidays and good luck with your preparations.

-- ronbanks (trashcan-man@webtv.net), December 24, 1998

Answers

Hey Ron:

I'm up the road in Tucson, not a lurker though, a semi regular forum attendee. I've raised some eyebrows and pissed some people off. If people think, then I've done my job. At the same time the sheer power of this forum teaches valuable preparation skills. The techno savvy crowd has about 10,000 combined years of experience. This helps to breakdown the mother boards, and dissect the circuitry to understand the technological crisis.

-MC

-- MC Davey (UFOskyBlew@aol.com), December 25, 1998.

Hey Ron! Greetings from Mesa,A.Z. I heard on talk radio tonight that the Police in Phoenix are not able to take any vacation time during the first few months of 2000. Too bad no one will be able to call them for help!My husband and I have just "woken up" and started smelling the coffee. I just hope we can catch up on our food and water storage. Thanks for the idea about sternos and handi-wipes! V

-- V Perri (azsunlvr@juno.com), December 26, 1998.