I am prepared, but I want to be a polly

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Found out about Y2K late last year and hubby got it at the same time. We began serious preps which included selling our home in the city and building a house in the country. All this Y2K stuff has really taken a toll on our family. I have prepared as well as I could for my family of six. I used to post on this board but took a long time away from the internet just to get away from it all.

The problem is, I am as ready as I can be, but I look at it all and think I must be such a fool. No way it will be anything more than a bump in the road, I try telling myself. That is what my head wants to believe, but in my heart I reason that it can't be anything but bad. I just want to stick my head in the sand and say over and over, "this will come and go just like every other date has come and gone." Say what you want about insurance and all that, part of me will feel like the biggest idiot for having prepared as I have if nothing happens and then the mean side of me wants to get in some of those DGI's faces if it is bad and tell them, "I told you so!"

Do any of you struggle with the "not knowing" like this? I am not a polly or a troll and spent a great deal of time following this board in days gone by. I think I may need a padded cell when this is all over regardless of how it turns out. If it is bad, I will tell myself that I wasted much valuable time that I could have used prepping. If it is nothing, I will beat myself up for being such a sucker!! How ever it turns out, I do want to thank all involved in this forum. Mary

-- Mary (doesnotmatter@thistime.com), December 24, 1999

Answers

Mary: Of course we all feel the same. Not even the experts know for sure. You have prepared and are ready. Be thankful you had the wherewithall to do it. Now for some advice from an old grandfather, relax, enjoy your family and the holiday. You have done what you could now let tomorrow take care of itself and to hell with what other people think.

-- Neil G.Lewis (pnglewis1@yahoo.com), December 24, 1999.

I too have thought along these lines. To have the "blissful innocence" of someone who does not believe that Y2K will cause any real problems seems so inviting. And, given that I believe that I have prepared so well for Y2K, why am I still so worried about it?

I recall reading the following analogy in one of Gary North's commentaries:

Two people are about to go on a boat. One is worried that the boat is going to sink, the other is not worried at all. The one that is worried buys a life preserver, and puts it on. Both board the boat.

Now, the person wearing the life preserver is still worried that the boat may sink. The person without a life preserver is still not worried at all.

Which is better off?

7 days.

Y2K CANNOT BE FIXED!

-- Jack (jsprat@eld.~net), December 24, 1999.

Mary,

"Over-reacting" by preparing for a potential danger may save your life. Under-reacting may end up killing you.

I "over-react" everytime I buckle up in my car -- though I've never been in an accident and don't expect to be in one.

I hope I've prepared far more than necessary. I hope I have too much wood and too much food and too much water and too much propane..and I hope that generator won't be needed.

But I'm very happy with what I've done; and if it's just a BITR, I'll happily consume my preps (I don't think prices will go down, do you?), and relax in my increased personal security.

"Not knowing"? Don't worry about it. Life comes up and smacks us in the face -- or it doesn't. We'd be a better, stronger, safer, saner country if people, as you have, were ready for "bad times," because they always come, eventually. If they don't come on "your watch" be grateful. But never second guess actions that may protect the people you love. What you've done is turned love into action...as it should be.

The wise prepare for the lean years during the fat years. Fools ridicule prudence and preparation.

Fools die. What's new?

-- joe (joe@adeveloper.net), December 24, 1999.


Mary,

Don't beat yourself up over this. You, like the rest of us, made decisions based on the best information available at the time. Perhaps you trusted your instincts. Nothing wrong with that!

Y2K, no matter how it turns out, has changed my life. There are many things about modern life that I will never look at in the same way. I have come to realize how fragile our modern world truly is. I have become wiser because of it.

To me, your last comment about spending time on this board that could have been use to prepare is incorrect. By coming to this board, you know what to expect. You are prepared yourself mentally and for disruptions. Imagine the average American having to deal with the collapse of their way of life. Then imagine not having any preps. It is going to be a shock. At least we know what _might_ happen and have prepare ourselves for it.

Good luck to you and your family in the days ahead.

-- Stars and Stripes (stars_n_stripes@my-deja.com), December 24, 1999.


Thanks to those of you who took time to encourage my wife . I,m one in Mary's family. She's done a great job at prep work. Wouldn't trade her for all the beans in the world. Merry Christmas to all of you. Thanks for all your help.

-- Carpenter (Staying@home.com), December 24, 1999.


Mary sounds like quite a person. I think it is only human to have misgivings, doubts or second guesses about what we decide to do or not do. You have come down on the side of prudence and preparation. Nobody can fault you for trying to protect yourself and your family.

Please consider the lines from Robert Frost. They are great for that moment when we are forced to decide about doing something...and will it be OK afterwards...

"Two roads diverged in the wood, and I,

I took the one less traveled by.

And that has made all the difference."

It just might. Be brave and thanks for posting.

-- Irving (irvingf@myremarq.com), December 24, 1999.


Mary... All of us have those doubts... We want and pray that things will turn out well, to have electricty, to have our life go back to more normal pursuits. I would love to wake up in January and say, yep... u were parnoid and crazy! I would leap for JOY!!!! Yessss. Don't worry about the doubts. We will all know very soon now. You did right by following your hunches and believing in your own research. Regardless of what happens you are now in a position to feel good about the past year reguardless of what happens in 7 days.

-- A Guy (waiting@y2kgetit.com), December 24, 1999.

Mary,

You showed your children that you will do whatever it takes to protect them. Whether a threat is realized into existence is secondary, and we all can hope even against hope that it does not. But the bottom line is that the measures you took to protect your family are the hallmark of your love, commitment, and dreams for their wellbeing, and this will survive as the single greatest act any mother can perform.

Your children are blessed in a way that very few children today can imagine, a way that is all but lost. When we talk about the death of the American family, then I think you can attest to what an uphill struggle it is in our culture today to choose actions which are in effect preserving the virtue and livelihood of what family used to mean. I suspect I am dancing around my point, rather than coming out and saying it clearly. the point I am making is that your actions were status quo, the same actions every family took, up to maybe 50 years ago. these actions were what generated the bonds that made a family strong. These actions convey the value of life. I consider the absense of these actions in the typical American family as being one of, if not the sole catalyst which has brought the degradation of our society.

-- Hokie (nn@va.com), December 25, 1999.


This brave lady has described me to a "T", with the exception of her preps, mine were not as exstensive, due to finances. I did the very best I could with what I have to ensure the safety of me and mine. I found the hardest part to prepping was going into the stores searching for items to live in the century that has passed us two times. And all around me are those who are casually buying for Christmas, and for the remodeling of homes, and modern appliances. It made me feel like such a fool. Here I am buying a clothesline and washboard, and over from me are those buying an electric washer and dryer. Of course that was just an example. It did happen at Lowes, here I am looking for stove pipe for my ancient wood burner, and there were the affluent over several isles buy an electric furnace. Here I am at a local hardware, not Lowes, buying those small water hand pumps, you know the red ones we saw on the farm as a kid, and next to me is the one buying electrical fixtures to modernize his home. I have felt like a fool so many times, and still do. However when I see the world around me falling apart, even now, I begin to wonder who really is the largest fool?

-- Notforlong (Fsur439@aol.com), December 25, 1999.

Oh, did you all hit a cord with me! Crying here on Christmas Eve. It is been a very challenging year. Did I do the right thing - yes, I'm prepared to be wrong. But how uncomfortable that will be to be wrong. But how uncomfortable that will be for all of us if we are right. Change needs to happen on this planet - but is this the way? I am also REALLY visible in the community as I have been actively holding meetings for over a year and on the County Task Force too. Also with a radio program. So it will be especially public that I am not matter what happens and that has added extra challenges. But I did what I had to do and if its serious, I've done the best that I could (I think - probably could have done more). If it isn't serious, I'm prepared for the future and so is our county! We'll know soon. This is pure torture.

-- Sheri (wncy2k@nccn.net), December 25, 1999.


Aloha Mary!

Today we went Christmas shopping, my wife and our 3 young children. My kids have heard about y2k for over 550 days, they are sick of it, I am sick of it,my wife is really , really sick of hearing me talk about it!!! So today my son asks about if I wish y2k wasn't going to come? They see how it affects me, they watched the water barrels get filled last week, they know what is going on with dad. But you know what I have to do these *crazy* things, I love them!

It doesn't matter what others think, you love them too! So today I told my kids, hey don't worry about y2k it will be fine. I told them I don't expect to need to use that water in those barrels or eat just rice and beans for food, but we can if we need to:) That is what parents are for, to make decisions about stuff. Some are easy and obvious to anyone, some take more insight and risks!

It is not a joke, I do some website stuff, html. Not to hard really, but I will tell you what if you miss a period or if the path is not right. IT DON'T WORK!!! Now it is easy to miss stuff, I can only imagine what real code is like. Ed knows! Cory knows! Infomagic knows!

We would really be foolish to not listen to people like these men!!! I hope it works out and we don't feel the pain of disaster, but if we do then at least we are more ready than most. Just go back to your life and stop worrying about it, with 7 days left it will be what it will be.

Love, Lokelo

-- Lokelo (lokelo@hotmail.com), December 25, 1999.


Think, if you can, what it must have been like to have lived in Europe from 1939 to 1945. It kind of puts our "suffering over the unknown" in a new perspective.

-- (imagine@reallybad.com), December 25, 1999.

Mary, You should be very proud of yourself!!! You have proven to yourself and your family that you can and do think for yourself.This alone is the most valuable lesson you could have taught your family. No matter what happens (or doesn't), remember that you and your husband had the freedom and the LOVE to think for yourselves!! NO matter what happens, you have acted upon the most important facts in your time. You chose to THINK rather than react! There never needs to be an apology made by those who think and act! Very few if any of us are HOPING for the world to go "ka-blue-ee". What you have shown your family is that they should NEVER depend upon others to do their thinking for them! There will never be shame accorded those who think for themselves! Do not mourn your preps!!!! YOU WILL NEED THEM IRREGARDLESS OF Y2K!! (Hint: America is no longer in a global position of power. Once we understand the repercussions of this, you will be glad indeed that you prepped!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Regards,

-- (He Who) Rolls with Punches (JoeZi@aol.com), December 25, 1999.

Thanks many times over for all your posts! I do feel better about things this morning. We have been living in the basement of our new home for about 2 months now and it has actually been kinda "fun" making it "homey" for the family. We are heating with wood only and just to be free from the gas company has been good. It gives that sense of independence and self-reliance. We have enjoyed roasting marshmellows and cooking hotdogs in the wood stove. We have our own well and septic, along with a hand pump and will still store bottled water.

Even though the kids aren't thrilled when we say it is time to stack firewood, it is done as a family and we make the best of it. They will grow through all this also.

One thing I will say, is that hubby and I have sure gotten an education through all this. Also, it is great to go to the cellar and get an item off the shelf instead of having to run to the grocery store, again!!

God bless you all and have a wonderful holiday season. Mary

-- Mary (doesnotmatter@thistime.com), December 25, 1999.


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