thanks for the input. Yeah, it's a bit "end of the world as we know it" I go through this from time to time.

As far as economic hard times, well, been there, done that. In 2003, I made 10% of what I made in 2000, the year we bough our first house. We're not in any danger of loosing the house, my kids are fed & clothed and we want for nothing, so that's good.

My "self-reliance" urge is based mostly on reading too much, I think. Not only that, I see how poorly prepared people are to deal with adveristy when I respond to rescue calls or "special service" calls where people - 9 times out of 10 - got into a situation that just a small bit of preplanning would have prevented. That 1 in 10 call, where everything goes wrong, is actually the one I'm worrying about - the situation where things really DO get out of hand on a large scale.

Stuff like the flu epidemic, bio-warfare. Most times, I'm not thinking about it. But some nights...well, what the hell would i DO if there really was a bio-attack? I live 60 miles from NYC, and many people here commute to NYC to work, it's not like we're not in a "safe zone" you know?

Anyway, the "hunker down" urge waxes and wanes, it's just particularly strong this week.