Snow days

The past few weeks we have had an over abundance of snow days. My five-o-clock calls from the automated school system are almost a regular thing. Either we have a delay or we have a closing. Just yesterday I got the dreaded call, yes I say dreaded because by this point it is painful to reach for it and hear the message, we started with a two hour delay which I understood, the weather called for snow showers in the morning but clearing up pretty quickly by mid morning. Then as I am clearing the driveway yet again my neighbor who also happen to operate my day care hollers across the street to tell me that he got the call that school is closing…….

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Honestly I was speechless. I did ask if was sure and he gave me an extremely exasperated hand thrown up in the air and almost simultaneously we both said “WHY”? The roads we good by this point and no full blown storm on the radar so it really made absolutely no sense to close. I finished the driveway because one way or another I was most definitely going to work! I love a good snow day as do most of us but enough is enough. I had already emptied my DVR of all shows and really had no more snacks and no real desire to be stuck in the house yet another day. One good snow day a month is ok but when you have closings and delays at least two to three times a week it creates the stir crazies!! My drive to Middletown for the most part is an easy one if they clear the highway, and route 84 is a major so they are all over it, not to mention my facility in Middletown on Dolsontown Rd is a hop off the exit and directly off route 17 so it is smooth sailing on most days for me. Now the bridge that is a whole different boat and it’s really sink or swim since it’s under repair. Any major storm and I stay on my side. So with the driveway all clear I stomp back into the house and just moments after taking my boots off does the phone ring and of course Ms. Automated is telling me yet again that the schools will be closed due to inclement weather………..

Yeah whatever I say to nobody because it’s automated, which is probably a good thing with the mood I was now in. My daughter is now up and moving and asked about school so I let her know it’s closed and to my surprise she went into a full blown rant! The only thing I could do was just listen until she was done. She found it unbelievable that they would close school; didn’t I say that we weren’t to get much snow? If we aren’t getting much why are they closing? And if they take away her spring vacation she is going to flip out!!!
I explained it wasn’t my call but I am certainly in total agreement as to how she feels. Either way I have to figure out the where she is going to be so I can get to work. This wound up to be easy since I had already a text in my phone with it all figured out for me and I didn’t have to do a thing, now that was total relief, she loves her after school program but if there is a snow day they stay at the main site with the little kids and the older ones are not a fan anymore. Things change so drastically when they enter middle school, I am still adjusting and we are in the seventh grade, by the time I get it figured out she will be going to high school and here we go again………… :-/

Now I have to say as tell the rant story to my family and friends everyone is cracking up including me, I do not think my older daughter ever went into a tizzy about school closing, and her concern over spring break was over the top, we don’t have a vacation planed so am waiting to see what she throws at me, most definitely she is making plans or the rant would have been just a basic complaint
 
And at this point I really really really wanted to go to work………… did I mention how much I really did?

Now it’s a new month and I have a lot to do, and with last week’s weather interrupting my schedule I have to catch up on a few things, nothing that couldn’t wait but I really couldn’t wait at this point. I didn’t even mind the wise cracks from my out of state tenants, the ones in the sunny states are always the ones who just have to tell me it’s a balmy 79 degrees where they are, and knowing full well what it’s like here ask … how’s the weather? Though not one can get the question out without laughing and so I get to rant and laugh right along with them.

I have such a wide variety of tenants here at Storage Station in Middletown, from the five boroughs of New York to the West coast and all in between. Thing is I really like my job and the people I come in contact with on a daily basis, there is such a wide variety from all walks of life I learn something new every single day and even the one’s I have never met in person we have conversations about all things from family to recipes and we cover just about everything when they call in. Yet these extremely long winter month’s I can most definitely do without. Everything freezes so it’s all about salting and plowing and when will it ever end is most definitely part of every conversation, and now that it is February we are nearing the end so just about everyone is ready for warm weather and flip flops!! Talk to you soon

The Calm before the Storms, Storage Station, West Milford, New Jersey

Life here at Storage Station at 11 White Road and 1867 Greenwood Lake Turnpike in West Milford, New Jersey has been hopping!  People are returning their RV’s and campers to their assigned parking spots or renting a new space for the season and getting them closed-up nice and tight for the winter ahead.  The classic cars shows are almost done for the season and the cars will soon be put to bed in their units to wait until Spring arrives again so they can be enjoyed and shared with the world.  Tenants have been coming and going switching their summer goods for their cold weather items. I have seen them putting away patio furniture, lawn decorations and other summer time accessories. The staff has been busy cleaning up after the beautiful and bright colors of the fall leaves that happen every fall. With the cooler temperatures now we all have thoughts of another winter coming soon. 

Self Storage Blog After the ravages of Sandy hit here in the Northern part of New Jersey, many people were forced to re-evaluate how and where they stored their  items.  Many basements were flooded; stand-alone sheds were demolished by downed trees or blown away by the sheer force of the winds.  Peoples’ lives were affected by more than the loss of power and lack of gasoline. I cannot believe it has been two years since Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast and left its mark with a large amount of damage that affected a many of us in one way or another. Thinking back I remember that being an extremely busy time for us here at Storage Station. For many days we ran several of our locations without power to assist those who needed our self storage services because their homes or business received damages with the extreme flooding and the high winds. With all the damage we received through our areas we had also lost power for days and some areas for weeks making the clean up and travel extremely difficult. I look back and remember seeing so much damage with down trees and debris everywhere I went while traveling from one site to another checking the properties for damage or flooding. I had done this as soon as soon as the state of emergency had been lifted and it was safe to travel again on the roads but even then it was difficult because of large trees blocking road ways. It took a very long time for roads to become clear because of the large amount of trees that were down. In some areas they would not remove the whole tree but instead there would be an effort of individuals who need to at least be able to get through that they would make the road passable in order to do so. It was awesome to see so many residents working together at this time of need. It was also heartbreaking to see and hear about the amount of damage Hurricane Sandy left in its wake. As I went from one location to another and hearing the residents in the areas talk about either their experience and loss or what they had see my heart would break because so many families had to relocate because of their large loss. I don’t believe any of us who experienced this storm will ever forget Hurricane Sandy.

And the affects of last winter’s storms are still fresh on peoples’ minds.  How much snow will we get this year? If I clean out the garage can I park in it? Should I buy a snow blower?   Should we invest in a generator?  How much power do we really need?  Just the mention of bad weather sends throngs of people to the supermarkets and home stores to hoard whatever they think they might need. It was difficult to even find salt because there became a shortage because we would only of a few days between each storm. The large mounds of snow just kept growing and growing and we never thought it would never stop or melt away. Many of us like the snow but I believe almost all of us became exhausted with the large amount and the many storms that we had. I hope this winter there are a few less storms and not such a large amount of snow.

We here at Storage Station are here to help customers figure out what options better suit their needs.  How many items are they storing?  What sizes are the items they are putting into the self-storage unit?  Will the customer need climate control to better suit the items stored?  If they are storing a  car, do we have the drive-up capability available for them?  Do they need packing boxes, bubble wrap, tape or special boxes for special items such as lamps, hanging clothes, or Grandma’s china?

Now that you’ve bought all the necessary tools, salt, calcium, shovels, etc. that you will need for the coming winter months, where do you put all the things that are currently blocking your way in the shed?  Or in the basement or garage?  A self-storage unit is a great and convenient idea.  We can help you find the right size, space and means of storing your things so they are easily obtainable anytime you may need them.  No more struggling to get to the back of the shed or garage only to find that the item you need is still in the attic! 

At Storage Station we stock an array of box sizes, special sized boxes, plastic covers in various sizes, locks, moving blankets and more!  We are here to help you make the transition from cluttered rooms, space or even in emergency we you are in need of self storage so please do not hesitate to contact anyone of our 6 locations throughout New Jersey and New York. If you need further information please feel free to contact 973-846-4637 or 973-846-4402 and a knowledgeable and helpful Storage Station associate will be more than happy to assist you. We pride ourselves on trying to meet all your self storage needs.