Y2K is nigh, and you suddenly realise you have no idea how to survive the
destruction of civilisation as we know it. Never fear. Before the electricity
goes off for good, just get on the Web and print out a few quick survival tips.
You can find 12 easy steps to help you prepare for at least 72 hours of strife
at www.geocities.com/Heartland/Trail/3227/. The site offers handy advice on such
matters as how much water to store per person per day (about 4 litres), and what
kinds of food to buy. It also advises you to get a Bible . . . and maybe a
gun.
For a more complete rundown on potential Y2K problems and what to do about
them, go to Blue Wolf鈥檚 Survival Pages at www.bwolf.com and start with their
beginner鈥檚 section. There鈥檚 a woman鈥檚 perspective at www. mrssurvival.com.
鈥淟adies, are you tired of stockpiling tampons?鈥� asks one sponsor. Well, er,
no.
If you think Y2K might unleash an accidental nuclear war, the entire
326-page Nuclear War Survival Skills report, published in 1979 by the
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee, and updated in 1987, has been posted
at http://y2ksurvival.com. Your earth-covered shelter can be ready within 48
hours鈥攕o you don鈥檛 have to start digging until after Christmas.
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No matter how much you stockpile, eventually the food will run out and you
may end up eating millennium bugs鈥攖here鈥檚 a marvellous recipe for
chocolate-covered crickets at www.eatbug.com. These will go down well when our
stockpiled after-dinner mints have all gone (see, we鈥檝e thought of
everything).
If avoiding the millennium bug is just too irksome, the deep of pocket
might want to escape from it all with a Y2K holiday on a private estate in New
Zealand. At www.y2kparadise.com they鈥檙e offering stays in luxury homes complete
with servants and four-course meals. And a guaranteed 90-day stockpile of
supplies, just in case. Bugs are not on the menu.