Friday
9am: Brian is working at Java House Imports this morning, so it's up to me to run things until noon when he leaves the French Quarter. I'm supposed to go unload the van (full with the things from Unit #1 and Unit #2), but my phone has rang about 45 times this morning with questions about our garage sale this Saturday. I think it's more important that I clarify the ads and list our other items, after all-- without customers at the sale, there is no point in moving around furniture and things today.
12pm: Everyone's finished with their respective duties, so it's time now to go. We head to the warehouse and unload the van, and get ready to go back to Unit #2 to get the rest of it. We left the lamps, the sex machine... I mean, Bowflex or whatever it is called, and the wardrobe and a few other things because we were out of space in the van. We got those things out quickly and let the facility manager know that we were finished with both units.
1pm: We were going to head over to the New Orleans facility to get our two units there (Unit #4 and #5), but we get a call from the previous tenant of Unit #3 which we were pretty sure would end up happening. Ever since our competitor gave her our phone number out of spite several months ago, we always end up getting phone calls when one of her units has been auctioned, regardless of whether or not we purchased it. We did actually purchase it this time, so we agreed to meet her at that facility (on the Westbank) for her to take her things. The agreement was she had to pay us what she owed the facility (not a penny less-- we are not encouraging people to default on their storage lockers) and SHE had to move out the items-- not any different from what she would have had to do had she shown up at auction and paid. We just bought her an extra few days. So... we go about an hour out of our way, and she's more than 40 minutes late. We wait and wait, call her again, and while we wait, we start loading the van with stuff. She finally shows up-- without a penny on her. Brian is livid, and he has a right to be-- I'm pretty frustrated myself. I tell her that she now owes us more money for our time and trouble. She says no problem and she will let us know when she's going to pay-- we let her know it needs to be SOON. We don't hear anything from her, and I'm pretty sure we may have sold a few of her items at our garage sale on Saturday. Whether she wants to contact us or not is entirely up to her, we'll make our money back regardless.
** Update: we did meet with her tonight, and she did indeed buy her things back! We are happy we were able to help.
3:30pm: We're now way off schedule, and we've not eaten lunch (or breakfast, either) and we are trying to figure out how we're going to go get the remaining 2 units, switch out cars, make it back to the store in the French Quarter, get back across town into Metairie AND make it to a friend's surprise birthday party in time to not ruin the surprise, and we have no idea how to proceed. I stop for a minute to get a Storage Hunter lunch:
4pm-7pm: We dig out all of Unit #4 and part of Unit #5. While we're there, the guy we bought Unit #4 from drives in, tailgating another tenant in order to not have to use a gate code. We found a part of a jewelry box in that unit, so now it's pretty evident that he went in there and "stole" an item of the golden persuasion-- I confront him about it, and he doesn't deny it-- whatever. I tell him he missed some gold (which he did) and show it to him... it was worth it to see his eyes get huge right in front of me! We go back to our unit and find THOUSANDS of toys, including boxes and boxes of dinosaurs, Hot Wheels (which are worth a ton depending on years and models), and baseball team equipment. Oh, and did I mention, about 1800 Burger King Happy Meal toys? Stay tuned for this blog, entitled "Toy Story," coming later this week. PS - How ironic is it that I was wearing a KIDS MEAL CROWN when we bought that unit at auction?
7:00-8:00pm Brian and I both head our separate ways to shower & change & etc before the party begins. While I'm home, I get a phone call from the competitor we ran into earlier. I ignore it. I get another one. I ignore it. Finally after the 4th or 5th phone call, I answer to see what he wants. He followed us in to the gate, but didn't leave when we left (or when anyone else left for that matter). He does not have the gate code and doesn't realize that at this facility you need one to get out as well. He is now LOCKED IN the facility without a gate code! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Isn't karma a bitch? He asks me for the gate code and I remind him (again) that he took gold out of our unit. He asks me again for the gate code and I ask him what he's going to do for me. Finally, 10 minutes later, he promises us a share of the gold profit and a free lunch. I doubt I'll never see either of those things, but it was fun to listen to him beg.
8:30pm: I reconnect with Brian, and we're both exhausted, and both know we have a sale tomorrow at 6am, but we go to our friend's birthday party because we love her and it's a surprise. So we say our hellos, party for a bit, watch her cry at her surprise (which was so cute & touching) and move next door to the neighborhood bar to sing karaoke. Here's what Brian looks like when he's delirious:
10:30pm: We didn't make it very long, but we did leave this memento on our way out for the party girl to find on her way home:
1am: We got home around 11... but we stayed up an extra two hours working on the blog -- don't YOU feel lucky, readers? Now it's time for bed, finally! Another 15+ hour day! And only 5 hours before the wake up call for Saturday's sale!
Until next time,
Storage Heroes
Storage Heroes Tip #30: Dealing with a prior tenant is never recommended, but if it's someone you have a relationship with and/or there were extenuating circumstances and you feel sorry for the person, you always have the right as a buyer to decide your own course of actions for what is now your legal property. It's an honorable thing to do, just prepare yourself for a burn-- if they couldn't honor their obligations or promises to the storage facility the chances that they will/can honor their obligations or promises to you are slim to none!
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