Finding Ninee » Sharing our parenting and special needs stories with heart and humor.

the freak-out over Y2K and scuba diving

It’s funny to think back and feel like the year 2000 wasn’t very long ago, and then realize that the freak-out over Y2K ended more than 13 years ago. I remember 1999. People were worried that the world would end due to a computer overtaking us because we were too dumb to realize that the whole computer/internet thing may actually take off. We forgot to think about the fact that the two digit numbers we’d been banking on for 100 years were about to change.  Nobody in our lifetimes thought about the fact that one day, we’d be filling in an online form with anything other than “class of ’86,” or that traffic lights, elevators, and air traffic control were all at least partially reliant upon computers.

Nobody was sure about how not having a four-digit date field for the year would affect those things but many assumed that we’d have some problems. All of a sudden, babies would be entering the world with birth dates that were ’00. Up to that point, in computer code, ’00 meant 1900.

Oops.

Products were being sold, labeled as “Y2K safe” and people were freaking out a little bit.  Me, I was a little bit more relaxed about it all and looked forward the the mayhem that never actually occurred.

I was married to Hubs On, in couple’s therapy and wondering what we had in common besides music. Speaking of music from that time, Down with the Sickness by Disturbed has the best intro EVER – “a wah ah ah ah ah!” Seriously, that’s the best part of the whole song.

In 2001, I was laid off from a company that I’d invested a lot of  time and energy with.  Although obviously devastated and betrayed feeling, sleeping in and not having to shower for days at a time was awesome. Plus, the upside to being unemployed was that I was able to take a two-week trip. Yeah, smarter people may have saved their money and started looking for a job right away, but I’m a big believer in wallowing and licking my wounds for as long as possible. I mean come on! A two-week trip! Up to that point in my adult working-life, that was unheard of. So I grabbed a couple of swimsuits, packed my bags and my friend Sara and I were off to Turks and Caicos.  If you haven’t been, I highly recommend it.  It’s amazing.

We started out on the island of Providenciales and then moved on to Salt Cay.  I can’t remember from which island we boated out to Grand Turk for the best scuba diving of my life. Seriously – it was amazing diving. What made it so unique was that you’re in a normal shallow-water dive and then you come up on a 7,000 foot underwater cliff. There’s nothing that compares to the feeling of being tiny and insignificant while simultaneously being gigantic and part of everything. That’s the best way I can describe how I felt swimming up to one of that underwater wall. I simply floated there, for as long as my tank allowed. Even telling you about it now brings back the amazing peace that dive gave me. I wish I had some underwater photos.

Yup, that’s a stingray! Steve Irwin didn’t have anything on me!

After scuba diving. Happy me. Oh and too tan. Sigh.

Here are some photos from the small island Salt Cay (pronounced key). There are no cars on the island and residents get around by golf-cart. While there, I seriously considered making myself a permanent resident of Turks and Caicos. Like really considered it.  I took two more trips down there over the next few months where I tried to convince myself that it would be worth it to become a partner in a local advertising company so that I could dive every weekend.  It ended up not working out. But man. What awesome memories. Here are some photos from Salt Cay:

Not sure why there was a gas station there. Must be for the boats?

Seriously. How can you not love an island that has this adorable teeny-tiny airport?

 

In those years, I was listening to some great music.

This song came into my life in the very last episode of Six Feet Under. I watched the final scene with tears streaming down my face. God, I loved that show. Here’s the scene with Sia’s Breathe Me playing. If you were a fan of the show, and can watch this scene without bawling, you may have icicles in your heart.

I also really liked The Blower’s Daughter by Damien Rice.

And Idaho by Josh Ritter.

If you prefer music that’s less melancholy and angsty, perhaps you’ll instead relate to The Red by Chevelle, or Harder to Breathe by Maroon Five.

Oh!  And if you are weird and like this nostalgia music memory stuff?  Here are some of the past weeks.

The 90’s: Music and Memories
1990-1994: grunge, ripped levi 501′s, a trip to mexico, the bar at 11:30pm, troll dolls and an attitude
The 80′s part 2: It’s Never Enough
The 80′s part 1: To All The Me’s I’ve Loved Before
The 70′s part 2: When a Friend’s Pain Leads to the Best Idea of Your Life
The 70′s Part 1: 1979 and The Angst That Was
The 60′s: Do Fish Feel Sad When They Eat Their Friends?
Relationships: Better Off Without You
Memory: The Memory of Music through the Years

This has been a Twisted Mixed Tape Tuesday production, Einsteined by Jean Kiel. What are your favorite songs from the 2000′s? Join us. It’s fun to reminisce.




  • don - Looking happy and healthy! Good stuff! Them stingrays are slimy boogers, aren’t they?July 30, 2013 – 11:54 amReplyCancel

  • Considerer - Something idyllic out of something awful. I’m glad you got to go, and more glad you shared 🙂July 30, 2013 – 11:55 amReplyCancel

  • Janine Huldie - I, too, was unemployed by August of 2001, but thankfully it was my decision. The company I worked for wanted me to transfer to their NYC office downtown literally the street from the Twin Towers. I would have had to take the subway and get out at in the Twin Towers itself. So in hindsight glad I made that decision, but your post totally took me back there and definite trip down memory lane for sure!July 30, 2013 – 12:03 pmReplyCancel

  • Rich Rumple - Looks like a lot of fun. Did a lot of scuba diving in the Carib years ago. Never got tan though. Red seemed to always be my color after a few hours in the water. lol Perhaps a suit would have helped (Diving suit, not swim suit, geesh!) I wasn’t worried about the Y2K. In Kentucky, the banks still use fingers and toes to figure out balances. lol Good post!July 30, 2013 – 12:06 pmReplyCancel

  • Sarah Almond - I had Disturbed on my TMT too-and Y2K! I have always wanted to go scuba diving-thank you for sharing your memories (and your music)!July 30, 2013 – 12:26 pmReplyCancel

  • Emily - Ok, 2 comments from me: First, Middle Dude was due on 1/4/2000 and we were hoping he’d be one of the “Millenium babies” but it didn’t happen and we didn’t win a million dollars or get on the news…he was 7 days late and born on the 11th, but we still like to talk about how he was ALMOST a Millenium baby. Second, I LOVED “Six Feet Under.” Best show ever.July 30, 2013 – 12:44 pmReplyCancel

  • clark - “…no motorcars, not a single luxury”

    very cool, even to just try to be a resident of such a place!
    My New England mind boggles a bit. (visual: Pilgrim guys with those messed up collars on they shirts and the 5 lb shoes…maybe the Pilgrimettes would be swimming with the natives. “Esther! put those pantaloons back on this instant!”)

    Fun, envy-inspiring Post, y’allJuly 30, 2013 – 12:51 pmReplyCancel

  • MJM - Y2K…yeah I remember that crap…I was in New Jersey at the time. My landlord told everyone in the apartment complex that he was staying up all night with his shotgun in his hands so when all the computers went down and people started rioting he would be ready…stupid white-trash.

    Great post girl…keep up the awesome work.July 30, 2013 – 12:58 pmReplyCancel

  • Dana - Breathe me and the Six Feet Under video completely sidetracked me. I only watched a few seasons but it still brought me to tears. I love Michael C. Hall and I don’t know what I will do when Dexter ends and he is not on TV anymore.July 30, 2013 – 1:00 pmReplyCancel

  • Lance - Great pictures. I’ve only been scuba diving once and loved it. That was twenty years ago.

    The way that Disturbed song starts is bad ass. I’ve always liked them.July 30, 2013 – 1:11 pmReplyCancel

  • GirlieOnTheEdge - You just lu-u-uv playing with emotions dontcha Kristi? LOL
    Nice progression. Found myself a little contemplative, a little commiserative (it’s a word right? =D)
    Then you made me laugh with the cartoons. Soon I was simultaneously in awe and jealous of your island adventures! The idea of living in a such a place speaks to the “romantic” side of me….just don’t know if I could do it. Mighty cool for to say you almost did:) Loved the pictures. And I think the town I live in is tiny!
    I’m saving a big THANKS ALOT for ending with the Breathe vid.
    I only watched the show every now and then. Now I just may have to start watching it beginning to end. Damn.
    Yours truly,
    Verbose GirlieJuly 30, 2013 – 2:22 pmReplyCancel

  • Quick Stepp- Melissa - That Sia song, ugh, it crushes me. Love it. And I was a huge Six Feet Under fan. I bawled like a baby during the finale as well.July 30, 2013 – 4:14 pmReplyCancel

  • Slu - I so love your stories (I know: I say it every week), but I do.

    Your Intro by Disturbed has long been the “Intro” of the players at our Houston Texans home games. Very cool on the loud speakers.

    Really enjoyed, SluJuly 30, 2013 – 8:11 pmReplyCancel

  • Lori Lavender Luz - OMG. I’m tempted to see if I can move to Salt Key now. All I need is my box set of 6 Feet Under and my Damien Rice O CD (not OCD).

    You would visit me, right?July 30, 2013 – 8:27 pmReplyCancel

  • Rachel - I was terrified of Y2K! How stupid is that? I actually probably could have done this TMTT with a few stories of my own about Y2K. Why didn’t I think of that? However, i actually can straight up tell you that I don’t even know what music was written in the….um, what the hell are the 00’s called…something like auts or something like that. The fact that my memory is gone is scaring me much more than Y2K.July 30, 2013 – 10:26 pmReplyCancel

  • Stephanie @ Mommy, for Real. - Holy crap, I love the Blower’s Daughter! I loved the whole album, but that and Eskimo Friend were my favorites. And I still love Breathe Me, and Sia in general. And your trip made me drool. BUT, most importantly- I have missed you! I’ve missed reading your voice! And here’s my Y2K story- on the New Year’s Eve of the Millennium, I was having the most explosive, dramatic breakup with someone I was crazy in love with. For real. I woke up in our hotel room the next morning, saw that the table had been overturned (presumably by me) and asked, “Did we break up?” Worst Millennium Ever. xoxoJuly 30, 2013 – 11:01 pmReplyCancel

  • Jennifer - Isn’t it funny how hard we are on ourselves when we are young? I actually feel much more confident and beautiful now as a 30 something woman (who is, incidentally about 30 pounds heavier) than I EVER did before having children. I look back at skinny, young, tan me and think…oh my gosh, those aren’t saddlebags!

    I didn’t watch 6 feet under, but I will now if it is available on netflix or through my library. I have found some good music through the show BONES…which is still on but winding down in the next season, I think.

    Enjoyed your post, as always! Thanks for co-hosting!July 30, 2013 – 11:12 pmReplyCancel

  • Tatum - Oh, I remember Y2K alright. Feeling like a complete dweeb (I used that word for you, Kristi) because I was a grown, almost, 23 year-old and my mom had to drive from Mpls to my pint sized apt in Milwaukee because she knew I was sick when I hadn’t yet figured it out…well, I knew I was sick, but I didn’t realize I was going to spend NYE on hospital given narcotics instead of the other festivities I had in mind. Pneumonia…kicked that smoking habit to the curb, so I guess I have that part to thank.

    More importantly – what happened to Maroon Five? I still want to sleep with Adam Levine, but his music was way better in the early century.July 31, 2013 – 12:41 amReplyCancel

  • Joy @ icansaymama - Argh, I am SO fed up with the GEMA because I cannot watch any of the videos you posted!!!

    As for scuba diving: I LOVE it so much, too! Every time a dive was finished I came out of the water, beaming with as much joy on my face as you did in your beautiful pictures!! Love them! You look so at peace and carefree!! Mwah!July 31, 2013 – 3:33 amReplyCancel

  • Jak - Oh yes… I recall the Y2K! It was pandemonium! People literally thought it was going to be the end of the world. Thankfully they had the Mayan calendar to fall back on… except that fell through too >.>

    Honestly wish I was ahead of the game and had delved into computer programming of some sort prior to that, so I could have made bank…

    I’d never heard of those locations you vacationed too, but you really must have loved them, considering you visited multiple times and contemplated working there. I’m uncertain if I could handle diving 🙁 especially if there is a chance of sharks being in the area!

    Ha! I love Disturbed! I saw them live and the lead singer busted out of a huge crate and began singing that song. It was pretty sweet! I also love The Red by Chevelle!

    Jak at The Cryton Chronicles & Dreams in the Shade of InkJuly 31, 2013 – 5:00 amReplyCancel

  • Anita@ Losing Austin - I worry about everything except random big things, like Y2K- don’t know why, but I didn’t have a care about it.

    I’ve only been scuba diving once, in the Bahamas, in a place with an airport that same size! Diving was AH.MAZ.ING. That comment of being so small and yet so big said it all. I can’t wait to do it again.July 31, 2013 – 7:43 amReplyCancel

  • Tamara - I love, love, love these posts you make! In 2000 I was in college and I was at a fancy millenium party. I was a little scared, to be honest, and I think in 2001 a lot of those fears came to reality with 9-11. The quote:
    “There’s nothing that compares to the feeling of being tiny and insignificant while simultaneously being gigantic and part of everything”
    is the best thing I’ve read today.July 31, 2013 – 2:38 pmReplyCancel

  • Maggie Amada - Awesome pics, Kristi. That trip seemed to have done a lot for you. Sounds amazing.August 2, 2013 – 6:55 pmReplyCancel

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