Maybe a tad paranoid but...........

[AnnieO]

Oh, Lisa, you know I thought Y2K was silly. Of course, at the time I had easy access to lots of food and assistance.

Now? We'd make it about 15-20 days easily, a month or more less easily, on what's in there right now.

Again, though, we could supplement. husband can hunt, and we have lots of deer - yes, in town!, or squirrels, rabbits, etc.

Now after my next trip to Kroger? (It's been a few weeks!)... We'll be back up to about a 6-week stockpile. Yours, on the other hand, I could live off of for months.

Someday I'll get there.

 

[Mamaof5]

We'd do okay for a while. Weird meals, but okay.

There was a big stink about the millennium, remember? And it turned out to be nothing. But... Rome didn't fall in a day, Know what I mean??

I don't necessarily think you're paranoid, but rather, smart.

But Pompei did. Sorry couldn't resist. I don't believe in these "OMG 2012 is coming" theories.

 

[AnnieO]

2012... I'll be 40. The explosion you hear will be 6 days before.

...I'm not sure Mt St Helens has got what it takes for the entire USA...

 

[Hound dog]

Aw Step, the volcano that will take out the US isn't Mt St. Helen's, it's in Yosemite. Super volcano that actually has many an expert mighty worried. Not me. I figure it that one goes, and it's as bad as they expect, I'm probably gonna be dead. lol

Some things I wouldn't prep for. Nuclear attack for one. I'm pretty sure I'd rather not be a survivor in that aftermath thankyouverymuch.

And Travis and I could probably survive on the food alone in my stockpile for about a year if we were careful. Neither of us are picky eaters. And yeah, toward the end there would be some odd meals.

Tell you what though, learning to do some of this stuff the old fashion way.........you start appreciating what your grandparents and great grandparents had to do to put a meal on the table, keep a house running ect. I'm not so thrilled with using the washboard and tub to do my laundry, but I plan to do it come spring when it warms up again and my clothes line is up. For one, I want to try it.....I can imagine the work out. lol But I plan to splurge on one of those wringers cuz wringing clothes out by hand in a major PITA and doesn't work very well.

 

[HaoZi]

Seen this Hound? WONDERWASH Laundry Alternative Wonderwash Portable Hand-Crank Mini Washing Machine
I've seen better prices, though I'm not sure they were the same capacity. Easier than a washboard, though I don't know if it would take as much time.

ETA: I think I'm going to the get the spin dryer after tax return comes in.

 

[Marguerite]

Y2K wasn't silly. The reason it didn't happen is because enough work was done to prevent it. If nothing had been done, there could have been problems. Would have been problems. Not necessarily doomsday stuff, but a lot of our computers at the time had not been set with four digits in the year, only two. It didn't need too much work on each computer to fix it, just tedious, repetitive work and someone actually doing it. Billing for services, for example, would have gone haywire. Can you imagine getting a bill with a due date of 1901, which then cuts off your power for non-payment AND backdates all the calculated interest? That is one example of what would have happened in some places if the programmers hadn't got busy and patched stuff. Once 2000 came round, the main worry was that there might have been some vital area that got missed, so people had their fingers crossed. But thankfully, everyone had done enough. Or almost everyone.

Y2K still happened, but on a much smaller scale. I still have the box that a very large Easter egg came in, that someone gave easy child. The use-by date stamped on the box was April 1901!

Marg

 

[Marguerite]

On the subject of minimal technology, I remember seeing a washing machine invented by a hippy in Nimbin (Australia's answer to Woodstock). It is hooked up to a bicycle, and when the bike is pedalled, it agitates the washing in a plastic rubbish bin. Nimbin is a sub-tropical location so they then hang the washing on the line.

The hand-cranked washing machine, I've seen before. I think it was called a "pressa-wash" because pressure builds up inside, like in a pressure cooker. But a consumer magazine reviewed it and said the claims for its performance were a bit exaggerated. it is better than the grape stomp method (where you chuck the washing in the bathtub and throw the kids in after it, ordering them to dance to "Zorba the Greek"). Not as much fun though.

Marg

 

[Marg's Man]

Marg hasn't seen 2012. I have. If that super volcano blows it will cause a dust winter that makes the nuclear winter we worried about 30 years ago look like a mild chill. It'll probably kill anyone within a 1000 miles of the epicentre.

Y2K did happen to us at work. We had a lot of computer controlled instruments that still used MS-DOS in 2000. They all crashed because there were no patches for the Y2K bug inherent in MS-DOS. We had to reset them every day for a month before we managed to write a patch ourselves.

Marg's man

 

[AnnieO]

Hmm... I was using DOS for some stuff at work, during EOY then... And has no problems at all. No resets. But, who's to say.

I live so, so close to an important military base, and actually closer to the place the REAL stuff happens than where I actually work, that if it were hit by a nuclear bomb, I'd be gone.

 

[muttmeister]

If I hear there is a nuclear attack coming, I'll probably go out and stand in the yard with a target on my head. I really don't think I'd want to survive that one. Offut Air Base would be a prime target so I guess I don't have to worry; I'd probably be close enough that it would get me.

I do like the idea of being prepared for emergencies because, no matter what, stuff happens. All of the agencies and books and other stuff have lulled people (in my opinion) into a false sense of security: just do all of this stuff, buy all of this stuff, prepare all of this stuff, etc. and you'll be OK. History does not bear that out. We live in an uncertain, unsafe world and SOMETHING is going to get you in the end. Being born is a terminal disease. You are going to die. I choose to be reasonably prepared and then not worry about it. I go where I want to go, do what I want to do, etc. If I am exterminated, at least I'll be able to say I enjoyed myself while I was here. Usually, if you worry about something it never happens. Something that you never thought of is what finally comes to bite you in the behind.

 

[Marguerite]

I haven't seen 2012 but I have seen a detailed docu-drama about what would happen if/when Yosemite's super-volcano blows. I actually studied it because it is closely related to my interest in volcanoes as well as research for my novel (where everything ends when a massive volcano explodes - I'm using a real eruption). We visited the site of another super-volcano in New Zealand - Taupo. It's a beautiful lake, steam rises from the shore in places. And the last time it blew (1800 years ago), a hundred cubic kilometres of ejecta was thrown into the sky. The beautiful lake is actually a huge caldera. South of the lake are more volcanoes including Mt Ruapehu where the Mt Doom scenes were filmed for Lord of the Rings. Also the gates of Mordor. Ruapehu has the only ski field in the world in the side of an active volcano. A very active volcano. In the last five or six years, three or four of the ski seasons have been disrupted by eruptions. Ruapehu erupted a month after we were there.

I think Yellowstone and Taupo are comparable in size. I know Yellowstone's last eruption (Lava Creek) was ten times bigger than Taupo's last one, but Taupo has had much bigger blows in the past. Taupo's active area is a lot more than just the lake. Just north of Taupo is a place we also visited, "Craters of the Moon", which is getting noticeably more active. They said it will blow soon (in geologic terms), and when it does it will be big. When we visited, a lot of the paths had been re-routed or closed because they had become too hot. We were there in midwinter but while walking around this place, had to strip to singlets. Got back to the car and piled on the coats again.

They said when Taupo last blew, it would have been heard in Australia. Luckily NZ was uninhabited at the time.

Marg

 

[DDD]

To my great disappointment I have found that in science just as in politics there are experts on both sides of every issue. Since thought provoking programs are never followed by rebuttal programs, I find myself having to pick and choose what "appears" to be valid. With science issues I don't have the background to interpret what I hear. With political programs I want to have the presenter asked followup specific questions that have come into my mind. In the social services or real life programming I have some expertise so it's not so frustrating but still...there are always questions that I wish were asked or updaing that I wish were there etc.

I don't doubt for a minute that times are hard and will likely get harder. I don't doubt for a minute that something horrifying could happen at most any time. In response to those beliefs I try to think more about protection but, on the other hand, I don't carry the burden of worry.

The last few years I get angry (or at least discombobulated) that voters literally have no way of knowing what is real and what is not real. Personally I would like to have available a concise explanation of each upcoming vote with both sides presenting facts on why they are pro or con. I'd like to know what's being "tacked on" to legislation, by whom and for what purpose. Now UGH! we are moving into the next stage of election mode. I absolutely abhor short ads that make accusations in a clever way...with no impartiality. Just this week a Presidential contender included in a speech/media presentation that he would like to "see" the birth and school records of our President. I just shook my
head and thought WTH?? A few days later in a televised interview he was asked about it and responded "well that's not really my thing it's Donald Trump's thing" (ha ha) and then added "I just thought it would be funny." Does that make any sense at all?? You want to be the lader of the United States and you toss out a "funny" controversial topic that has no bearing on the future direction of our Country?

I'm not paranoid but I'm frustrated by being spoonfed and led down blind alleys. Sigh. DDD

 

[Hound dog]

The movie 2012 was pretty cool if you're into special effects. That and it showed a lot of human nature in the film. But it also combined most of the so called prophesies and predictions......so it was a bit confusing unless you took it mainly as entertainment. Which I did, I happen to enjoy special effects. lol

Too true DDD. Scientist have just as much trouble agreeing as anyone else. And in my opinion this election is one huge awful joke. Usually this far into it I've got a pretty good idea who I like.........it's bad when I don't like any of them and am watching them to see which one would be less likely to mess things up worse. omg

 

[TerryJ2]

You know, I used to think that if there were a nuclear war, I'd stand outside with-a target on my head, too. But then I've seen interviews with-survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, not to mention Chernobyl, who are still alive. One of the Japanese survivors, an elderly woman, said she thinks so much of our nuclear scare tactics are overblown, that we don't know as much as we think we do about how much radiation we can absorb. She was almost flippant about it.
I'm thinking that what would be worse would be the loss of contact with-family and friends and the ensuing deaths and heartbreak.


Marg, you have such a wealth of material around you! Can't wait to read the book. Even though it sounds like it ends in a very depressing way ... But knowing what a good writer you are, I can't wait to read it.

 

[Marguerite]

Science is driven by anarchy and conflict. As someone with scientific training, I understand this and often forget that other people do not. it works, because scientists are always digging at every level in every direction. If their path intersects with someone else, scientists try to see if they can duplicate the other person's work. This is good - if they succeed in producing the same results form the same method, it makes both groups of scientists look good (the ones who did it first, and the ones who successfully duplicated it). But if they don't manage to duplicate it, there can be even more glory in this. As a result scientists are busily trying to prove each other wrong. This is why scientists are not capable of group conspiracy. It can be confusing when every week yet another food additive is claimed to be cancer-causing. These claims are made before the efforts have been duplicated, much of the time. But the other side of the coin is, scientists will grab the chance to test someone else's theory and if it turns out that that latest food additive IS shown independently to have caused cancer, it will be off the market fast. If not, you won't hear about it or you might hear that there is not agreement on the issue.

Scientists disagree on principle. But they have to dredge up the evidence for their arguments. It's put up or shut up and get out of the kitchen.

So if you ever have someone tell you that this or that concept is a scientific conspiracy, laugh at them and walk away. Scientific conspiracy? Not possible.

Marg

 

[HaoZi]

I think I'll just go watch "Life After People" again.