On This Day Pre-Y2K
Confused by any of the jargon you see below? Check the Y2K Glossary!
May 9, 1999 Permalink
I could be wrong and I hesitate to make predictions but I don’t think we will see any ‘pro-active’ panic beyond what we’ve already seen. At this point, it would take a large, real, significant event to cause any further preparation of the masses. But by that time, it would be a ‘reactive panic’ and not at all helpful.
With regard to preps, one test that Mrs. Rimmer and I try to apply to most things we do is: “Does doing this hurt us severely if Y2K turns out to have no effect on us at all (i.e. personally)?”. The question does not always have a black and white answer but it provides a framework for evaluating the risks of most of our actions/inactions. We feel that we are working to become prepared for a wide range of possibilities, including no impact at all.
Mrs. Rimmer and I are now almost one year into our preps. We are significantly more self-reliant than we were a year ago. We are becoming prepared for mild to moderate disruptions. But we are not prepared for extreme social disorder or other TEOTWAWKI scenarios. We are also not prepared for long-term lack of medical care - this is one issue that does concern us greatly especially given the current status of the health industry with regard to Y2K.
But we have addressed the basic issues of water, food, shelter, heat, lighting, sanitation and fuel. Except for our house, we’ve managed to erase all other outstanding debt and are not taking out credit for anything. We were fortunate in that we already lived in a semi-rural location and after looking at the options, decided to stay in our current house. (We are working with a friend in a much more rural location as a worst-case contingency.)
It’s been one heck of a lot of work and yes, a significant amount of money. Most folks who haven’t done it do not have a clue as to how much effort is involved in just covering the basics. I know that we sure didn’t. Only the test of time will show how well we have or haven’t done. We feel that we got a late start and wish that we would have started 5 years ago.
—Arnie Rimmer, Time Bomb 2000 Forums (LUSENET), 05/09/99
