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.

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:

 

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.