I'm not sure why it crossed my mind today, but I found myself feeling nostalgic for "The Y2K bug".
I never believed Y2K would cause any real problem, but I enjoyed pretending it might, and imagining what I should do just in case.
The funny thing is, I didn't actually do anything different than things I always did anyway. But it was fun. All my life I have done various things to make sure I am ready for TEOTWAWKI/TSHTF scenarios. That was just another- and an experience I could share with other people for a change.
I enjoyed comparing notes with others to see what they were ready for- or felt they weren't yet ready for. And allaying the fears of those who actually believed something would come of it. Those were the days before I joined the online world, so all my discussions about it were were face-to-face.
Then, when midnight rolled around for New Year's 2000, I was sitting beside a campfire, dressed in buckskin clothes, with a rifle beside me and a pistol on my belt- in other words, pretty much how I spent all my time back then, anyway. I wasn't even watching a clock- although I knew from the distant sound of shots or fireworks when the time had come.
I hate to say it, but I would like another Y2K-type "crisis" to come along. Nothing since then- not the religious "End Times" predictions, or asteroid scares- has quite measured up.