In my third year of y2k awareness I can say one thing with confidence: I am officially fried. Evidence and observations include the following:

(1) I see conspiracies everywhere. This is not me in a natural state. I read an article about some psychologist who attributes "millenial madness" to religious fanatacism and all I can think is, "That son-of-a-bitch Koskinen is at it again with his spin crap." I now find myself thinking that y2k pro, Paul "You-ve Got-to-Get-a-Wierder-Handle-Than-That" Davis, and Sista in da Hood are on somebody's payroll to confuse people. (Especially this new troll, Sista.)

(2) I no longer want to convert anybody. I don't want to talk with another DGI. I don't want to convert my neighbors anymore. I don't even care about converting those on the fence.

(3) I come back from a scientific meeting where nobody -- NOBODY -- gets it despite advanced degrees coming out of every orifice and I have to head straight to this forum to flush my pipes clean.

(4) I can't fathom what in the world would make me change my views. In fact, it's clear that there is nobody left in the world with any chance of switcbing teams between now and "01/01/00". The teams have been picked and it's time to start the game.

(5) I need bypass surgery every time a Wall Street Talking Head raves about the booming economy over the next two years (and the Feds talk about the trillion dollar surplus over the next ten years!)

(6) I dismiss assurances from every major organization in the world and, instead, choose to get my info through a group of characters over the internet that go by such names as "Big Dog" and "Zoobie".

I can no longer win; either I am profoundly nuts or the rest of the world is profoundly nuts. This is not a pretty picture. I'm sure I'm not alone, but you guys are all nuts too! (Especially Corrine and DiETeR.)

That's it; I've purged for the day.

Happy 4th.

-- Dave (aaa@aaa.com), July 05, 1999

Answers

Honey, have you heard of "Calgon"? I know where you are coming from...esp. about people with degrees...these are the people I seek advice from (with higher education in mind, "higher" than mine, I suppose most times)...but this goes back to what I said on another post about "individuality" and being willing to take responsibility for oneself.

-- NSmith (nitnat3@aol.com), July 05, 1999.

don't worry,be happy,buy ammo.

-- zoobie (zoobiezoob@yahoo.com), July 05, 1999.

Oh yuck, you didn't have to purge in public!

Actually, I share most of your views. The happy face, what will be groovy in a year crowd, are so clueless that I have to tune them out.

The only thing I disagree with is that there may be one last chance to help the DWGIs. If there is a pre-Y2K panic, you might be able to give them some advice at that point which will help. If they're lucky, the advice you give will be sufficient to get them through. Otherwise, you're right. The GIs are improving their preps and most of the public is planning on the Super Bowl as usual. There will be only last-minute converts, and they'll be okay only if Y2K is a BITR.

-- Dog Gone (layinglow@rollover.now), July 05, 1999.

Are you as tired of yelling at the TV and ripping the newspaper to shreds (for lack of honest, timely reporting) as I am? My dogs slink away when I bring the paper in the house. Is "ARGGGGGH!" frequently in your vocabulary? Do you suddenly develop a severe case of nausea when you happen to see or hear one of our gubmint 'leaders' on TV?

Towards the end of "Animal House", there is a scene during the parade where the ROTC guys are trying to calm the crowd, "Remain calm.....all is well...." Why do I find that so similar to the PR (? proctological releases?) of big corporations?

Dave, you're not the only one. Not by a long shot.

-- phenetta (phenetta@hotmail.com), July 05, 1999.

Dave, I understand. Be strong. A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do, old buddy.

And yes, it's happened before. I mean a few people being right and a great majority being DEAD wrong. It's tough, but please survive. Both God and Darwin are on your side. Fight back man, just fight back.

-- George (jvilches@sminter.com.ar), July 05, 1999.

davey,

don't fret friend. N is right. nothing in this world better that a calgon colonic with a loved one administering the cure. i find watching those little wiggling dot thingies between stations on the tv set to be soothing as well. stay away form those silly diploma types. twain said it best: "i never let my schooling get in the way of my education."

my bubble bath bes

-- corrine l (corrine@iwaynet.net), July 05, 1999.

Dave

I know what you mean. I feel like I been in a bad episode of the twilight zone only this is real life. Y2k is a horror show that is getting ready to unfold big time and nobody will listen to get off the boat of denial and prepare vs heading for the falls. I did a year and a half of serious research hoping to find evidence that y2k wont be all that bad . Didnt happen. What I found confirmed what my 20 years of electronics experience as a senior R&D engineering tech backround had already told me that y2k is going to cause some very tough socital problems. I at the point that if I take my time to show someone the documented evidence about the y2k problem and they dont get it I cant help them. My time is to valuable to waste it on people who are prideful and foolish, At that point I pray for them and leave it in God's hands Ive done all that I can. Preping my household is very time consuming enough. Reseaching and deciding what will be adequate to get my family thru on a limited budget is tough enough. I am rightously upset with the media for not grilling our politicians with the right questions to see how steep a challenge we are now facing. My best guess is between 8.5-10 on a scale of 1-10. I will be very joyfull if it turns out to be less,however the evidence I have compilied doesnt support a lower figure. I wish it did. I spend a lot more time praying and asking God's guidence now, to help me and my family find the best path through it.

Like Joesph's time in the bible I feel this is the last fat year. I Know God will always provide a way but it will be at a different level than what we all have been use to. Read 2 cronicles 36:15-16 God gives advanced warnings before a distructive times come. If they wont listen they will suffer for it. Telling people about y2k sucks,nobody wants to be the messenger of this news. It takes a lot of love and courage sometimes to deliver the truth. Hang in there Dave one day at a time, and take time to enjoy what God has blessed you with, dont take it for granted is the message of y2k.

-- y2k aware mike (y2k aware mike @ conservation . com), July 05, 1999.

don't worry,be happy,buy ammo.

-- zoobie (zoobiezoob@yahoo.com), July 05, 1999.

Hahahahahaaaa!!!! I LOVE it!!!

Dave:

Ditto!!! Hang in there.....only 179 days remaining.......

Thanx zoobie!! That says it all!!

-- Sheila (sross@bconnex.net), July 05, 1999.

Y2k is a whole new social phenomenon, super imposed on big time human denial as a coping mechanisim. Remember, the old nuke commercials? A family out to lunch(picnic), a nuke explodes and the public commercial says "duck and cover". nuf said.

-- Ruth the Moab (aapm@aapainmanage.org), July 05, 1999.

Dave, I'm in the boat with you. Don't feel alone.

-- Linda A. (adahi@muhlon.com), July 05, 1999.

Hi Dave,

I know how you feel. Just think how Noah must have felt...he preached for 120 years and the only people that went on the ark was his family!

-- Moore Dinty moore (not@thistime.com), July 05, 1999.

Yes it is a world in denial out there. From time to time I find my self in social settings with Top notch engineers, physicists, and management types. Got my self a $20 bet with a guy who builds and flys more satilite packages a year than I can count, that there will be at least one big disruption (like the market tanking, or some towns utilities not working). This guy is convinced that Y2K is made up and anyone who has bought any food or storage should be in little aluminum hats.....

The spin miesters have done a very very good job. The herd is quiet and nothin on the horizon to spook them....

It will get weirder before the rollover....

-- helium (heliumavid@yahoo.com), July 05, 1999.

Try the bucket test. Remember when you couldn't find white plastic buckets because EVERYbody was taking them from the supermarket, Dunkin' Donuts, and the other sources? Some businesses were even charging for them. Try it now--go on, even if you have all you need. Ask at the bakery counter for a bucket. This is what they told me today: "Oh, finally, somebody wants buckets again! You know, it's really weird, it isn't that long since we had a waiting list for buckets. Now we're throwing 'em away again."

This doesn't mean everyone is prepared; it means people aren't at all worried about Y2K, not even as a three-day storm. It means we're nuts.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), July 05, 1999.

Dave,

Amen to that! Don't feel bad tho, I know people who still believe we never really landed on the moon and it was all a TV hoax.

-- sue (deco100@aol.com), July 05, 1999.

zoobie,

ROTFLMAO ! Love it! Point to you for best answer of the day.

-- sue (deco100@aol.com), July 05, 1999.

Your not alone, I'm a psych nurse and feel like I should be in the psych hospital myself, hang in there

-- Michelle (??@??.com), July 05, 1999.

i swear i'm not making this up!! there's something on the wing outside my window and it's tearing up the wing!! can't you see it? are you blind? we're going to crash!! tell the pilot he's got to land immediately!!! there's something out there tearing the metal off the wing!! . . . .

we're all in the same boat, dave, but oddly enough, it feels good to know there are others out there who feel the same.

hang in there.

-- Cowardly Lion (cl0001@hotmail.com), July 05, 1999.

Dave,

Yep, I feel the same way. I see conspiracies everywhere, from the Impeachment to Kosovos to the Stock Market. It's all there just so we won't think y2k is going to be anything. (zzzzzzdt... fried, just like you...)

The other night, my brother-in-law, a kindof-don't-get-it, called and said he's putting in a pellet stove and taking money out of the bank. My better-half just looked at me, wide mouthed. We could do nothing for the rest of the night (and next morning) except talk y2k.

(Which has become the topic of conversation now for over a year...what did we used to talk about...?)

Sometimes I don't know what to think. I feel frozen in time. I can't write anymore (nothing to say). I can barely think of getting new clients for my business. I can't prepare anymore (I have about 3 months of food, water and heat...what more can I do?). All I can do is sit and watch. And wait.

Gawd, I wish this would just happen -- or not -- so I could get on with things! If this event were predicted in the Bible or from Nostrodamous, then I would dismiss it without problem. But it's not. That's, to me, what makes it soooo believable. Groan!

So, I guess we're all in the same boat. Move over and pass the whiskey, would ya?

M. Moth

PS: At this point, I'm not even reading anything that has the handle "Sista in da hood" YIKES!

-- M. Moth (Derigueur2@aol.com), July 05, 1999.

Zoobie's response was good, but I will be chuckling for weeks, if not months, over: "I dismiss assurances from every major organization in the world and, instead, choose to get my info through a group of characters over the internet that go by such names as "Big Dog" and "Zoobie". "

Hang in there Dave, and thanks for many chuckles to come.

Jerry

-- Jerry B (skeptic76@erols.com), July 05, 1999.

M Moth

A pellet stove will not help if the power is out. It needs power to operate. Unfortunately this is a problem, knee jerk reactions. If your going to spend mass money make sure it will work for what you need it for.

I bought my wood stove for $25 (Canadian) needed work but it is zero clearance. Use your head not your heart.

-- Brian (imager@home.com), July 05, 1999.

WOW! I feel like I stumbled into an AA meeting or something! :-)

Dave, I think you need a vacation! We're all worried, but you're going to die of a heart attack before 2000! Then you won't get to see what happens.

-- Gayla (privacy@please.com), July 05, 1999.

Well I don't mean to be a complete jerk. But I don't understand why anybody gets their shorts in such a twist about something that may not happen. OTOH, maybe it will happen. So just to be on the safe side, I too wrestled and cussed buckets, aggravated the shit out of the people at Subway for gallon jars with bad lids, bought oxy absorbers which were bad to begin with, even bought one jar of kraut, which I despise, made printouts for friends who looked at each other and winked, and in general behaved like a doofus.

But if anything happens I'm prepared, and it was boring.. But if it doesn't happen, so what. I'm working hard to wean myself from the corporate tit, and this is good practice. The preps are done, anyway all I'm going to do. I'm not going to make it my life's work, or bore the crap out of everyone I meet moaning about it, nor am I going to pray and snivel to God or Allah or Zeus or Bill Gates to save me, prepare a bugout bag, booby trap my property, consult a psychic or astrologer, nor moan about it for the next six months.

I can't understand it dominating a person's life. And don't badger me about being an unsympathetic, heartless bitch. I'm sympathetic when a person suffers real tragedy, but for shit's sake, get a grip. Nothing has happened, and if it happens, then buck up and do what has to be done. But now, prepare what you have to without ruining your bank account and then get on with your life.

-- gilda (jess@listbot.com), July 05, 1999.

Seems like you have a lot of company, Dave. Most of my preps are done, but I still come here for a reality check. On bad days, (like after talking to family members who won't even prepare for a 3-day storm), it helps to dig through the TB2000 archives instead of reading new threads. It's too depressing to imagine what the other side of 2000 will look like if it's more than a BITR...considering that people like "Sistah", "Andy Ray", and "Jimmy Bagga" are more Y2K aware than the average citizen.

Today I spent some time looking for old threads by the likes of Runway Cat, E. Coli, and Blue Himalayan just to remind myself that there are intelligent life forms who will be there on the other side, whatever that may be. Recommended reading for those days when you're feeling "profoundly nuts".

-- RUOK (RUOK@yesiam.com), July 05, 1999.

I hear ya, Dave.

Let me share a little story (true) that may bring some encouragement to you and others.

My wife and I just returned from a few days vacation on the north shore of Lake Superior. Beautiful country. On the last day, we decided to take one of those scenic routes for a few hours, going north and then coming back to the north shore by another way.

About three miles before we were going to turn back toward the lake, a violent storm hit the area. We were forced to pull off the road for fear of falling trees and the wind turning our van over.

When the storm had passed we got back on the road to continue back to the north shore. We couldn't go back the way we came because it was blocked by fallen trees, so we dodged trees on the road and continued to the highway were we were heading back to the lake again.

We hadn't gone far, when we came up behind an RV with another couple in it. They were working to clear a path to allow them to get around another fallen tree. We had an ax so we got out and worked with them. Pretty soon another vehicle stopped, and another, and we had about a dozen people working to remove the tree. This went on for about two or three hours over the course of as many miles.

In the final phase of the project, there were perhaps 50 people in two groups - one working north, the other going south - clearing the last of the fallen timber. I turned to a fellow next to me and said, "I'm glad we are in the Midwest, where folks help each other." He replied, "I'm from Pittsburgh, and that's why I moved out here."

Now this doesn't have a lot to do with Y2K, except that it shows that a bunch of people who don't know each other can still work together to solve a problem if they have a mind to do so.

True, the situation wasn't life-threatening, and people weren't starving. Perhaps that would have changed things somewhat. But I still will bet that my neighbors will help each other next year.

So, take heart my friends, and don't become weary in well-doing. Although it might be well to take a short vacation and cut some wood.

gene

-- gene (ekbaker@essex1.com), July 05, 1999.

Dave

You hit the nail on the head! We are ALL nuts.

Watched a comercial on the tube the other day. Jefferson Davis Bank (local) promising to be ready for y2k. Background music: "Don't Worry Be Happy"!

And the beat goes on. LOL

-- Carol (jdufrene@laci.net), July 05, 1999.

Dave, I am fried too. I can think of nothing but Y2K. I can't even try denial and take a few days off, because the only reason I returned to the USA is because I didn't want to be stuck in the Philippines if things got rough. But the work I want to do and the people I want to be with are there. I'm not sure about Y2K, but 1999 sucks. I'm sure I will prefer next year whatever it brings.

-- Steve Hartzler (s.hartzler@usa.net), July 05, 1999.

Right on, Dave. There are a lot of us who feel as you do. Hang in there; there's not too much longer to wait.

-- Steve Heller (stheller@koyote.com), July 06, 1999.

Steve Hartzler, Are you crazy? You'd rather be in the US than the PI? Lots of places in the PI (and other 3rd World countries) that'll be 100% better than most of the good old Us of A. When I imported from the PI, I'd get out of Manila, go down to White Beach at Puerto Galera on Oriental Mindoro. No 'phone, basic accom., buy fish off the boats at 5am, often no power, warm Tanduay rum, sun came up, sun went down. NOTHING will change in those places come Y2K. Get your ticket back, son.. igw igw@one.net.au

-- igw (igw@one.net.au), July 06, 1999.

Dave,

Don't give up on those fence strattlers .. try something new! People are still switching teams, perhaps [secretly] even some of the pollies who post here. How much can a half ton of rice cost, anyway? Oh, less than $200? Big deal. Now, all I've got to do is buy before the price goes up.

For your neighbors, try (posted in this forum):

How to Explain the Need to Prepare - It WORKS!!

-- Zach Anderson (z@figure.8m.com), July 06, 1999.

On the Philippines (PI), I also do work there. There are some excellent places there I would love to make home .. gravity-fed spring water, areas with no electricity and fully funtional sewage systems, areas with geothermal power, no nukes. Rice is still plucked by hand and dried out by the buyer. Rice pickers were earning about 75 cents [US] per day last time I asked in 1997. Plentiful fruit on trees. Warm climate, cooler if preferred at higher elevations. Anybody interested or know of a forum which discusses such "Y2K havens" (if such a thing exists)? Email me.

-- Zach Anderson (z@figure.8m.com), July 06, 1999.

Dave, been there, still doing that.

Phenetta,

The same image occured to me about 6 weeks ago, and I can't get it out of my head whenever I read a happy face spin piece.

Too damn scary, especially when the "real world" still has so many demands on my time.

-- nothere nothere (notherethere@hotmail.com), July 06, 1999.