A friend just dropped this one on me. I think they waited to late, but I have to give them credit, they said a lot more than I ever expected. This is from a sm newspaper in W. Va., second section page 2B. There is two pages devoted to Y2K. The two main articles are about banking and one article is written by the bank president of the local branch. The two interesting articles were the smaller ones farther down the page. Please excuse any mistakes in my typing.

Fair use for Educational and research purposes.

How To Prepare Your Family For Y2K

It's New Year's Eve? Have you gotten everything? Champagne? Check. Funy hats? Check. Noisemakers? Check. Six-months supply of food? Huh?

While you prepare for the festivities of closing out the millennium, you may want to think about what could happen at the stroke of midnight on January 1, 2000. Y2K experts warn that when the clock strikes 12, whole cities could be without water supplies, electricity or access to their money.

Although efforts have been made worldwide to become Y2K compliant, nobody really knows for sure what to expect. Do you want to be unprepared?

Safe Trek Outfitters, which sells emergency gear such as camping supplies, clothing, food and water purifiers, offers a guide to being prepared for Y2K.

Stocking up on generators, fire wood, kerosene, propane tanks for gas grills, camp stoves and gasoline for your car is advisable. Battery-powered lights and gas and oil lanterns are also suggested. But above all else, having an ample food supply should be your top priority.

Some people have already begun storing food, building up to a two-year supply. While this may seem like going overboard, you should consider stocking at least six-months worth of food. And the sooner the better, experts warn. The closer we get to January 1, 2000, the higher prices will go for staples, such as sugar, coffee, salt and canned goods.

The types of food you store should be based on preference and convenience. In addition to the staples, you must choose food that requires no refrigeration and minimal to no cooking or preparation.

While canned foods are easy to store, Safe Trek suggests you try freeze-dried and dehydrated foods for variety and for nutrition. These long-lasting foods can provide entire nutritious and delicious meals in small, easy-to-store packages.

Water bottles should also be stored. It is estiimated that people need one gallon of water per day for drinking and two gallons per day for maintenance, such as cooking and personal hygiene.

Unless you have lots of unused space in your home, storing a six-month supply of water can be difficult. Instead, Safe Trek suggests you purchase water purifiers to make your water drinking-sare.

Finally, rest easy. Come January 1, 2000, you'll know soon enough what of the Y2K scare was true and what was hype, but at least you'll know that you were prepared for anything.

To learn more about Safe Trek's entire product line, visit its Web site.

The next article right beside it was:

Are You Prepared In Case Of Y2K Crisis?

When the ball drops on New Year's Eve and Y2K begins, what do you think will happen? Small computer glitches here and there or Armageddon?

More likely, what will happen will fall somewhere in between. Unfortunately, no one knows for sure what will happen, and that is the scariest part.

How do you prepare yourself for the unexpected? Safe Trek Outfitters, which sells a variety of emergency gear such as camping supplies, clothing, dehydrated and freeze-dried foods, and water purifiers, answers your common questions about preparing yourself for Y2K.

Q: What should I expect on January 1, 2000?

A: Y2K experts warn that when the clock strides 12, whole cities could be without water supplies, electricity or access to their money.

Q: How should I prepare?

A: First, keep records of all your important asssets. Save detailed copies of health and insurance records, your credit report, your bank statements, and any other investments. You also might consider converting a portion of your savings into gold coins in case of economic turmoil. Then, consider stockpiling food, water and sources of heat and light.

Q: When should I start storing items?

A: Now. Start buying items right away because there is already a shortage of supplies. Plus, the closer we get to January 1, 2000, the higher prices will go for staples, such as sugar, salt, coffee and canned goods.

Q: What kinds of supplies should I buy?

A: Candles, batteries, generators and kerosene heaters are hot items among individuals concerned about Y2K. consider also purchasing extra gasoline for your car, fire wood and kerosene for alternative heating, propane tanks for gas grills, and camp stoves.

Q: How much food and water should I save?

A: Some experts suggest you store enough for six months. Purchase water purifiers to make your water drinking-safe. All of Safe Trek Outfitter's products are easy to store and can be consolidated into a small space.

Q: What type of food should I buy?

A: The types of food you store should be based on preference and convenience. In addition to the staples, you should choose food that requires no refrigeration and minimal to no cooking or preparation. Freeze-dried and dehydrated foods, in particular, can be easily stored and last for years. Safe Trek offers a variety of packages of freeze-dried foods, including fruits, vegetables, grains and dairy products, as well as whole meals like lasagna, chicken and rice, and sweet and sour pork.

For more information on Safe Trek Outfitters' entire line of emergency gera, visit its Web site www.safe-trek.com, or call 1-800-4247870.

-- me (me@me.com), December 09, 1999

Answers

Hey, better late than never.

-- Familyman (prepare@home.com), December 09, 1999.

Unfortunately, a lot of people say "Yeah, right!" as soon as they get to the ad at the bottom.

-- Gary S. (garys_2k@yahoo.com), December 09, 1999.

Errr... these are adverts, not articles. Or am I missing something?

-- Servant (public_service@yahoo.com), December 09, 1999.

Article or sales pitch? (Are you sure there's not a little fine print disclaimer at the top which says "advertisement"?) Hmmm...I just tried to find Safe Trek's website but only get an error message. Perhaps they've gone out of business too.

-- CD (not@here.com), December 09, 1999.

CD:

I found the website under www.safetrek.com

Leah

-- Leah (Leah@ImLost.com), December 09, 1999.

CD

Sorry about the misque. I double checked the article and that was how it was typed. I never thought about it when I typed it. I looked at what ads I could see on the page she gave me. There were some ads, but they were not Y2K type ads. There was no disclaimer either. Just the lead story and then these two right below it, side- by-side.

Familyman and Gary,

Please don't misunderstand me, I'm tickled that they are finally printing the info. I know that they still have time to do some preping. I just think that they left it a little late to recommend 6 months worth of preps at this point. All I can say is that they are extremely lucky that that area is as self-reliant and independant as they are. There are still a lot of people in the area that never gave up the "old ways." The area still have a lot of people that garden, can, hunt, fish, farm,..........They can take care of themselves for the most part. When I mentioned Y2K to some in the area, I got some of the strangest looks and was simply told, we already have that, do that, etc....who doesn't? At that point, I figured that the best thing I could do was drop it. They may be "hillbillies" but they still possess what a lot of us lost, self- reliance.

me

-- me (me@me.com), December 09, 1999.

"A: Now. Start buying items right away because there is already a shortage of supplies. Plus, the closer we get to January 1, 2000, the higher prices will go for staples, such as sugar, salt, coffee and canned goods."

Its readers had better take that very seriously. It would have been wise on the papers part to report on the stopped shipments to BVI due to shortages within America. Ooh how clueless the people are. They haven't a clue those vaguely looking "normal stores" are holding food taken from anothers table.

-- Paula (chowbabe@pacbell.net), December 09, 1999.