People write books for many reasons. I wrote this book because I realized that someone must write it. Really. It was that simple.
It all started on February 28, 1998. It was an ordinary Saturday. I was flying from San Diego to Denver to spend time with my family over the weekend before wrapping up a consulting project on Monday. Several years before, I had moved from Colorado to San Francisco to open a consulting practice. My specialty was strategy integration - marketing, systems, and operations - supporting the telecommunications industry.
I have a twenty year background in computers, experience born out of necessity and coincidence, rather than choice. Basically, I was too clumsy to waitress in college. I couldn't carry all of those plates and drinks. But, I could type fast, and I was a future-oriented person. The industry needed computer operators and keypunch people, and paid better than other part time jobs. So, I began as a keypuncher, then worked my way up to data center operations, MIS architecture, systems design, and eventually to full blown IT consultant.
Throughout my career, I experienced the evolution of the adoption of computers. One of my jobs was to interview people about how they performed their jobs, document the manual process, and then use the information to design a computer to do similar tasks. I helped people progress from typewriters to word processors, word processors to personal computers. I observed how they made the transition. This skill helped me to see and understand the links between people, processes, and automated systems.
Now, back to the airplane. On February 28, I met someone who would provide me with information that would drastically change my life and my purpose - almost immediately. He was a rather ordinary looking fifty-something man. Not someone I would notice in a crowded room, or even som eone I would seek out. We started with small talk, about traveling in general, losing luggage, etc. Before the flight attendants even presented the security announcement, we were involved deeply in a conversation about computer infrastructure.
I'm not sure how we arrived at the subject, I think I brought it up first. I told him I'd just moved from San Francisco to San Diego, and that it had taken more than twenty telephone conversations to transfer my health insurance from California Region 01 to California Region 04 and to change my primary care physician. I said "I think the computer infrastructure in this country is broken." And he said, "You know, it's funny you mention that because I know a physician in San Diego who is convinced that in the Year 2000, the majority of the technological infrastructure in the world is going to stop working." He went on to explain that this doctor had quit practicing medicine for two years to try to warn people that the food supply, public utilities, health care, etc. would be impaired.
It made sense to me. To make a long story short, I met the physician, read his research, and did my own investigating. I reached the same conclusion. The information highway we depend on in the United States to provide us with water, heat, food, transportation, and electricity is in serious jeopardy. The so-called Y2K millennium bug will not be fixed completely, and there will be consequences. I believed (and still believe) that most people will be without electricity, natural gas, running water, and food - for at least a month, and maybe longer - beginning on January 1, 2000 - in the middle of winter.
While many books have been written about what might happen, I couldn't find a book about what to do in one's own household to cope with this particular situation. And, I knew, that without preparation, there would be chaos. It was almost like a premonition. I would write this book on how to survive. Someone needs to write it, why not me, moi, a person who is not an expert - not even a novice when it comes to food storage, renewable energy, or self-sustaining life styles.
I decided that if I could learn and prepare myself, then anyone can learn. I created the fictitious Olsen family and their suburban Denver neighborhood of Taylor Springs, to represent the day to day lifestyle of a typical American family. Through their characters, I was able create pictures and stories instead of mere instructions.
The Year 2000 infrastructure failure, even if it is only a few weeks long, provides us with tremendous opportunity. We will understand the value of our family and friends as part of our survival team. We will know that whatever garbage and pollutants we create will end up, literally - in our own back yard. We will rediscover books, and create our own perceptions through imagination, instead of being fed them by television. We will teach our children that one person can make a difference, and that because they are here with us, they are an integral part of their family's future. Our talents and lives will now have instantly redeemable value, as we realize the benefits of hard work to be the ability to have warm shelter and food on the table. We will worry about the things that really matter - relationships, the ecosystem of our planet, and our innate abilities as humans to innovate and to overcome challenges. We will be grateful for everything we ever had, and everything we will have again.
It is my sincere hope that everyone who reads this book will see that, like the Olsen family, we all have the potential to reduce the severity of whatever happens on January 1, 2000. Y2K - We will find a way..
What Is The Grid and Why Should You Be Concerned?
The grid - the automated infrastructure we depend on every day to deliver electricity, running water, and natural gas to our homes and businesses - may be in serious jeopardy as a result of the millennium bug.
Computer experts and government officials have predicted the nationwide grid may go down or be severely disrupted as the Year 2000 appro aches. Without electricity, the systems our families take for granted that provide heat, light, telephone service, gasoline, and even food distribution will stop or slow down dramatically.
Every family can prepare their household for a potential grid disruption.
What Can You Do to Prepare Your Household?
Whatcha Gonna Do If the Grid Goes Down is a workbook that will help families who live in cities or suburban neighborhoods prepare their households to cope with a grid failure. The book is:
Non-Threatening and Easy to Read. The fictitious Olsen family shares their ideas, experiences, and lessons learned as they prepare their suburban household.
Comprehensive. The book contains these chapters:
Why Worry? Life Without the Grid Food Storage Water Basics Food Preparation Light, Heat, Washing, and Waste Taking Action
Simple. Tear out the enclosed action plans and blank worksheets and prepare your household in a matter of weeks. Sample questions the book helps answer:
What do you have in your home today that can be useful? What supplies might you need that you don't already have? How much food should you store for your family? How can you prepare if you have limited storage space? Where can you buy items like powdered butter and water storage barrels? Why do you need a water purification system? How can you heat your house if you don't have a fireplace?
Use this simple, easy-to-follow guide to prepare your household - just in case...
