With all the "heavy" threads of late, I thought maybe one on the lighter, sentimental side would be good for all our spirits.

I am a relative "newbie" to the group of GIs, but in my own defense, it only took one article, and I was in a daze for days. Once you really "get it," your daily perception is altered.

I am know as the "poet" and "historian" in my family, so wanted to start this thread to gather some other peoples thoughts and ideas. In the midst of our real preparations, my wife has encouraged me to stock up on the paper/journal books and pens (ink and quill?) and make a point of "journalizing" as we go through this mess of Y2K (and hopefully survive.) For the last month or so, occasionally I have been "struck" with the thought "I am really gonna miss....." The two that have "echoed" the most in my mind are 'HOT SHOWERS' and 'CHEESE SLICES'.

"Hot showers" is pretty well self explanitory, but let me spend a monent explaning the "Cheese Slices." In light of the near future potentials of TEOTWAWKI and other problems that we all might face, I have to occasionally step back and "smell the roses" that are "currently" in my garden. I really love cheese, I mean really. I buy cheese slices in the mega size boxes at Sam's, and put it on just about everything. The last couple of months as a GI, I have come to appreciate them so much more, and I'm gonna miss them :(

Has anyone else had thoughts about such "trival" non-survival things? What will you miss? And why?

Merlin

-- Merlin Emery (MerlinEmery@yahoo.com), February 13, 1999

Answers

I, for one, am going to *really* miss my hair dryer! I have been noticing that I have a much greater appreciation for this appliance. As a child, I had very long hair and no hair dryer. I would walk around the house for hours with a brush just keeping it untangled until it dried. I find a cold wet head of hair to be extremely uncomfortable. I may have to stand over a heater next year, which reminds me, I had better get busy and buy one.

I too like cheese. I actually found a group of women talking about how to can the cheese. They were at mrssurvival.com.

The hardest appliance to replace is the refridgerator. I imagine I will really miss that too. The other appliances can be replaced by nonelectric equivalents. After a couple weeks of doing laundry in a tub, I expect to long for those washers and dryers. But as a child I helped my grandma hang clothes on the line and run things through the wringer until I was 10, so this is not new for me.

Well, this is a good question and moves us to appreciate what we have and not dwell so much on the future. Good thoughts!

Lora

-- Lora Ereshan (artemis45@hotmail.com), February 13, 1999.

Jerry Springer!

-- poorwhitetrash (xxx@xxxx.com), February 13, 1999.

er, uhm, (looking slightly embarassed) well, diet coke, actually...and the stuff doesn't store well at all...oh well, maybe I can figure out a way to carbonate coffee...

Arlin

-- Arlin H. Adams (ahadams@ix.netcom.com), February 14, 1999.

This thread, seems to have gotten lost, with all the heavys this weekend, but caught my eye.........'HOT SHOWERS"........Yes......those will definitely be missed when the grid goes down!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There is nothing quite like a HOT shower...........granted, for some, it will be no problem, but without the grid, a generator, propane, or some type of solar or wind power, there are going to be a lot of people that will not enjoy a 'HOT SHOWER'.........after 01/01/2000........or maybe even before.....

Like Lora, I am will miss the refrigerator a lot!!!!!!! The ability to 'keep' things (leftovers, etc )I will miss terribly.......mostly, because I've developed a very bad habit of 'over cooking', or as my hubby affectionately describes it, 'cooking to feed an army' :):):)

Raising a family, on a very limited income, I learned to make food stretch, and then getting past that, I developed a (rather bad) habit, of over cooking (didn't want anybody to leave the table hungry).........I'm still very good at recycling the leftovers :):):)

However, I realize more and more every day, that I am going to have to go back to the 'old daily ration' type thinking, when it comes to cooking in the very near future, because of lack of: refrigeration....

I also mentioned to hubby, that I would miss the clothes washer...... but if we can locate one of the 'wringer washers', I too can handle laundry in that mode......Lora, I too, remember helping my Grandmother with the old wringer washer and hanging laundry outside on the line to dry......

As for the 'cheese slices'........I do have to say, that they have become a nice convenience in cooking.........however, I hope to be able to substitute with powdered cheese, to satisify the cheese lovers I will be cooking for....

As for 'other missed things', if this turns out to be the 10+ that I really expect, the thing I am going to miss the most, I do believe, will be lack of comfort of being able to go to bed at night and sleep comfortably, knowing the household is reasonably safe from harm.......

-- Indy Dependant (benecke14@yahoo.com), February 14, 1999.

RUNNING WATER!! That is the thing I will miss the most. I could even live without electricity, but give me my water!! :-) We use it for SO much!

I, too, have noticed a change in what I call my "attitude of gratitude." I'm thankful for cold milk in abundance. I'm delighted when we go out to eat. So MANY little things that I have taken for granted. NEVER AGAIN! Even if Y2K isn't as bad as we're anticipating, I will never be the same!

-- Gayla Dunbar (privacy@please.com), February 15, 1999.

Transportation!

Seafood (see above), distant friends and relatives (see above), fresh foods (see above)...

Also, music. I've got cd walkmen, and batteries and solar recharger, but I'm not sure there's enough to keep us going for long. We will make our own music, but it's really not the same.

-- Tricia the Canuck (jayles@telusplanet.net), February 15, 1999.

My vote is hot water. Every night I try to enjoy the hot water as much as possible, believing that this time next year I will be "bathing" out of a bucket. Arlin: Diet Coke comes in a very close second. Linda

-- newbiebutnodummy (Linda@home.com), February 15, 1999.

I'll miss you all people :-( I've gone from rags to riches, but nothing in the world for me is as luxurious as the ability to just power-up my computer and have discussions about just anything with other intelligent people, all over the world. If it's TEOTWAWKI and the internet goes...hot showers and fancy cheeses won't mean anything to me :-(

-- Chris (catsy@pond.com), February 15, 1999.

Well,

Caffe Lattes will be my "last" to go. Hot showers and running water, but, those can be creatively worked around.

Variety and choices and adventure traveling. That's what I'd miss most.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), February 15, 1999.

Thankx to everyone for posting. I will add these comments to my "anticipations before" box.

Merlin, enjoying the Hot Showers and Cheeze Slices while they last :-)

-- Merlin Emery (MerlinEmery@yahoo.com), February 16, 1999.