Y2K... did you succumb to the hype?

Our shelves are always full....I did check the pc with a free Y2Kchecker from ISP....
We did celebrate a little more than usual

On 9/11 we did fill up on gas....and hubby took a tv to work with him...and thats when my habit of sleeping with the tv on started

I do need to get more canning jars and a dehydrater.....lesson learned when #2 fridge died this winter....

I do know some folks that are still eating out of the y2k storage

If one is living with a reasonable degree of independence from mainstream "requirements" there is little need to make special preparations for unfortunate events.

I bought an extra loaf of bread -- period.

We kind of prepared, for the reason that my cousin worked for a worldwide computer company that thought there might be some kind of problem. We bought a big generator and stored a little more food than usual. We already had one generator but with our farm and cattle we needed to be prepared for storms and outages anyway. We have used the generators and glad to have them.

__________________
Disease is not an entity, but a fluctuating condition of the patients body, a battle between the substance of disease and the natural self healing tendency of the body......Hippocrates

Until a few months ago, I didn't know there were people who called themselves "Modern Homesteaders"... never heard of the Countryside Magazine... (even though I AM one through and through).

I didn't think anything major was going to happen, I thought there maybe some little glitches here and there that could cause some temporary annoyances.

We lived in the city at the time, so I made sure we had some extra water on hand (which I normally have on hand for other situations that might arise), made sure our gas tanks were full and that we had enough food to last awhile... but I really didn't make a big deal of it.

A new friend of mine just gave me some of her duplicate copies of Countryside...some of them from 1999... It is quite interesting to go back and read some of the articles now that its been awhile since the whole Y2K thing.

So how many of you who DIDN'T fall for Y2K think there is something more threatening on the horizon and what is it?

__________________
Check us out out "The Modern Homestead", a small, helpful, friendly forum. Find us at "The Modern Homestead", on facebook too!

Oh, most certainly there is something of biblical magnitude coming......just don't know when......could be in the next minute.......could be a hundred years from now.......seems pretty soon to me.......you know......... like a thief in the night.......twinkling of an eye

__________________
Disease is not an entity, but a fluctuating condition of the patients body, a battle between the substance of disease and the natural self healing tendency of the body......Hippocrates

Well, yes and no. Personally, no I did not fall for the hype at Y2K. Professionally, yes. We spent millions to upgrade systems to insure we could conduct business on January 1...and we were there that night just in case some of our emergency systems failed.

Unrelated to Y2K, but given other events happening abroad and at home, I have started stocking more "stuff" at the farm. I'd like to get a two years supply of some critical items within the next year.

"Those of us in the know - computer software and hardware people - were not worried."

That's strange. I know some people in the field who DID seem to be worried, and yes, they did stock up on some supplies, so I'd have to say they were probably genuinely worried. Just because YOUR computers had no problem doesn't mean ALL computers had no problems. Even with all the lead time and all the preparation and work done ahead of time, there were still some problems reported for weeks after Y2K arrived. That tells me there was the potential there for some problems.

"Did I and the rest of my IT colleagues prop for disaster by taking out cash, stockpiling food and gas?"

Before you speak for ALL of your colleagues, you should probably check with them.

As for me, I've been into survivalism since around 1976, and I'd have to say I did do some additional purchasing due to Y2K. I spent about 39 cents I wouldn't have spent if not for Y2K.

__________________
"I don't want everyone to like me; I should think less of myself if some people did."
— Henry James

I meant to prepare more for Y2K, but frankly, just flat didn't get around to it. Then the night before after work, I stopped by the store and got some gallons of water, and just got this really serious feeling that the whole thing was silly. So I went home with three gallons of water between me and computer Armegeddon. It worked out.

Do I feel like something more serious is in the air now? Yes. I saw the stores out in my rural area after Katrina and the threat of hitting the Texas coast, and was made aware that they run out of things like bread and coffee FAST! So I'm picking away at a stockpile, more animals, etc.

hollym

__________________
"Be Kind...for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle"

Philo of Alexandria

We didn't do a thing for Y2K; I thought it was silly. I do think it's better to be prepared for whatever, so it is in our plans to get a generator and a solar charged/manual option well pump anyway. We'd be in decent shape with those two things.

In terms of real dangers, I think the avian flu or another animal-borne disease is likely within my lifetime. I am really not sure how one could reasonably prepare for that, short of quarantining your entire community and trading only within it.

I don't think terrorism is a real threat. If I lived in a big city, I might feel differently, but no terrorist group, however insane, is going to target rural areas. There ain't much meat on that there bone.

Most likely, IMO, is a total collapse of the dollar. The smartest preparations to me would be those that would enable you to live, trade and thrive in the absence of money, jobs and government infrastructure and support.

Zeal, I think the biggest threat on the horizon is, to quote someone smarter than I am, "fear itself." Panic, mass panic, makes mincemeat out of markets and causes riots in the streets. Otherwise rational people do stupid things. My grandmother remembers a panic as a child (probably during WW2) when women rushed into the grocery stores and grabbed anything they could get their hands on. She clearly remembers one woman hunkered over a case of mustard fighting off other women who wanted a jar. The image stuck with her through her lifetime... women fighting over a case of mustard. How much food value is there in mustard?

Every year I lay up four plus rows of split wood which span the length of my garage/barn. Every year I burn only slightly more than three rows. But if I didn't put up four by July I'd be in a total panic... not enough wood... must get wood... This is completely in my head. Experience shows that 3.5 rows is more than enough. And yet if someone offers us a downed tree in August, when we have all the wood we can possibly use.. we go get it, cut it, split it, and stack it. It isn't rational. We do it anyway. It might come in handy if "something happens."

We are hardwired by billions of years of evolution to be cautious and reactionary. Those who were cautious survived. Those with quick reaction times, presumably those who could grab the most mustard, survived. But what works for individuals doesn't work when those individuals become part of a crowd. When they become part of a mob mass panic has ugly results.

The reaction to bird flu is a classic example of poor results brought on by irrational panic. A falling dollar could turn into a tanking dollar if markets (which are nothing more than people in a collective) panic.

How do you respond to panic? Just step aside and watch it pass. History shows that sooner or later we regain equilibrium and those who got caught up in the panic come out the worse for wear. Not those who stood aside and watched it go.

__________________
Icelandic Sheep and German Angora Rabbits

Well.. I did get into the whole Y2K thing.. and honestly I'm not ashamed of it at all. It got me more interested in food storage, and made me take the time to start learning about self-reliance and survival. I had always been interested in these things, but Y2K really make me start taking action. 9-11 made me feel like all of what I'd prepared for during Y2k was the right thing to have done.

__________________
Mom of 7!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Global economy thing....brought on by high fuel prices....and lack of funding for oil alternatives.....
If its a pandemic and the schools are closed...I know alot of moms that are going to need to be committed

But I cant wait for the day when not needing dyed hair and manicured nails and high fashion clothes or fake boobs comes to America.....I'm finally going to fit in then.....but I still wont have to be terribly social 'cause we'll all be too busy surviving

Maybe I'll let them ride in the goat cart, maybe not

Being that they were my colleagues and we worked together for quite some time and we spoke of these things at length - I feel pretty confident in saying that my colleagues were not stocking up.

My computers included banks and transportation and shipping, and covered a wide range of systems and designs. Yes, there were some minor issues afterwards, but certainly not planes dropping from the sky, banks loosing all their records and electricity shutting off. Backups, manual overrides, fail-safes and god-forbid paper copies.

I think some people want a SHTF disaster so that they can feel validated.

__________________
Ultra Lord is not afraid of chickens!

"Being that they were my colleagues and we worked together for quite some time and we spoke of these things at length - I feel pretty confident in saying that my colleagues were not stocking up."

Since there were a "few" other people in the IT field who may not have been your colleagues and who apparently weren't working with you, I guess they didn't feel it necessary to let you know they were stocking up on food, water, guns and ammo and other supplies in case things got bad. In fact, there are several of them STILL posting on message boards I frequent.

"I think some people want a SHTF disaster so that they can feel validated."

I think maybe you should stick to whatever your field of expertise is(if you have one). It doesn't appear to be psychology.

__________________
"I don't want everyone to like me; I should think less of myself if some people did."
— Henry James

Before Y2K I asked the computer guy at work, (Director of Information Services or something), and he told it wouldn't be a problem that they had enough time to fix it. So other than another case of bud, I didn't worry about it.
As of today I am very uneasy about the USA's current financial situation. I think most people and the goverment are in way over their heads in debt. I had lunch with a guy not to long ago who told me he owed just under 1/2 mil. This is a reqular guy in his late thirtys. House, cars, harley, pool, vacations, etc. I think even a slight recession could start a bad domino effect. If people lose their jobs they are going to miss payments then what happens?
The bird flu is not a big concern to me yet. Until it spreads Human to Human and becomes prevalent I'm not going to be concerned.
take care
Bob Z
NE Pa

I worked for a man who was a big time Y2k'er and I sort of prepared...Then 2 days before Y2k my Mom died suddenly and I could have cared less if the whole world DID end. Perspective, huh.

Eliz

I think the original poster is correct. There are people, dare I say people on this very forum, who secretly yearn for a SHTF scenerio to unfold. Now, as to the "why" of this desire.. that's open to question. For some I think it is a desire to see how they themselves handle the ultimate test. Some probably have a luddite desire to return to a "simpler" time and drag the rest of the world with them. For some it may be a need to validate their feelings of superiority because they are "prepared" and "told you so."

I think YOU should stick to your field of expertise... because it doesn't appear to be psychology.

__________________
Icelandic Sheep and German Angora Rabbits

No but I got it wrong anyhow. I figured the Y2K was just profiteering but I figured the stock market and IT industries would tank worse than they did when it was all over. Instead of really tanking they really just went sideways. I always get it wrong.

I don't think a pandemic is too much of a worry either for the better prepared since even if it wipes out 1 billion souls that won't have a huge impact in the big scheme of things. Of course there will be a lot of panic in 21st century cities not accustomed to so much death, and that might trigger economic problems that are coming sooner or later. But again, I always get it wrong.

I think all the world economies are in a state of transition. Into what I am not sure. Lots of uncertainty in the mean time. I suspect squeezing the last profits out of petrol and finding something else to invest in to maintain a power base has a lot of people with such power preoccupied. I think CO2 levels hitting 400ppm by 2020 will convince a lot of people that we need to slow some things down anyhow, but desoilification and deforestation and loss in global and regional biomass and biodiversity should be the big picture. But again, I always get it wrong.

People are 0.3% of total biomass now, while trees are 50% of 500 Bill.
I think in 1800 it was more like 0.01% people and 75% trees.
I think in 2100 it will be 1% people and 25% trees.
Less total biomass. Less soil. More people. More desert.
Sooner or later I'm bound to be right.

I think the real power base will revert back to the land at some point. Capital will still be important. Solar power provides a lot more energy per acre than biomass, and is compatible with farming, but requires a lot more investment capital. The tricky think for homesteaders will always be encroachment from other people. I guess it always pays to have friends in high places, but city folks are getting a larger and large percentage of the vote. I think rural Americans and Canadians are getting a better appreciation of what it must have been like for the Indians. Isn't that ironic.

The peaking in oil supplies will change our lives in major ways. Among those changes is a very high probability of a significant economic downturn. There is no question that we will eventually go over the hump and see a decline in oil. Since there is no existing combination of alternatives that provides the same amount of high-density, highly portable energy, this will be a serious drag on the economy.

I expect conditions similar to the great depression, but that will probably last longer. I can't put a date on it though. We could crest the peak tomorrow or in 20 years. It will almost certainly happen in my lifetime, but it could happen far enough in the future that I will be old enough that it doesn't matter. Best to just be prepared. I could lose my job long before the economy crashes, but the results would be pretty much the same for me.