Someone should coin a term for the recovery period you require after a "vacation." Seriously, who comes down off of a holiday rested? You run around for several days sight-seeing, entertaining and what-not, consuming far more food and beverage than normal (on a highly erratic schedule, mind you). This doesn't even cover the psychic havoc often wreaked when you spend time with family. It's plumb exhausting.
So I'm back today after five days with my mother and aunt, the world's most hard-core shoppers. Lawdy. I can throw down some shop time, but these ladies put me to shame. Does your penchant for accessorizing intensify as you get older, or what's the deal?
We did manage to do things besides shop. On Friday (St. Patrick's Day), we holed up in local pub O'Kelley's for some Guinness and corned beef/cabbage. (Well, all right, so I drank Michelob Ultra and ate chicken fingers, but I'm not Irish!) I expected to see the Storage Solutions boys down there, but no dice. Wonder where they ended up? BTWbelated Paddy's Day wishes to the Irishfolk among you!
Saturday involved a foray out to the Arizona Renaissance Festival, one of our favorite annual outings. Such fun. There's nothing like being a pirate for a day (the replica blunderbuss alone makes it worthwhile). I'd post a pic of our group in costume, but we looked so terrifyingI wouldn't want you shaking in your ergonomic swivel chair. Here's another treat instead:
A Spanish pirate blunderbuss replica. Photo from one of my favorite ebay vendors, Grendel's Cave.
All right, all right. I guess I'm going to have to get back to business eventually, so on to some self-storage topics.
LOOK UP!
What is it with storage facilities being bombarded from the sky? First, a Goodyear blimp crashes into a facility in Broward County, Fla. (June 2005); then a small jet careens into a storage site near McClellan-Palomar Airport (Carlbad, Calif.) in January; and now a plane collides into a Branson, Mo., facility on Tuesday. Either we've got some all-permeating storage coverage in this nation of ours, or pilots are just getting really good at pegging us out of a crowd.
Now, PLEASE don't accuse me of being insensitive. I'm not making light of the fact that people were killed and property damagedthese incidents were horrible tragedies, and my heart goes out to those who were affected. I just don't really believe in coincidences.
How is the government affecting you?
There's another hot topic on the table right now, which is the proposed construction of self-storage containers on U.S. military bases to accommodate deployed troops (read related article). From our industry's point of view, this could potentially damage existing storage businesses; and the Self Storage Association has been working very hard to buck the trend. SSA President and CEO Mike Scanlon testified last week in front of the Committee on Armed Services, Subcommittee on Military Personnel. You can read his full testimony here. This is a critical issue for storage owners, particularly those in targeted areas. I'd appreciate it if we could get some operators to comment on this topic in the blog. What are your thoughts/concerns?