On This Day Pre-Y2K
Confused by any of the jargon you see below? Check the Y2K Glossary!
April 14, 1999 Permalink
After doing many hours of research I came to the conclusion that the best thing for our family would be to move out of the suburb. I reached that decision for several reasons. First, I could not conceive how I could possibly store enough water for the six in our family besides my parents, mother-in-law and assorted relatives who might see the light too late.
Next, the waste problem concerned me very much. Only two years ago we connected to sewers after living with a septic tank for almost 25 years. I know there are good methods for disposing of waste, but I wanted to get back on a septic tank mainly because no one knows how long the disruptions might last.
Third, I was worried about the very likely possibility of rioting after a short time when there is no electricity and people start running out of food.
After a few weeks, my husband came to the same conclusions, and decided moving was what we would do. Although he is not old enough to retire and needs to continue working in order to pay for our preps, he was willing to drive farther to work for the time being,realizing it may only be for a few months as no one may be working after 1/1/2000.
If you’re wondering why I’m not working, I have in the past but now I take care of my mother during the day because she has Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimer’s.
We started looking through the real estate ads in our Sunday paper and soon found property about 50 miles from our present home. It will take my husband 1 hour to drive to work, but he is resigned to that.
We will be building a new house there as soon as we sell ours and will have a well and septic system along with much wood for heating. Interestingly, we’ve both decided that even if Y2K is “a bump in the road” we would be content living in the country.
Our situation is different from others because we were blessed to have paid off our mortgage this month after almost 25 years, so we are not losing anything. My biggest worry is the time between selling the old house and the completion of the new house with our money having to be in the bank. We have a very reputable builder who has assured us the house can be finished in two months or three at the most.
—Mary, Time Bomb 2000 Forums (LUSENET), 04/14/99
We all recognize that we base our perceptions and expectations of the impact of Y2K on incomplete data and theories. We then make decisions about how to best prepare for Y2K based on those expectations; and there’s the risk. If we prepare for a 1 and it turns out to be an 10, we’d be in deep do-do. On the other hand, if we prepare for a 10 and it turns out to be a 1, then we have lots of regret and we look pretty silly.
My point/observation is that I suspect that some folks are allowing their level of prep to influence their perceptions of Y2K news and information rather than have to face regrets now.
For instance: if I had resigned my job, sold my house, moved to an isolated location and spent all my savings (or worse, run up huge debts) in stockpiles for Y2K, I would actually be afraid to face the possibility that I might be wrong and that the majority of my prep was unnecessary. I would therefore fight all the more vehemently to defend my decisions as rational and prudent despite information that suggests I went overboard. I would reject any good news as a threat to my decisions and and glory over bad news as validation.
The exact opposite case could be stated as well, that one who does absolutely no prep and lives a block from Times Square would defend good news and reject the bad.
I guess we won’t know our true regrets until sometime next year. On the other hand, even if Y2K fizzles into a 2 or 3 in the U.S., our prep may be needed for potentially greater storms on the horizon.
In the end, some degree of prep is always good, but as you say, keep it prudent.
—David, Time Bomb 2000 Forums (LUSENET), 04/14/99
