>Bill, >What is your opinion of Ed Yourdon's bowing out? > >73, > >Alan, KK7NF >

Dear Alan:

I know EXACTLY where Ed is coming from:

1) At some point, if one is serious enough about how bad it /MIGHT/will/for sure will/ get, he will start bringing his ACTIONS into line with his PREDICTIONS. Ed is predicting high likelihood of quite a few bad things; he needs to get his personal house (immediate & extended family, and friends/neighbors) into order. That takes time, money, & most of all F O C U S (Most people underestimate that factor. The only reason I'm so aware of it was because focus is what transformed me, over a 5-year period, from a really mediocre downhill ski racer [mostly last place finishes] into #1 in the World Championships in Feb '97 in Colorado [old men's division.])

2) After enough tries at bringing the various population cohorts through their air-tight denial, Ed finally realized what all chronic GIs eventually get: Denial has nothing to do with education, intelligence or RATIONALITY. (Jonathan Swift: "You can't reason a man out of something he wasn't reasoned into.")

3) Once you understand that dynamic there are only two reasons left for posting on y2k forums:

a) TO PASS ON SECTOR-SPECIFIC TECHNICAL PREPARATION ADVICE (e.g., stuff on non-hybrid seeds, low-cost high security buildings, ham radio, health care [both traditional and alternate], alternate lighting techniques [like LED task lights], alternate energy systems (especially photovoltaic) including inverter and battery technology, alternate gardening techniques, defense strategies, for starters.]

b) GIVE MORAL, SPIRITUAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, OR ETHICAL ENCOURAGEMENT TO YOUR FELLOW GI (e.g., posting this email to a y2k forum.)

Why can't Ed Y. do a) and b)? Well, he's done b) in double spades: setting up his forum, speaking publically, taking the time to answer all sorts of personal emails. Enough already.

What about a)? Well, Ed's spent a lifetime as a software engineer, AND recently moved out of Noo Yawk City (after wasting precious years as a denizen of that swamp --- I know -- I spent my first 40 years in that pit.) None of that life experience prepares you to give advice on how to live as we did back in the '20s and '30s, or as my parents did back in the '10s and '20s, or my grandfather in the '90s and '00s. Ed is not the kind of guy to give advice in areas he's weak in. (One of Ed's "problems," especially compared to much of the Management sector of our society, is that he never learned how to lie well.) So Ed's spending his time learning.

God bless him, and us.

73,

Bill, KG4DHJ

-- William J. Schenker, MD (wjs@linkfast.net), May 30, 1999

Answers

Bill, I think you pretty well nailed it!!

Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), May 30, 1999.

Thank you Dr. Schenker. It certainly isn't easy to go from "Miss, we'd like another order of poppers over here, please" to "what should we do if the livestock runs out of grain this winter?". If you've been buying it in bags from Taiwan....you just may need to consider this. When you've been watching farm fields turning into the newest Club Med....it tends to taint all of the "don't worry, be happy" chit-chat. Have you ever tried to slice up a stair-stepper? Somebody told me at a livestock auction yesterday (allllll day)that he quit raising chickens to eat...can buy 'em cheaper than raise 'em for food. He only has "show chickens" now. Our Club Med society is in for a rude awakening, I fear.

-- Will continue (farming@home.com), May 30, 1999.

> Our Club Med society is in for a rude awakening, I fear.

No argument here, Will, on the broad view of that statement. Just by way of addition and expansion it might also be noted that a non-insiginificant portion of the society may "wake up" dead.

-Greybear

--Got Beans?

-- Greybear (greybear@home.com), May 30, 1999.

Dear 'Will continue':

Just a sidenote on chickens. Moved to N.Central AL recently -- guess what? Saw on a realtor's reader board yesterday: "6 Chicken Farms [for sale]" Friends of ours talk about getting out of the biz too. Keep the faith,

'Will quit soon' Schenker

-- William J. Schenker, MD (wjs@linkfast.net), May 30, 1999.

Hey WJS,

I think I saw the same sign! Welcome to the area....

-- new2 (cullman@AL.com), May 30, 1999.

William:

Howdy, neighbor. I like it here, hope you do to.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), May 30, 1999.

William,

an excellent post and my feelings exactly - I'm really now just hanging out here to get and give moral/spiritual support as the day draws near.

Also keeping an eye on the military situation, banking, investments, gold, you name it. This Forum is the best there is for all of the above. It will be invaluable as events unfold over the coming months.

As for practical preps - sure - we can all contribute as factors change, and the archives are priceless.

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), May 30, 1999.

Dear Doctor:

Sometimes I wonder how people will get healed when they suffer from electrical grid block and can't access the Internet. I feel this will result in painful withdrawals for countless cybernauts.

Got books?

-- dinosaur (dinosaur@williams-net.com), May 30, 1999.

y'know dinosaur, that could be more of a problem than we might be thinking - consider the number of folks out there in cyberland whose major (or in some cases sole) means of socialization is via the net...what happens when they effectively lose the majority of their friends simultaneously?

just a thought,

Arlin

-- Arlin H. Adams (ahadams@ix.netcom.com), May 30, 1999.

Uh, Arlin, they get a life :)

(just kidding)

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), May 31, 1999.

Outstanding post...now, if I could just start preparing a little...

-- rick shade (Rickoshade@aol.com), May 31, 1999.

May, June, July.....December. CHECKMATE!

Father

-- Thomas G. Hale (hale.t@att.net), May 31, 1999.

Arlin... they'll learn something, new, old or in-between. Or not.

Wonderful post William.

F-O-C-U-S-I-N-G. (I hope).

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), May 31, 1999.