Category Archives: General

Stored Memories

storage of memorable itemsWe all go through life collecting memories. We collect them in our head, heart and the material things around us. The christening gown your mom saved for you, the high school year books signed by people who once meant so much to you, your old varsity jacket, your wedding dress, the blankets you brought your baby home in, photos of parties, milestones, life….and the list goes on. When you look around your home, memories are attached to the things that you keep. In your 20’s there aren’t too many “things”, but as you get older and life keeps going by those things start collecting. Add in a spouse and a couple of children and all of a sudden you realize you have more things than you ever thought you needed, but you can’t seem to part with them. You cringe when you think of Continue reading

Storing Power

rc slot carLast post we discussed how lakes are used as storage for water.  Lakes are not necessarily the first thing that people would think of when discussing storage, and this week’s topic falls into that same category – batteries.

Dating back to 1800, batteries have served as an excellent way for people to store power in a dense, portable form.  In a world with more and more electronics, batteries have become essential to everyday life.  They are in our phones, laptops, cars, and many other items that are used daily.  The batteries used in electronics are rechargeable Lithium-ion batteries, a technology that has been around since the 1970’s, although there have been many improvements. Continue reading

Unconventional Storage

hoover damIn a recent article from SFGate.com, it was reported that in the recent heat wave that caused temperatures in parts of the Western U.S. to skyrocket into triple digits, snow melt was accelerated. With the high temperatures turning snow into water, 12 billion gallons of H2O poured into Lake Tahoe in the last week.  That’s over 18,000 Olympic sized swimming pools!

Lakes and reservoirs are one of the main ways we store water – and they are crucial in dry areas like the Southwestern United States.  After the outlet from a natural lake has been damned, the water level can then be regulated in order to match the amount of rainfall, snow melt, and needs of the surrounding community. Continue reading

Letting Go – When it’s Just Not You

balloon-floating-freeIt is said that politics is the art of compromise.  This could also be said of marriage. Two human beings who plan to live together for an long period of time will need to learn how to successfully compromise.

One area of contention (and thus a great opportunity to compromise), is what to keep and what to get rid of – or more likely, when to get rid of it.

Often the level of emotional attachment to an object varies between the spouses – especially as life changes and situations change.  Children arrive into the world, grow up, and leave (or at least we hope they eventually leave). Those old college text books fade and become outdated.  The artwork that looked great with that brown couch didn’t cut it with the blue one and has been relegated to a position under the bed.  However, our emotional attachment to the items we no longer use may still be too strong to think about letting them go – at least for one of the members of the household.  So, how to make room for new things without causing a marital rift? Continue reading

An Uncluttered Mind

uncluttered areaIt’s not uncommon for people to ask our managers about whether or not our storage units are equipped to become an office or if they can be used as a workout room. The short answer is no. Although we store a lot of office items and business inventory, and also a lot of exercise equipment that is temporarily not being used – units are just not able to be used for those type of ongoing activities.

However, it’s likely the real reason for someone’s desire to use a storage unit as something other than a place to store things in is that it’s clean, uncluttered, and often air-conditioned. It’s away from the distraction of family, co-workers, phones, and to-do lists stuck on the refrigerator.

Order and tranquility are what are wanted; an uncluttered environment to think or work-out in. Shape magazine  had an excellent article of the benefits  Continue reading

Minimalism – Fad or Future

minimalism - bird on a wireThere is a lot of talk about minimalism these days. It may be coming about because as “first-worlders” we have the ability to accumulate a whole lot of stuff. We also have access to so much information and so much distraction that we can start to feel lost in the vastness of our personal empires of gadgets, user profiles, and twitter feeds.

Whatever the cause, the attraction to rid ourselves of clutter can become compelling. Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus, two Minimalists,  have become well known by their journey to minimalism and their positive feelings toward it. Continue reading

Ringing in the New Year – Resolutions the Easy Way

Lose weight, get in shape, get organized, do more, do less, we’ve all made at least a few New Year’s resolutions in our time.

Some resolutions require a lifestyle change and some require a single act of action.

For me, the resolutions that tend to be more successful are those requiring a single act. Lifestyle changes take more than just a jotting down a foggy wish on a napkin at the breakfast table on January 1st. They take a whole mental shift, a concerted effort to change who you are. Well for the most part I kind of like who I am (at least most days), I just want a few improvements.

So look to “single-act” resolutions that can positively impact your life.  This works especially well if that impact then extends beyond the single action. Some examples:

  • Want to lose weight, take your neighbor’s dog for a walk.
  • Want a nicer yard, dig a hole.
  • Want to get organized, sign up for a bigger storage unit.

Now experts might call this addressing the symptoms and not the problems, but I say “Hey, if you’re not coughing, sneezing or feeling lousy, does it really matter that you have a cold”, – of course not.

So here’s how it works …

Continue reading

Welcome to the Blog

Hi All,

Time to take a read about he lighter side of storage. Being in this industry we come across a lot of interesting, funny, and valuable information. We want to start passing some of it along!

So sit back, enjoy, and if you’d like, comment back to us!  We look forward to getting to know you better.