Bailing on preps...

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I tried to tell my family and friends they are not as secure as they think because I believed it. I spent my savings preparing and then spent the money I had in the market. I wouldve made money if Id left it in Wall Street for these last few months but that is water under the bridge. Nothing anyone told me would happen has happened. My old drill sargent told me being brave sometimes means knowing when its time to retreat gracefully. That time has come. My family is suffering because of my beliefs. My friends all look at me funny and stop talking when I come in the breakroom. My money is gone. I will eat beans and rice for a couple of months while my friends will laugh over steaks. Thanks to the people who helped me here. Thanks for trying to encourage me when I was down before. This time Im gone for good. Its not fair. Goodbye.

-- time to (go@way.now), November 19, 1999

Answers

See ya.

-- br14 (br14@bout.done), November 19, 1999.

When it comes to crisies(sp) the heard is always wrong.

-- goldbug (goldbug@mint.com), November 19, 1999.

If wishes were horses, we all would ride. Don't worry about what others think. give credit to what YOU think. It's not wrong to have beliefs. It's stupid NOT to have them. Glad to see your're not a follower - you're a doer. Be proud of that.

-- karen (karen@karen.karen), November 19, 1999.

"My family is suffering because of my beliefs. "

Beliefs? Who told you to make y2k into a religion?

My religion is Christianity. We believe in being prepared for whatever might come along -- global disaster, the return of the Lord, or just another pleasant day with the family, sunshine, my kitties, & a job I mostly enjoy.

-- smell the roses (while@you.prepare), November 19, 1999.


Dear Time, please don't feel bad about your concerns and preps. You felt a possible danger, and you did what you could for protection. Your concern for your family's and friends safety is saying something good about you as a person. Money is only paper and medal, which can be burned/melted away. But love/concern for other humans is a trait that shows what a good person you really are! Go have some laughs today, you deserve it!!

-- Thunder Thighs (nowisnotthetime@tofeelbad.com), November 19, 1999.


Here we go again, a total disrespect for technology. Our lives depend on it. Just remember billions are living because of technical people. How insignificant these computers are, one little date. Go ahead and believe it.

You've come this far, why quit when Jan is six weeks away?

-- Larry (cobol.programmer@usa.net), November 19, 1999.


If you believe nothing is happening, then you are having problems connecting the dots. So, the stock market hasn't tanked yet (so?), it rises on speculation and perception. Spin is in my man, and you are a fool if you give in to peoples perceptions of you. You can prepare and not be obssesive/preaching. Your families basic needs are taken care of apparently, now try and concentrate on their emotional/psychological needs.

Under Normal Business Practices:

Airlines do not mass cancel flights.

Pipelines do not shutdown production unless its for "critical" R&M.

Banks do not spend $$$$$ on PR, counseling you to leave your money where its at.

Corporations do no apply pressure to Network Execs to cancel prime- time Movies.

Charimans/CEO/CIO's/Directors, do not abandon ship (in record #'s) unless its to a bigger/better-opportunity "ship". The stories normally read "leaving to head up so and so". I guess their all taking a sabatical to refresh and recoup (not)

Govts/Industries do not spend Billions of dollars on a none critical problem.

Multi-Billion Dollar Y2K Command Centers are not built for a none issue?

The National Guard does not show up for the big New Years Bash's (en masse, armed to the hilt)

and on, and on, and on.

Are your a troll?

-- ** (karlacalif@aol.com), November 19, 1999.


Call me heartless, but I'm going to be the first to announce "Troll Alert".

-- DAve (aaa@aaa.com), November 19, 1999.

Yep, he's a troll...we'll see a lot more of this type, masquerading as doomlets who've lost their family or fortune. Someone's frightened of something. As for me, in a completely unprecedented development, my bank called my wife to wish us "Happy Thanksgiving." Alerted, the next day we began liquidating our accounts.

-- Spidey (in@jam.mymymy), November 19, 1999.

My husband told a couple of his co-workers to move their 401-K money out of the company stock and into safer places until the stock recovers. As a result of them not listening, one co-worker lost $60,000 and the other lost $80,000. Now they will have to change their retirement plans. What have you really lost "time to" your ego? We have not cashed in our stock plan, we have not dipped into savings to prepare, and we haven't spent money on products that will be of no use or value to us if Y2K turns out to be a bump in the road. Who is to say "time to" that your going to have a job on January 1, nothing in this world if for sure anymore. So if you find yourself economically challenged soon, I bet you'll be damn happy to be eating beans while your coworkers aren't eating anything.

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), November 19, 1999.


We must all do what we feel we must do. We each make our choices, whether based on the heart's or the mind's desires.

Enjoying each day to it's most is certainly a most worthwhile way to approach life. Stress, as related to pre-y2k and preparation, is a strain on family, finances and social standing for anyone. If we find this stress overtaking us, we do need to back off and re-examine things objectively.

Examine these questions, as I answer them myself:

Do I feel this stress? You bet.

Am I sacrificing short term? Yes, and how.

What are the long-term implications of this "past year" on the rest of my and my family's life? None, drop in the bucket of my "personal" life and ambitions.

If I didn't prepare, and my family was caused undue suffering, how would I have felt? We must answer that one for ourselves, based on how we percieve y2k.

If I interpreted wrong, and the stress I as an individual imposed on myself and my family for the past year is indeed greater than the stress which we will go through post y2k, then I was wrong.

Lord willing, and the dam don't break, I have gotten a long time ahead of me to make ammends.

-- Lilly (homesteader145@yahoo.com), November 19, 1999.


oh my goodness. wah wah. this could be ditto for all of us. you are saying you were wrong and the stinking calendar hasn't even rolled over. not all y2k experts agreed on all those preliminary dates--many maintained that the big time would be this quarter and into next year as the calendar turned over. well i sure hope you don't eat your food before jan 1 because even bigger regrets would be to find out you were wrong then. i love all these "goodbyes" we are getting. unreal.

-- tt (cuddluppy@nowhere.com), November 19, 1999.

time to, and lurkers, keep a sense of perspective on your preps. Y2k is not a religion, it's a hazard. Prepare for the hazard, but keep a life.

We've spent maybe two months' pay, over the last 2.5 years, on Y2k and earthquake preps combined. And a significant chunk of that was to help others in the family, and to help our neighbors who can't afford to prepare or who don't GI. Nothing we've spent will be wasted if Y2k is a BITR, nothing goes back to the store. We lose power every year, and when the big quake hits (richter 9 predicted) we'll need all of it.

"Nothing anyone told me would happen has happened." Hey, think for yourself. Advertisers tell you that buying the right product will get you the most desirable mate. You believe that, too? Here we have something that none of us has gone through before (which is why we're worried about it) and you're ruffled because you trusted a prediction?

This is all guesswork, didn't you know that?

-- bw (home@puget.sound), November 19, 1999.


Nothing is FAIR. Keep prepping, all.

-- Mara (MaraWayne@aol.com), November 19, 1999.

If this is an honest post then TS (tough situation).

If this is a BS troll post then TS (tough sh**).

-- tc (trashcan-man@webtv.net), November 19, 1999.



Your sargent should have kicked you in the ass a few more times. He sure didn't inspire much confidence in you. Maybe you didn't spend your prep dollars wisely or somesuch; guess that might be somewhat unsettling if you did something supremely stupid. You were expecting maybe approval from your "friends"? Is this necessary to your sense of self worth? Let them know they're "number 1" in your book and carry on.

ALL OF US have experienced what we considered "odd" responses from friends. But we have the faith that what we started doing was right and we aim to play this out.

-- Don Kulha (dkulha@vom.com), November 19, 1999.


You gotta be kidding me night driver-----------!!?????

PLEASE TELL ME the "Patton" response did not purposefully get thwacked??

-- db (dciinc@aol.com), November 19, 1999.


Time, I am not a weathy person, own a verrrry small business, It has been financially challenging for us to prepare too. We tried to talk to our customers most of which are our neighbors and friends, they have laughed and mocked us for almost 15 mo. but we are still plugging away. I have one question for you. Do you have health insurance? We pay a monthly premium of $325.00, this is a lot of money to us, we have been paying this for 4 years, neither on of us has been hospitalized or even sick in that four years, should we drop the insurance, nothing has happened to warrant us keeping it. I could buy me a new car with that money or alot of other things. But I feel it is best to keep that Insurance you just never know. You turly are better safe then sorry. I really do know how you feel, I felt the same same way, when I started lurking on this sight, I thought "how stupid I have been for doing all, this spending all this money we could have used on something else, being the butt of everyones jokes. I have learned a great deal here, I love the debates, those are what keep me coming back, hearing the views of others, people are really trying to get to the bottom of all this. This is what I needed, informed people discussing the issues. don't give up there is a lot of good info here if you will open you mind and keep it focused.

PS. If you are a troll TO HELL WITH YOU.

-- Marli (can'tget@it.duh), November 19, 1999.


This is a spin off from --**(karlacalif) For the past year and a half I've been reading the weekly S.F. Business Times, it tells you who's who, who's doing what in the business world. And what I think is very interesting to read is the "Inside Traders - A look at buying & selling of shares by Bay Area Executives" For starters, the executives posted each week in the past year have not purchased shares, they are selling, for example: Walter Hewlett, Director, Hewlett Packard Co. Shares Sold: 40,000 Shares Sold Price: $109.73 Shares Sold Value: $4,489,000 Roger Emerick, Director Lam Research Co. Shares Sold: 131,500 Shares Sold Price: $60.49 Shares Sold Value: $7,954,425 Frank Pinto, Div. Officer, Sun Microsystems Inc. Shares Sold: 70,000 Shares Sold Price $74.04 Shares Sold Value: $5,182,800 Gary Bllom, Vice President, Oracle Corp. Shares Sold: 125,535 Shares Sold Price $45.85 Where shares sold options: Yes Options exercised price: $8.51 Shares Sold Value: 5,755.779 I can also tell you that all the Big Bankers, Utility Big Wigs, Communication Exec., etc. etc. have already sold off Big Chunks of their shares. I read these and I get real scared, in that maybe my squirreling away I've done in the past year & half is not enough. Think I'll go to Costco for lunch.

-- Judy (Dodgeball@beans.com), November 19, 1999.

I dunno. "I spent my savings preparing and then spent the money I had in the market" doesn't seem to equate to "I will eat beans and rice for a couple of months".

-- Brooks (brooksbie@hotmail.com), November 19, 1999.

Yes, HAHA, we are actually eating steaks and laughing at you ALSO!! Do you actually think that ANY of us actually BELIEVE this Y2K stuff??? Of course NOT!!! Gawd, man, the DOW is at 11,000 and we are ALL getting rich. Internet stocks!! Yes!!!! More!!!! More!!!! More!!!!

But just for fun, we see if we can make suckers like you think that things might be less than exuberant. We trick you into thinking that maybe a debt based economy invested in high tech startup companies that offer no payback is not going to last long. Maybe because of a computer flaw that has yet to be fixed. We fool you into spending money that you COULD spend on steaks today on canned goods that will last your family weeks.

Sucker! BWAHAHHHHHHAAAAAA!!!!

One last question: Did you buy gold instead of Internet stocks? BWAHAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

-- King of Spain (madrid@aol.cum), November 19, 1999.

I believe we all do the best we can with the info we have at hand. Sometimes, emotion overtakes common sense. Sometimes, common sense is scoffed by scientific method or political savy. I know of no one who has not made mistakes in plannig for the future. The only serious blunder is not making a plan. The two most important things to remember are: 1) learn from your mistakes & 2) God is in control.

-- Lynda Smith (seemom1@aol.com), November 20, 1999.

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