It doesnt matter whether you are a polly, prepper, doomer or flat out "tinfoil", during the past week Y2k awareness has shot through the roof. I have talked to 5 people in my neighborhood who started the conversation on Y2k concerns. Our local supermarket has several big sales with signs saying "Stock up your pantry now!". We have never had that wording in our stores, nobody in this area has a "pantry". Our local newspapers are talking about the "winter storm" scenario using red cross info on what to do. The local stores started putting up "Y2K supplies" on things like flashlights and such. Read the latest news pieces and see how much warning is coming from Japan and other asian countries on what might happen. Even our government is starting to warn what might not make it in time.

I dont think we are going to see markets crashing or panic any time soon but the remainder of this month just clearly looks like its going to be an acceleration in public awakening.

Anyone know what the government is going to do on 9/1/99 ? Seems like it will be a turning point for the face they will put on Y2k.

-- Fat Tony (FatTony@youmammashouse.com), August 18, 1999

Answers

Hmmmmm...Welll...No..Nothing...not a word yet...at least here in south central Connecticut.

-- thomas saul (thomas.saul@yale.edu), August 18, 1999.

Fat Tony,

I believe when all is said and done, August 5th 1999, the day that the MCI Frame Network went down will mark a turning point in y2k awareness.

Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), August 18, 1999.

You have to look at the BIG picture, not just in your neighborhood. The grocery store is just cashing in while they can, and actually it's a smart move on their part. If there is a panic, they won't have people fighting over a can of Chef Boradee and they make lots of money upfront. However, the downside is when everyone stocks up and nothing happens, the store will lose lots of business because people will be eating their stash and not shopping in their store. There will be bank runs before grocery store runs. People are hearing about Y2K more and more, but how many really believe that anything bad is going to happen? In order for anmything to "really begin," people have to start acting and not just talking.

-- Willy (Willy@JMHOIV.com), August 18, 1999.

Long lines in front of banks may not be necessary. I believe that a soft-spoken 'whisper' of bank runs (so to speak) has already been occuring for several months. It doesn't take lines full of people. It only takes a small percentage of sensible, long time savers who Get it.......We've removed probably 400 families available 'allotment' since last October. How many others, more well off than we, have participated in this 'whisper'?

For heaven's sake, the American Banking Association is providing 'canned' sermons to churches, temples and synagogues. I can't think of a more desperate act to cease paniced withdrawls, can you?

-- Will continue (farming@home.com), August 18, 1999.

For heaven's sake, the American Banking Association is providing 'canned' sermons to churches, temples and synagogues. I can't think of a more desperate act to cease paniced withdrawls, can you? -- Will continue

Will, don't forget the television and radio ads that they insist must be removed. Such as the KIA ads they hate, the vacuum cleaner radio ad that was pulled, and another I can't remember right now.

Ads poking fun at the banks are not new, just 'untimely' for the banks right now....

-- J (jart5@bellsouth.net), August 18, 1999.

Yes.... I think we will see more from here on in. Last night I was listening to KGO, a popular S.F. Bay area AM radio station, and one of the hosts started about Y2k preps and had a telephone interview with an owner of a generator/small engine business. Lots of question about "are people really buying these things?" and so on. Interview was not making fun of those prepping, focused on safety issues of hooking generator to house, dangers, panel connections, etc. The host closed by saying something like "well I guess people aren't just buying canned food and water". Nothing more than that - no polly disbelief, just solid discussion.

Seeing more "hype" on the news about gps rollover - surprisingly "scarey" and if they scale up for Y2k it should be really interesting. Folks, finish up your preps now.

-- Kristi (securxsys@cs.com), August 18, 1999.

Yup. Just got my 2nd Mini-14. (They are getting harder to find!) Need another Mossberg and the guns are done. Then need another 2000 rds (and 500 shells), 2 sets of night-vision goggles, and I can get back to food. (4 months so far.) Everything else is taken care of.

Personally, I think we have 30-45 days left before the masses awaken.

135 days remain. About 3200 hours. Much less before the panic begins.

-- Dennis (djolson@pressenter.com), August 18, 1999.

Good ole' Dennis. Waiting for Y2k to get his chance to kill someone. How many rounds do you think you can fire before they lob a pint bottle of gasoline at your house and burn you out.

-- blahblah (blahblah@blahblah.com), August 18, 1999.

Folks gotta get pretty close to "lob" something, now don't they? Night vision and long guns, along with an OUTSIDE guarding presence. If people approaching your home are up to no good, you'll be able to tell pretty quickly.

And, just for the record, I'm DESPERATELY hoping that all my money on guns & ammo is WASTED. I don't know of ANYONE (with the possible exception of Milne) who actually WANTS to shoot someone. (And probably not even HIM!)

-- Dennis (djolson@pressenter.com), August 18, 1999.

C'mon Dennis, your lying to yourself. You gonna have 24 hour a day "watches". Gonna keep the kiddies up all night with rifles. What happens if they poison your dog or cut your cables or whatever you are using. People generally dont pick on you unless you hurt them first. If you start picking off people, their friends and family will be there quickly to take care of you. I can almost guarantee if you start doing this "Alamo" approach to dealing with hungry neighbors you and your family will be dead within the first 72 hours.

-- blah blah (blahblah@blahblah.com), August 18, 1999.

C'mon Dennis, your lying to yourself. You gonna have 24 hour a day "watches". Gonna keep the kiddies up all night with rifles.

No, I'll be up at night.

What happens if they poison your dog or cut your cables or whatever you are using.

I have NO IDEA what you're talking about? I use no cables, and have no dog. And "whatever I'm using"? For WHAT?? surveillance? That would be night vision goggles.

People generally dont pick on you unless you hurt them first.

Tell that to the victims of the Rodney King riots, around Florence and Normandy in L.A. Tell it to the thousands of rape and robbery victims each year. You must not live in the United States to say that.

If you start picking off people, their friends and family will be there quickly to take care of you.

The only people I'd be "picking off", as you put it, are those that would be attacking my family. Um, that's why it's called "defense".

I can almost guarantee if you start doing this "Alamo" approach to dealing with hungry neighbors you and your family will be dead within the first 72 hours.

Well, a couple of points here: 1) "Hungry neighbors" should have stored up some provisions (have YOU? Or are you planning on being someone's "hungry neighbor"?), and 2) my immediate neighbors WILL get fed, although for a limited period (a few days). I do not shoot my neighbors when they come to my door now, so why would I shoot them later? I think you're doing a little trolling here, so I will no longer respond to you.

I will defend the lives of my family against all who would victimize them. If I have to shoot and kill them, SO BE IT. *I* did not choose to break the law, and attempt to attack others. Each person has a responsibility to prepare for their own needs. I'll NOT support others lack of preparation at the expense of my family's welfare.

Bottom line: tough sh*t for those that did nothing, if they end up being in need.

-- Dennis (djolson@pressenter.com), August 18, 1999.

My sense also is that folks are doing more prep. In my immediate group, there has been a lot of buying of food and y2k toys of various types. My church is actually doing a pantry stock-up. Also, a friend who sells storage food says business is picking up. The earthquake we had yesterday should help.

-- seraphima (seraphima@aol.com), August 18, 1999.

Dennis,

Ignore the trolls. Thanks for the update.

Let's see...30 days puts us past the Jewish New Year, where the Media (T.V.) usually carries stories about it...perfect seguey to calendars, approching millennium, perhaps discussion of Jewish Calendar not having a rollover problem, etc. The 30 day mark is only about a week before THE COUNTDOWN starts with less than 100 days left. The 45 day mark is just prior to Columbus Day, traditional time for Autumn trips to see the Leaves change colour.

Yes, I agree, it will happen then. Finish ALL preps, Including CASH, by then! The very idea that the god of MAMMON should dictate the sermon to the People of G-D is causing me to rethink The Apocalypse. I am NOT a Christian, but this one offensive element certainly injects a Spiritual dimension to it ALL!

-- K. Stevens (kstevens@It's ALL going away in January.com), August 18, 1999.

Dennis and BlahBlah, can we get back to the original question?

My spouse is a DWGI, and all he has to hear me say is "Y", in a part of a sentence referring to something heard/seen on the news or in a conversation, and his resistance shoots right to full throttle. He can't hear any point or info I'm trying to discuss, BECAUSE it's about that blankety blank subject, again. As long as nobody can prove to him that there WILL be problems, he will regard those who are worried as just impressionable, nervous nells and those in the news who talk about it as just trying to cash in on Y2K by hyping it way beyond what it deserves.

Part of me hopes he never has to get it, that nothing much happens, and all of us are able to enter 2000 pretty much as we left 1999. He will get to say "I told you so", and I can just smile with relief and say "Yes, you did, sweetie" ...

The only thing that is going to change his thinking about this is if and only if something happens to him personally, and that it is unequivically caused by Y2K problems. If he hears only that the extent of Y2K problems might cause us to lose power for a few hours or a day or two, on Jan. 1 and 2, then he knows that our family is covered with the preps I have handled. If that is the worst he has to fear, no problem: it's covered and he doesn't have to give it any more thought/discussion. Unless something happens to shake his confidence that business and government have it all under control, just as they claim, he is not going to budge from his faith that his world is secure and predictable. Only a foul up that touches him personally and very inconveniently could shake his point of view on Y2k at this point. Things that are happening to other people, he just dismisses, as problems that are the result of somebody's being stupid, and since he isn't stupid, those things can't happen to him, so he has nothing to worry about. (Obviously, he is more arrogant than I am, and more arrogant than I think anyone has a right to be.)

Alos, in my area of Maryland, there is little media or advertising mentioning Y2K. Around here, the drought is a huge concern, and I think officials are worried about having water for even the next couple of months, not just for agriculture, but for everyone in the state. Everyone is praying for some tropical storm activity to start up in the Atlantic, but now that area isn't following usual seasonal patterns either. All of the stores have an abundance of Coleman fuel, candles, water containers, campstoves/lanterns, generators, etc., etc. I still haven't heard any news stories about government contingency plans either, except on this website (a posting referring to the Maryland State Police). I don't know why ... this is a fairly densely populated state, with lots of seniors and pretty cold winters (usually, that is), and D.C. borders Maryland to the south. While I have seen alot of postings about DC at this website, I can't say I heard any of the same info on the local news. In other words, it seems to be business as usual here, at least on the surface. That helps to explain why no minds are being changed, I would guess.

-- Kristi (KsaintA@aol.com), August 18, 1999.

Kristi:

Please don't take this personally, as I do not mean to offend.

*IF* Y2K is a 6 or better, the population "die-off" will be horrendous. If your husband chooses to submit to Darwinian selection, that's HIS choice. Please don't follow him, ESPECIALLY if you have children.

Be ready to bug out and/or have 3 months' supplies stashed. I know it would be hard, but if you feel strongly on this, you MUST do whatever is required. If it's bad, many will die. It doesn't matter WHAT he thinks will happen. Reality just doesn't care about opinions.

Good luck.

-- Dennis (djolson@pressenter.com), August 18, 1999.

Kristi - I didn't realize my husband had two wives.

-- Amy Leone (leoneamy@aol.com), August 18, 1999.

Amy, nice to see you still around! :-)

I've mentioned this before, but for anyone who didn't see it:

A family member of mine works in the Academy (Sporting Goods) Warehouse just outside of Houston. Two weeks after the 60 Minutes special on Y2K, they started having mandatory overtime. (Never happened before except November and December.) They also just had a job fair to hire new employees for a graveyard shift. They are going into around-the-clock order filling. Thousands and thousands of Coleman stoves and cast iron Dutch ovens have been shipped. SOMEBODY is preparing!

-- Gayla (privacy@please.com), August 18, 1999.

Amy

Your killing me.

"Kristi - I didn't realize my husband had two wives."

Don't make me laugh so hard after surgery. The stiches are poping. Ow.

Keep your...

-- eyes_open (best@wishes.net), August 18, 1999.

Folks, yes, I do believe that a larger percentage of the population is doing *something*.

I'm another of those that feel a "change in the wind", hard to describe, but there. Official info is starting to "leak" out faster, Koskinen is stretching preps from 3 days to 3-7 days......

Kristi and Amy (?)

My deepest and most somber sympathies with you both. I lived with the female equivelant for over 20 years.

-- Jon Williamson (jwilliamson003@sprintmail.com), August 18, 1999.

Kristi: Looks like I am not alone either.. I have been complaining on this forum for months about my husbands DWGI ways. He is just like your husband. Arrogant is the right word.. Amy, I think we all are married to the same man..

I am on the east coast too by the way.. Must be the water and air, or lack of it!!!!

-- Cassandra (american_storm@usa.net), August 18, 1999.

There are too many polly's out there. It's possible panic won't start up at all. We're in the minority. Americans are stupid.

-- Larry (cobol.programmer@usa.net), August 18, 1999.

From: Y2K, ` la Carte by Dancr near Monterey, California

Yesterday, two things happened that I had not seen anything like before. First, the local Orchard Supply Hardware store had set up a separate section near the checkout stands hawking Y2K items with a big red and yellow sign. Before this, I had not seen in any store any specific reference to Y2K.

Then, I went to the pharmacy in my local drug store (which I visit at least twice a week, trying to keep up with fifteen long term prescriptions). I happened to notice that the vitamin section was completely wiped out. A section of approximately 25 isle feet, usually stocked full to the back of the shelves was almost completely empty, with just a few lonely bottles. I asked a clerk if they were moving that section, or what? She said the replishments weren't coming from the warehouse as they were supposed to, and that there wouldn't be any more for at least a week.

Unfortunately, my DWGI husband is out of state this week, or seeing this might be enough to agree to let me go stock up in Mexico, as I have been begging to do.

-- Dancr (addy.available@my.webpage.neener.autospammers--regrets.greenspun), August 18, 1999.

Thanks for all the kind words of empathy and encouragement. That's why I come here, to reassure myself that I'm not the only person alive who thinks caution and contingency plans are called for.

The first day I heard about Y2K, I remember how "flooded" my brain was with images about what a loss of power and telecommunications for even a few days, all around the world simultaneously, could cause. The woman who told me about Y2K and I couldn't stop brainstorming the possible implications. For some reason I made a connection with the Jews in Germany when Hitler was beginning to rise to prominence. Those who were sure they saw the writing on the walls, left their lives there and fled the country; they were a minority. I am sure that their friends and families who couldn't believe what might come to pass, thought those who fled were fools for leaving behind comfortable, successful lives because of something that might never come to pass, and that there would be plenty of time to save themselves later if it REALLY became necessary.

Terrible things sometimes happen suddenly with no forewarning. But my reading of history says that terrible things often build slowly into crisis. In this country, especially, there is alot of arrogance that we can maintain our way of life and level of comfort indefinitely... that we "can do" and can think our way out of any limits or threats that ever present themselves. I am 49, and I think my generation is more guilty of this thinking than most of the others. We think that if we want something, we should be able to figure out a way to get it, that we are "golden" or "chosen" to flourish forever, for some reason. THAT is a way of thinking that I just don't get ... I wonder where I was when that perception was being sown ... or if it just didn't ever ring true enough to take hold. I get a really bad feeling about our national "karma", that we are so due for comeuppance for our waste and arrogance of the last few decades. Maybe that's why I am able to feel such concern about Y2K ... it just seems like the perfect irony that the boundless faith we have in our technology could turn out to be our achilles heel.

Again, thanks for hearing me, and for contributing lots of good info and thoughts. I'll be lurking, even if you don't see my name.

-- Kristi (KsaintA@aol.com), August 18, 1999.

Dennis,

Whatsa matter? Didn't you see the move "Deliverance?" If you pick off someone, their kin will get ya!

-- anti-chainsaw (tree@hugger.com), August 18, 1999.

Fat Tony et alia:

In NW OH there is some slight awakening, but not a lot. Not yet.

Something very bad must happen in order to awaken the complacent denialists around here.

The mockers are improving. A few sound almost like me. They get cheap thrills.

I'm tired of warning them, but I just can't stop sometimes.

They all know I'm preparing, and I know they're all procrastinating.

Americans are so stubborn it's pathetic.

Our national bird should be changed from the eagle to the ostrich!

-- Randolph (dinosaur@williams-net.com), August 18, 1999.

Kristi, There seems to be a lot of us gals married to DWTGIs. I just stock up whatever I can without his help. With two

-- Homeschooling Grandma (mlaymon@glenn-co.k12.ca.us), August 19, 1999.

Sorry hit submit button by mistake. We have two little ones 4&5 I won't let them go hungry.

-- Homeschooling Grandma (mlaymon@glenn-co.k12.ca.us), August 19, 1999.

Randolph, you and Amy get MY prize for best lines on this thread.. cracked up over that line about our national bird, and Amy's thought that our husbands sound like one and the same "DWGI guy".. Really appreciate that we keep our sense of humor along with our commonsense, as we deal with whatever the future brings.

-- Kristi (KsaintA@aol.com), August 19, 1999.

Randolph, you and Amy get MY prize for best lines on this thread.. cracked up over making the ostrich our national bird, and Amy's thought that our husbands sound like one and the same "DWGI guy".. Really appreciate that we maintain our sense of humor along with our commonsense, whatever the future brings.

-- Kristi (KsaintA@aol.com), August 19, 1999.

Good posts, Dennis.

www.y2ksafeminnesota.com

-- MinnesotaSmith (y2ksafeminnesot@hotmail.com), August 19, 1999.

A family member of mine works in the Academy (Sporting Goods) Warehouse just outside of Houston...SOMEBODY is preparing!

I think it's me. I've bought a ton of neat stuff there.

-- Dog Gone (layinglow@rollover.now), August 19, 1999.