This elderly lady called Chuck Harder today. She was from Massachusetts, said all of her neighbors in her elderly apartment complex were sure Y2K would have no effect on their lives and were doing nothing to prepare.

She is not allowed to have kerosene or propane in her complex. If the power goes out she will have no heat.

What should she do?

(Chuck told her to buy a polar sleeping bag. Perhaps he should have told her to buy a body bag. :-( )

Will Bill Clinton feel her pain from his West Virginia bunker? (Not!)

-- cgbg jr (cgbgjr@webtv.net), December 03, 1999

Answers

Too little too late. Let's hope that her affairs are in order, and her estate planning done.

-- (formerly nobody@nowhere.sss), December 03, 1999.

If she has children, she should move in with them.

If not, she should move in with a friend.

Otherwise, she should plan a vacation in Florida for the winter.

-- walt (longyear@shentel.net), December 03, 1999.

Why worry about estate planning if y2k is to be a wipeout? Why worry about anything?

-- (dont@get.it), December 03, 1999.

SUFFERING is no fun. Few people just die. They suffer first.

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), December 03, 1999.

I heard this call to Chuck Harder. She originally brought up some question about solar panels and as the conversation went on she finally explained that she lived in an apartment and did not want to move in with her son(?) and his family because he had three teenagers and there would be as many as 10 people in their small house. After going through everything with her, I think he just wasn't sure what to tell her under the circumstances.

I can understand why she wanted to stay there, but if the power was to go out, would she want to stay in her sleeping bag 24 hours a day? Methinks she will be forced to move in with family or freeze.

I would think that the possibility of losing heat is something she and the other tenants should discuss with the landlord. Perhaps he (or they) has or could develop a contingency plan for heat. Without heat in the dead of winter, the water pipes can freeze and then bust, causing a whole slew of problems, not to mention the amount of money it will cost to fix the damage. Having previously owned rental property, I know how much damage busted pipes can cause. Having a contingency plan would be in the landlord's interest, as well as the tenants'.

-- Plantlady (plantlady007@yahoo.com), December 03, 1999.

I would refer her to the article "Serious Voluntary Relocation" on my website. If she pleaded poverty, the article "Finding Y2K Prep Time and $$". If she pleaded unsurety about whether or not Y2K would be serious, then I'd just give her references to A) the best books and B) websites on the subject, wish her well, and walk away. If she E-mailed me with questions, I'd try to help her, but if she showed no further curiosity, well, that would be the end of it.

A) http://www.y2ksafeminnesota.com/suggested.htm

B) http://www.y2ksafeminnesota.com/links.htm

www.y2ksafeminnesota.com

-- MinnesotaSmith (y2ksafeminnesota@hotmail.com), December 03, 1999.