[I'm reposting what I wrote near the end of another thread because I would like to know if other people are in this fix...]

Cathy says: "I am genuinely baffled by the phenomena of unhappiness that I sense among many. Is this simply a difference in Y2K or other belief systems or are some people always sniffing in the wind for danger like the sentry wolf in a wolf pack or goose in a flock of geese? I for one am thrilled with the lack of apparent big problems..."

I'm awfully glad to be alive and not in a crisis, which I never thought I'd handle gracefully. I always insisted to myself that I only wanted things to work, and would not mind the embarassment of being wrong. But I'm one of those who way overprepared, including converting stock to gold. Now I realize that I've inadvertantly made myself NEED things to fail. I've bet against my own team. If the economy is completely unaffected, I will have taken huge hits in pulling out of 401Ks and so forth. But if the financial system goes into a tailspin I'll be in good shape, because gold tends to rise or at least remain stable when other things are collapsing. I was so certain of trouble that I didn't foresee this moral conflict. I was mainly hoping (but not believing) that the physical infrastructure would continue to work. I looked wistfully at 1929 thinking, well I would do fine in that scenario because at least they still had power, oil, and water. So it turns out we have those things too (though we're still not certain about oil).

We all understand that there are two levels of this thing: call them physical and financial, embeddeds and databases, whatever. The physical level seems to be under much better control than I could imagine before. The financial level is still an unknown. So I'm watching with the inner conflict that I already described, to see if the Latin American banks are "toast" and the IRS is paralyzed, and so forth. From now on, I will stake my reputation only on optimistic forecasts. Then I don't have to hope for failure.

-- Dazed and Confused (confused@turmoil.com), January 02, 2000

Answers

Rooting for failures over here.

-- SH (squirrel@huntr.com), January 02, 2000.

Rooting for failures that create job opportunities, but not rooting for TEOTWAWKI!

-- Slobby Don (slobbydon@hotmail.com), January 02, 2000.

I'll gladly take the good natured ribbing I expect (and have already received). I'm thankful for the preps I made and hope I have to use none thru the normal course of time. I did't buy anything that won't come in handy somewhere down the road.

I still think this is only the beginning, there is still much to unfold before I'll breath a sigh of relief. (Although, having the lights, internet and heat still working make me feel great!) Somehow, I think all of the analogies of "death by a thousand cuts" may prove to be the telling tale as time goes along.

I'll be thrilled if we escape relative unscathed over the next six months or so.

-- Michael (michaelteever@buffalo.com), January 02, 2000.

It better happen....I only spent $18,000 on preps.

-- Jim Bob (vibratomachina@aol.com), January 02, 2000.

I'm sure glad we didn't lose power, but I'm still praying for a meltdown in the financial system. I dream of going back in time to a world without stock markets, banks, or a Federal Reserve. It will probably take some kind of major Herstatt-type disaster, or a severe market crash, which isn't likely to happen because the market players keep supporting the current corrupt system. As long as they are profiting from it, they don't care about anyone else.

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), January 02, 2000.

I'm rooting for more time to prepare before the stock market tanks.

-- dinosaur (dinosaur@williams-net.com), January 02, 2000.

I suspect if we could all probe our souls, we would find some disappointment that January 1st was not more dramatic.

I am still hoping for a credit card bill with 100 years of interest. It would make an excellent souvenir.

-- tl (timalars@networkusa.net), January 02, 2000.

Too old for drama, rooting for serenity.

-- Hokie (Hokie_@hotmail.com), January 02, 2000.

I'm rooting for the failure of everything bad - and the success of everything good. The end of greed, selfishness, arrogance and ignorance. Much more love, compassion, cooperation, and consciousness. No more HMOs, credit cards or 125% home equity loans. More focus on family, education and mother earth. Sharing the wealth. Appreciating what we have.

-- Michael (mhgentry@prodigy.net), January 02, 2000.

Michael has given a quick example of some of the things we were rooting for as well. It most certainly would be TEOTWAWKI. We've been rooting for a new beginning that stands no chance of transpiring any other way, at least not in our lifetimes. We are called 'Doomers', but in truth, we hold far more hope for rebirth and renewal of life's most basic needs than the most rabid of Pollys.

If it's a non-event we can all look forward to the future of head transplants, life expectancies soaring into the 100's, voice activated homes, Internet virtual reality sex, online voting, DNA manipulated catalog births, cyber wars, world government and the continued destruction of our planet and all species. I'm sure 'they' have lots of new wonders in store for us, I just wish they'd ask who wants in on it and who doesn't.

Yes, Dazed and confused, we know exactly how you feel.

-- Will continue (farming@home.com), January 02, 2000.

Yeah, I'm rooting for a failure -- in Y2kPro's computer.

Mikey2k

-- Mikey2k (mikey2k@he.wont.eat.it), January 02, 2000.

Well the government's "destruction of our species" is causing our quality of life to be higher than if we were back in the stone age. Do you wish billions to die so the rest can have a low quality of life?

>I'm sure 'they' have lots of new wonders in store for us, I just >wish they'd ask who wants in on it and who doesn't.

Maybe you should ask who wants in on the death of 90% of the population, complete chaos, etc that you were hoping for.

-- Realist (don't@want.spam), January 03, 2000.

Gaawd Realist, trust me, you REALLY need to change your name. You don't have a clue about what reality is, so how can you possibly be a "realist"? You think the government is giving us a higher quality of life? Puuleeeaaasee! You think that 90% of the people are going to die without help from gubmint?? Sheesh, you are confused.

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), January 03, 2000.

I think we have a higher quality of life than we did in the stone age. I was referring to those who were rooting for TEOTWAWKI, i.e. scenarios 90% of the population dead.

-- Realist (don't@want.spam), January 03, 2000.

Absolutly not. I hope that y2k is a complete NON-EVENT but ofcourse we have already seen that it is not. The question remains as to whether it will be a significant event.

Additionally I wish I was wrong about the things that "I know I know." For example, I know that the fellow in the White House got away with lying. I know that there is a bubble in the market becaust the experts whom I know say there is one. I know that we have problems in the environment. I know that we have social issues with which we must deal (and soon). I know that I a completely unimpressed with any of the current crop of presidential candidates. I know that India and Pakistan are not feeling friendly toward one another. I know (despite what appears to be recent hype) that there is a global threat of terrorism. I know that we (western civilization) has abandoned many moral principles which would make the world a more pleasant place to be. I know that people will still kill one another over a scrap of land, a crust of bread, a bit of oil.

These things were true before CDC, they are still true. I wish most fervently that they were not true and I was wrong about these things and the ones that I know which I did not mention.

-- Michael Erskine (Osiris@urbanna.net), January 03, 2000.

Realist: TEOTWAWKI = AS WE KNOW IT. -humphead- It has never implied 'death in droves' except by small, frightened, dependent people with their fingers in their ears, lips pursed and eyes tightly closed.

If you are so convinced of all the 'quality' we have in our lives today you proove yourself to be a good example of sheeple who are about as deep as spoons but great consumers. Some things will never change......

-- Will continue (farming@home.com), January 03, 2000.

Good analysis Mr Erskine, thank you.

I see the Pollies continue their professional hatred, exaggeration, ranting and extremism. Does get tiring, doesn't it?

-- Robert A Cook, PE (Marietta, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), January 03, 2000.