COULD YOU DUPLICATE YOUR PREPS IF YOU BEGAN NOW? Despite Financial Sacrifices, Why I'm Glad I Prepped for a Lollapallooza Rollover

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Anyone else out there feeling seriously relieved that you've already prepped to the max ..... NOW?

Because I'm a UFO (User Friendly Only) in the computer lab, I never proselytized over Y2K, except to have freewheeling debate with members of my immediate family -- all of whom, without exception, were practical GI's -- preppers, more than doomers. Good talks with neighbor-DGI's, and kinfolk-DGI's, who are computer-literate and then some, and some of them programmers with the likes of Intel. I was invevitably outclassed, routed, put to shame, in discussions with these folks. Nevertheless, like a good doomer would, I ppersisted and so paced and developed my EXTENSIVE preps in anticipation of a 12/31 -- 1/01 rollover that might have dramatic consequences real soon thereafter:

Just in Time; Just in Case.

No one's given me grief over the quiet of the New Year. But at times I'm inwardly embarrassed to the point of humiliation by the quiet of the rollover, and am already suffering difficulties financially because of the level of my committment to the "stakes" side of the "risks v. stakes" argument. in short .... AAAAARRRRGGGHHHHHHH! I went too far? Well, for the moment there's no doubt that's the imnediate conclusion. WAAAY too far.

However, AFTER THE QUIET of January 1, 2000, I've been scanning the posts and gotta say that I am very surprised to find already as many reports of evidently unremediated systems in Very High Places -- BP, VISA/Mastercard (or at least their links) Dr. Schenker's report of slowed parcel delivery times; Harbor Guy's posts on seeming shipping disruptions; some conflicting hearsay evidence on freight traffic in the posts; more than a hnadful of complaints about computer-raided bank accounts, failed direct deposits, slowed or non-existent checks, and .... refused credit cards, refused credit cards and refused credit cards.

SO JUST IMAGINE TRYING TO PREP NOW. Well, of course, you would not do it, becuase all of the problems we are experienceing now are *of course* 1) short-lived and liable to fix on failure; and 2) unrelated to Y2K. First: Imagine the rational/psychological readjustment, of trying to persuade yourself to take action NOW based upon the current growing trickle of reports(which may -- before we know it -- swell beyond belief). How would you begin? and how would you direct your energies without a "fixed and immovable deadline" to work towards, like Y2K, Day 1 was. How would you galvanize your psyche to postpone those trips or purchases, in favor of buying a few more 20# sacks of wheat, beans, rice or whatever, in preparation for a .... general degradation of level and ease of availability of goods and services, as we now may be witnessing, in its earlioest stages?

Pollies rightly respond, "It's just a credit card snafu!" John Krepasky: "20--30 minutes on the phone and you'd have that taken care of." But my flesh crawls at the thought: since prepping was labor-intensive and time-consuming and costly enough, even when the economic and data-tech engine was firing on all cylinders.

IN my own prepping, I had many items and equipment special ordered and shipped from out of state and in some cases cross country. Naturally I paid by check or charged some of these purchases to credit card accounts, relying on the entire system to function smoothly to deliver the goods when I demanded them. Even then there were hitches: one propane freezer could not be shipped from South Africa due to problems in ports there, so I had to identify and order an alternate out of Arizona -- which also encountered delivery problems but eventuallyu arived in time.

Anyway, I know many of us started as early as 3 years ago now; for me it was about June/July of '98, and I needed every day to accomplish the full-scale Y2k-ready self-sufficient effect. It's January 8, 2000, as I write: only one week after rolloever. Given the increasing reports of failures -- especially in the processing of banking and credit trasnacations -- and the signs of what looks like all-out data corruption in numerous systems ... Would it work to do it this year? Would I be able to duplicate those same purchases now? Or would I be willing to try and start over?

NO F***** WAY.

Glad I prepped. I may be stupid, but I'm glad I prepped.

>"<

-- SH (squirrel@huntr.com), January 09, 2000

Answers

I didn't prep as much as you did,but it was all I could afford. I've got enough wood for winter in Minnesota, enough gas to pump water by generator for 8 months, enough food for 8 months, with seeds for a survival garden. I'm still prepping, I split more wood today and bought some shampoo. The fat lady won't sing until March or June.

-- John Littmann (John.Littmann@MCQUAY.COM), January 09, 2000.

ditto, dude! :-)

plus, what a joy to be able to whip together a supper, breakfast, bread (by hand, it's fun; I have a breadmaker, but I scoff at it now..), you name it...without sclepping to the store! (not to mention a great stash of liquor, beer, good wine, etc.)

I can't remember a more peaceful, less harried January, ever; thanks to being "stocked up" here.

-- joe (joe@adeveloper.net), January 09, 2000.


It's like I tell them at work...It's Y2k, not D2k (day), W2k (week) or M2k (month). Y2k (YEAR!!!!) We got through power and telecoms, but have we got our bank statements yet? Credit card statements? Filed our tax returns and have them cleared? Has anyone got their welfare checks this year? social Security checks? Has the Doctors filed the Medicare forms? I am thankful for what has worked to-date, but I am not getting rid of my Preps just yet.

-- bob (bb@myhouse.com), January 09, 2000.

Me too!

-- JoseMiami (caris@prodigy.net), January 09, 2000.

I feel stupid because I'm not completely prepped. I'm working on my JAN00 budget plans looking for some bargains.

-- dinosaur (dinosaur@williams-net.com), January 09, 2000.


Hi Squirrel Hunter! It's Back To Work time. Hoping that enough is up for FOF to be viable. It looks really good so far, compared to ... ;^) Hey, we gotta get that book back to you. Thanks for your help!

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), January 09, 2000.

SH,
I concur. I would have a very difficult time getting my preps done without a definite date to spur me on. You have hit the nail on the head.

-- J (Y2J@home.com), January 09, 2000.

Squirrel, I didn't prep like some did, I bought just the basics, food, TP, shampoo, campstove fuel, warm clothing, enough to last me two years. I figured I could live like my ancestors did 100 years ago, they made do and so could I. However, it took me a long time to accumulate the items I needed, 2 years in fact. That meant hitting garage sales, flea markets, and thrift stores for supplies. It meant clipping coupons and getting the most for the least amount of money. I was talking 8 months prior to 1/1/00 that it was too late for many to prepare adequately for a long term disruption. One thing is for sure, those that prepped will always have the knowledge and the stamina to get the job done. I am thankful for the experience and there are some things I would do differently, but I am ready for round 2 if there is one.

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), January 09, 2000.

I don't feel stupid cuz of prepping. Sometimes I feel stupid cuz I lost my car keys, I forgot to flush the toy-let, or I didn't know about the ice cream that was eaten by everyone else in the fambly.

But I'm just a Kook

-- Y2Kook (Y2Kook@usa.net), January 09, 2000.


Could I duplicate my preps if I began now? Yes

Would I be as motivated as I was 2 years ago? No

Am I glad I prepped for an 8 with more than 6 months of supplies? Yes

Will I continue to stay prepped for the duration? Yes

Why should I continue to stay prepped? The future is unknown and I would rather be safe than sorry. In the future I will have more preps and better preps.

Am I sorry I prepped in the first place? HELL NO!

-- rb aka trashcan-man (ronbanks_2000@yahoo.com), January 10, 2000.



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

I did not get everything I wanted, but I did do a quite impressive job of it. If it were up to just me, I would still buy a wood burning fireplace insert. I will be still buying things to help me in organizing what I have bought, and I will continue burying storage groceries and slowly packing them, as I perfect my system for keeping things rolling.

I never thought 00-01-01 was the end of all opportunity to prepare, but I did focus first on the things that needed to be purchased (especially if shipping was involved). I'm very glad I've gotten as much as possible behind me before the end of the year. My DGI husband will be even less understanding of Y2K purchases now that "the danger is passed."

-- Dancr (addy.available@my.webpage), January 10, 2000.


Hey guys I too was a prepper. On a fixed income I debted myslef on credit cards to the tune of $2700 which to one on a fixed retired income is almost disasterous. However there are no regrets, and like you I have my doubts. Personaly I feel God is giving those of us that are smart enough a second chance to complete our preps. My take on this is that "TOO MANY SMALL LEAKS WILL SINK A SHIP," and what I am seeing are the small leaks that too many are dismissing as trivial. They are if there are only a few, but as they began to make themselves apparent, the ship settles further down in the water. The sinking of the ship can be far worse than the sinking of a rowboat, which I feel describes this first few weeks of Y2K.

-- Notforlong (Fsur439@aol.com), January 10, 2000.

Dancr

I know you meant buying food....not burying food. In reading your post I got this mind picture of you frantically putting various food items underground in your backyard (a la like the doggies do). :-)

-- tc (trashcan-man@webtv.net), January 10, 2000.


ahahaha, yes... I did mean buying, there, but, as a matter of fact, I am burying, it too... but not like a doggy. It's all very systematic and organized, cateloged and so forth.

-- Dancr (addy.available@my.webpage), January 10, 2000.

You bet! I'm glad we prepped, and we continue to prep.

We also prioritized some of our preps like this:

1. Get barrels; store clean water supply in them.

2. Get guttering materials for house and garage, filtering setup for cistern system.

3. TS begins to HTF, moderately. Don't have a job, got lotsa time, a stashed water supply, and food. Install gutters with extra time, get that cistern system on line(Hard to do this labor with a full time job, lots easier to do when the economy crashes and I already have the materials).

(3a. TS doesn't HTF; I work on my cistern system on the weekends, and have a nice permanent way to save water for my yard and garden.)

We also have the luxury of closely examining some of our preps at this time, and making sure everything is in good working order/edible.

Once again, glad I prepped, and have all of my base preps already.

-------------------------------------

!!!PRODUCT ALERT!!!

Basmahti rice in the burlap bags at Sam's.

I picked some up recently as a treat to add to my preps(I really like Basmahti, but too expensive for me as a staple rice.).

Totally infested with live bugs!

Seems the rice is packaged in an inner plastic bag. So far, so good.

Except the stupid inner plastic bag(presumably there to keep the rice from getting little critters) is PERFORATED(so as to keep the rice dry, I guess)!

Vermin can get right in! You don't know this until you open the bags up. Be sure to check 'em out in the store, if you can.

Peace,

Don

-- Shimoda (enlighten@me.com), January 11, 2000.



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