Hurricane Georges was my first hurricane. I was at a technical meeting in pensacola and was dying to see it come ashore. It seemed to take forever. I would stand there on the shore looking at the clouds and waves, feeling the wind. Were the waves bigger? Were the clouds gathering? I couldn't really tell. For several days I looked for all the signs until finally they began to appear. Ever so blowly, but sure enough it came. By the peak I was walled up in an off-shore hotel with no lights, no electricity, plenty of moisture, nothing to do. Got old pretty fast. The analogy to y2k ends right here: the weather was relatively warm, the damn thing was over in couple of days, and technical help converged from all directions.

As we discuss the explosions, the sewage releases, the $50,000,000 checks being issued, we are simply looking at the waves and clouds and feeling the wind. I sense that many of us are, in a sick sort of way, looking forward to this thing finally coming. I can't help but wonder ow big this mother is going to be. It may soon be "time for this turtle to come home."

-- Dave (aaa@aaa.com), June 24, 1999

Answers

As much as I hate to, Dave, I agree with you about just wishing it would get here and resolving all the emotional 'bouncing' and the mental exercise that has been consuming some of us for far too long. Too many questions, not enough time. I've often felt like that deer in the headlights, attempting to decide which way to run. Did I 'bolt' in the right direction? I will very soon find out. Those of us with fawns by our sides, simply can't afford to choose poorly.

-- Will continue (farming@home.com), June 24, 1999.

Well these days have been foretold by countless prophets and there is no way to escape destiny. Nostradamus was just the headliner to the Millenium prohpecies but there are at least three dozen others that have sites on the WWW that talk about these last days before the Earth cleanses herself of the pesky human inhabitants. Most of them were American Indians who had visions. Many were medicine men dating back to the Mayas and Incas of South American civilizations.

Even your average christian can quote passages from the bible that talk about the last days before the great upheavals.

I for one have had dream induced visions about the so called apocalypse. My family has reported pyschic abilities dating back to 18th century Russia, probably even further back but thats as far as my heritage can be traced.

I don't really look forward to this big thing coming. I have many reservations about mass suffering and war. But we collectivly decided to go down this road we're on today and now we have to reap what we have sown. Life will surely go on, but not on the same scale as before and definatley not the same way as before. I don't look forward to this "turtle to come home" but I'd be a fool not to be prepared so I don't go into denial. In my dreams I've seen my own death and it's not pleasant. I could very easily push those thoughts out of my mind and go about my little life like nothing is wrong. But eventually those storm clouds will appear on each of our horizons and not all the denial in the world will make them go away. It's better to anticipate the changes then live in a bubble of denial and have it rudely burt at the last second. Believe me, there wil be millions of people who live that sort of situation. I suggest that you don't include yourself in that group.

-- (countdown@to extinction. Earth), June 24, 1999.

My hurricane experience. I waited for eight years to see one. I had built hurricane pannels, and prepared hurricane kits for myself and friends that worked at our plant in Puerto Rico. I was driving to dinner when the national emergency broadcast came over the radio, "A hurricane will pass by in 72 hours." That next morning, Rice and canned food was flying off the shelfs at the supermarket. People were buying anything in a can(except Spegetti, they dont eat that). Camping supplies, batteries and flashlights were gone the next day from K-mart and Walmart. 12 v car batteries and 15 W trouble lights were never touched(so much for public lateral thinking). I bought that along with jumper cables for a friends house(all of it was on sale that week). They had children and the candles/oil lamps would be too dangerous in their concrete house. Two 15 watt florescent tubes lite up their house as if they had a genset. Every morning they had to run the car for 20 minutes to recharge the battery. After the hurricane(hortence) hit(directly), we were without power for a week. Water was out due to the lack of electricity for the wells. I left the car at the plant and used the mountain bike for the week. My hurricane kit had enough food for a month and I gained 5 pounds over the week.

All in all, it was like being at camp for a week. Not a big deal for those of us who were made to go to camp for the summers when we were children. It was hard for those who never went to camp as children. They were just not prepared to handle the lack of electricity.

Today my hurricane kit is up here with me. It has expanded a little. I have added more food, Kerosene backup heat, 5500 Watt genset for main house heat and flashlight battery charging. I still expect that y2k will be like camping again. In my life, on a scale of 1-10(1 none, 10 big), it will have an impact of about 2. Things impact people differently. Things don't have to be a problem, if your prepared. Oh yes, the hurricane pannels held. Not bad for my first design against a problem that I had never seen.

-- Ned P. Zimmer (Ned@nednet.com), June 24, 1999.