I don't know what will happen. But I'm prepped; and I love it.

I haven't had a fireplace in 12 years. y2k was the perfect "excuse" to build an addition with a wonderful "heating" (and boy, does it ever!) fireplace. I love to sit before the fire now; and I hope to enjoy it for years to come. If needed, it can heat my home.

The Baygen wind-up radio is great. I've got the one that also has a solar panel. I can put it near me as I garden, and never have to worry about the batteries running low. Or wind it a bit and listen to it in the kitchen. As long as it, or I live, it will never cost me another cent to operate.

I've got whole grain to grind for wonderful breads. And a generator that automatically comes on if the grid goes down. And, where I live, we do have outages periodically, y2k aside. And we put in a well; the water's good and the water pressure is wonderful. I love to garden; it's great to have "additional water" now and "enough water" if I need it. I also got a Culligan reverse osmosis water filter; I rent it for about $25/month from Culligan. It literally takes EVERYTHING out of water..except the water itself! Researching y2k made me realize how foul my city tap water is. Now, for drinking and cooking I have "perfect water," as the kids say. And if I have to depend on my well, I can run the well water through it, to remove iron (the only objectionable stuff in the well water...).

I used to "run to the store" when I ran out of salt, sugar, oil...you get the idea. No more . Not only did I buy these staples (and much more) in bulk for a good price...think of time and gas I'll save (not to mention "impulse buying") by not needing to go to the grocery store as frequently. Are coffee prices going up? I don't care! I got mine :)...a good feeling.

Like many of you, I have many other "preparations"...I won't list them. I'm glad I have them all.

Prepped is just common sense...for any eventually. And it simplifies your life. No matter what happens, I'll stay prepped, because it saves money and makes sense and makes life better.

-- stuart (prepped@glad.tobe), November 20, 1999

Answers

The pollies complain bitterly that we have scared innocent people into disrupting their lives over a "phony" Y2K problem. But when you read the postings on this thread, it's pretty clear that concerns over Y2K have changed a lot of people's lives for the better, whether or not the computers decide to misbehave 41 days from now.

By the way, for those of you who have begun thinking about serious changes to your lifestyle, you might want to take a look at Daniel Quinn's latest book, "Beyond Civilization." Quinn is the author of "Ishmael," "The Story of B," and "Beyond Ishmael," and you can find all of his books on Amazon.

Ed

-- Ed Yourdon (ed@yourdon.com), November 21, 1999.

Stuart: I know what you mean, we are about as prepped as we can be for living in a big suburb. It's a good feeling.....just one thing. The reverse osmosis filter is great, and you are right, it does take everything out but the water, and that INCLUDES flouride. Is your regular water supply flouridated? Might want to add flouride supplements for your children. When kids don't drink flouridated water (even adults) they tend to get cavities much more often. Yes, there is flouride in toothpaste, but the flouride in the water supply helps a tremendous amount! We have the same exact filter in our house (was here when we bought the house two yrs ago) and thought it was great until we found that out. We bought a Pur filter which is just the carbon filter. Takes out almost as much but leaves the flouride in. Britta pitchers do the same thing, so that is what our daughter drinks now.

-- preparing (preparing@home.com), November 20, 1999.

preparing,

Good point! Hadn't thought of that! Thanks for the comment.

-- stuart (prepped@glad.tobe), November 20, 1999.

Stuart: I'm with you. Anybody who lives between Tornado Alley and the Great Lakes and doesn't have emergency preparations made is foolishly stupid. I repeat, as I have many times, that parents who don't prepare, whether they "believe in" Y2K or not, are putting their children's lives in jeopardy.

We are mostly finished, and I'm happy with what we've been able to accomplish. My husband is a veteran, an old farmer, a former heavy- equipment operator, and a prayer warrior. I'd say that his accumulated skills cover a pretty wide range of possibilities. I, on the other hand, am the verbalist of the family, the communicator, the administrator and decision-maker, and chef. I had an old-fashioned mom who taught me many homemaking skills the hard way, like canning, soapmaking, etc., and I have a spinning wheel, many pounds of unspun wool, etc., and am also a prayer warrior.

We all have talents and abilities that will be of value should we manage to come out of this on the other side with our hides intact. But one of the things we should be prepared for and many of us have overlooked, is the possibility of NOT making it. If we are prepared to survive, we should also be prepared to die--if not protecting what we have, at least for our ideals or our faith.

-- Liz Pavek (lizpavek@hotmail.com), November 20, 1999.

Don't you sit now with a pit of terror in your stomach realizing how vulnerable you were living before?

-- Paula (chowbabe@pacbell.net), November 20, 1999.

good point, Paula. It feels good to take some responsibility for myself. I really did manage to live 50+ years on a mostly empty pantry and refrigerator. The skills I have learned in gardening, food preparation, and self care will pay dividends.

Maybe this is the proverbial pony in the pile.

-- Nancy (wellsnl@hotmail.com), November 20, 1999.

Liz: I second your thoughts on being prepared to survive and the possibility of not surviving. That was the hardest part of the mental and emotional preparation for me. I will be 29 in a week--I feel like I am way too young to die. But after many months of thinking of Y2K as a 10 (has been a great motivator to get prepped), I have come to peace with the idea of possibly dying sometime next year. Don't get me wrong, I hope I do not. And I will do EVERYTHING in my power to make sure that doesn't happen, thus the preps. But it DOES happen. I could die driving to work Monday morning. And contemplating death for so long has had a surprising upside to it: I find I savor each moment more. I feel more vulnerable all the time, too. But each day, as corny as it sounds, truly feels like a gift. When I hug my little girl, I try to memorize, to burn upon my heart exactly how it feels to hold my biggest blessing in my arms and smell her hair and kiss her cheek, even as she struggles against all that affection! I am so much more appreciative of everything that I have. I vowed about 5 months ago to never miss another sunrise again, and I haven't. (During the week, no problem, I am up before, but on the weekends now, I get up before my husband and daughter and take a walk while the sun is rising and talk to God. Wonderful, incredible therapy!!!!)

I still get very sad at the thought of my own death anytime before I am a really really old lady, mostly for my daughter, who is only 5. And my husband--we have been together since we were teenagers. But this has brought me closer to God, I had strayed a bit. And I know that my body is only that. There *is* something more.

Peace be with all of you.

-- preparing (preparing@home.com), November 21, 1999.

Preparing: I am moved by your thoughts. You are so right. Since my wife and I began preparing 15 months ago, I too, feel this great sense of urgency for every moment that life has to offer. I find myself talking to God in much more intimate ways. I wake while it still dark and watch my two beautiful girls as they sleep and thank God for these gifts. I find myself asking..."if I do not need to drink from this cup..."I gaze at my wife with our son in her arms and pray for safety...that we will be the remnant. Oh, if only I could see tomorrow and know that it was there. Anyway, prepping has given us a sense of total control here on earth..whether real or false. We have a better sense of self worth and individualism because of it. If Y2K turns out to be a BITR than we are better off anyway and I thank God for the "boost". Shepherd

-- shepherd (mjmcinnes@aol.com), November 21, 1999.

I'll be the first to second that, Ed. BTW, you are the reason my husband and I got it almost 2 years ago. For that, we are extremely thankful, no matter what happens with Y2K.

As you discussed, I have *never* been able to understand what was so terrible about living a more *purposeful* life. Except that the "new" (really very old) way of living my husband and I now pursue almost full-time seems to touch something in people that is sensitive (boy could ya'll throw some puns at me over that one--sorry it is late and I cannot think of how to put it) Seems to touch a nerve, that is. Yeah, that's a better description. But I don't care. In the end I really only answer to One.

-- preparing (preparing@home.com), November 21, 1999.

A bit off the main subject, but I just finished reading "My Ismael"... one of the sequels to "Ismael", and found it oddly disquieting. Especially its injection of comments about Waco and Jonestown. They seemed quite out of place, they seemed inaccurate if you have done any significant reading into those events, and given that the book is written from the point of view of a child, and thus seemed aimed at children, seemed manipulative in a most uncomfortable way. I now need to go back and reread and reinterpret "Ismael" (and read the others) from this new vantage point. Did anyone else find "My Ismael" disquieting?

-- Linda (lwmb@psln.com), November 21, 1999.

Preparing:

You might do a little research on flouride before you pronounce it safe. There are ALOT of very knowledgeable professionals out there who do not belive the ADA line that it is safe. It is a cumulative neurological POISON. It was used in the Russian gulags to sedate the inmates. It builds up in the body.

If you can accept that concept, I can email you some stuff to get you started off, and you can take your research from there. Check it out for yourself before you go and suggest to someone that it is SAFE, because it is NOT.

-- Bill (billclo@msgbox.com), November 21, 1999.

---

Hi,

This time last year, I was trying very hard to learn as much as possible about y2k. I had started preparing and it seemed overwhelming. I learned how little I knew about so many subjects. And also, how much I had taken for granted.

I am thankful to all those who have worked so hard here and elsewhere to help others in their search for the truth.

Forgive me for my faults. I know I'm not perfect, I'm a work in progress.

"When we walk alone, may we always be able to look back and see two sets of footprints in the sand."

...

I wanted to post to this thread, because I feel very strongly about it. But I couldn't think of anything to add. So, here's a repeat of my previous post on the subject:

---

Having essentials set aside is a great feeling.

Learning more about gardening and self-sufficiency makes me feel more confident. Good planning and good training does that.

I don't see any negatives in gaining competence in new skills.

Maybe we've all been lulled to sleep for too long...being dependent instead of self-reliant.

These are great things to learn and then teach our children.

This IS the optimistic life-style.

Like the saying goes: "If you haven't tried it, you don't know what your missing."

From my viewpoint, if someone is not learning self-sufficiency skills now, then they are betting on losing everything they have, if the economy takes a big hit.

When's the last time you had home made bread ? Well that's too long.

O<

-- snooze button (alarmclock_2000@yahoo.com), November 21, 1999.

Read Bud MacFarlane's book "House of Gold" for an interesting look at post-Y2K life. It's all fiction, but lots of food for thought there. I'm sure it's available from amazon.com

-- Liz Pavek (lizpavek@hotmail.com), November 21, 1999.

What a good post! Yes I absolutely agree Stuart, preps are just common sense. My Mother lived through the Depression, she always kept a pantry and a freezer stocked. Good times or bad times, Mom always fed her family. She also saved money, by buying in bulk when it was on sale. I never followed my Mother's advice, until now. I can absolutely say I have seen the light.

I hope everything is normal next year, because I plan on continuing my "preps" only this time it won't be for y2k, but just for everyday living. I want to do even more than my Mother did. I want to add solar power to my home, check out what it would take to dig a well and a dozen other things that I have found out about this year that will make me more independent.

Yes, preps do make life better...God bless the child that has got his own.

-- Mabel Dodge (cynical@me.net), November 21, 1999.