Recipe for the Holidays All Year Long. Happy Holidays from Omaha and Des Moines Dino’s Storage!

Take a heap of child-like wonder,
That opens up our eyes.
To the unexpected gifts in life,
Each day a sweet surprise.
Mix in fond appreciation,
For the people whom we know.
Like festive Holiday candles,
Each one has a special glow.
Add some giggles and some laughter,
A dash of Holiday food.
Amazing how a piece of pie,
Improves our attitude!
Stir it all with human kindness,
Wrap it up in love and peace.
Decorate with optimism, and
Our joy will never cease.
If we use this healthy recipe,
We know we will remember.
To be in the Holiday spirit,
Even when it’s not December.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE…FROM THE DINO’S FAMILY!

Dino’s Storage in Omaha is celebrating an employee’s birthday!

Hello all Dino’s Storage customers and prospects! My name is Sarah Hill and today is my birthday! I have been with Dino’s Storage since August as the Operations Manager’s Assistant. Jena Erickson is the Operations Manager’s and she was so thoughtful and brought in cupcakes for the office today.The Dino’s Storage staff is made up of really amazing people.This is the first time EVER that I have truly loved doing my job.

If there is anything that we can do here at Dino’s Storage to help make your day any easier please let us know! You can reach me at Sarah@dinosstorage.com.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Reflections of Customer Appreciation

As we decorate our abodes to bring warmth and cheer through the winter that is here, we should all take time to reflect before the New Year. Nearly half of the people that come into my office are in a transitional period in their lives. I feel blessed to be able to help my wonderful customers with not only their storage needs but more often then not, I have been a shoulder to cry on and an ear when they need someone to listen or if they are just so excited about an event in their life and want to share what they are going through.

My customers are very important to me and I would like to share a small token of my appreciation with all of you! I have placed my business cards all over the tree that I have decorated in my office and each card has a number on the back of it. Anyone who rents a unit in December will be able to choose a card from the tree for a chance at one of the following gifts: padlock, disk lock, administrative fee waived or a surprise gift! And any current customer that has a non-delinquent account on December 31, 2013 will be automatically be entered to receive 1 of 6 rent credits ranging from $5 to $30!

I would like to leave you with one final thought as I had a friend share these 7 Cardinal Rules of Life with me and I would like to share them with you:

1)      Make peace with your past, so it will not disturb your present.
2)      What other people think of you is none of your business.
3)      Time heals almost everything. Give it time.
4)      No one is in charge of your happiness. Except you.
5)      Do not compare your life to others and do not judge them, you have no idea what their journey is all about.
6)      Stop thinking too much. It’s alright not to know the answers. They will come to you when you least expect it.
7)      Smile. You do not own all of the problems in the world.

As I sat here and read this, I did reflect on how these ideas apply to my own life but I also thought about all of the stories that my customers have shared with me over the years and how each of their journeys correlated with at least once of these rules. Perhaps as you sit here and read this, one of the rules stands out for you as well. I think that it is important for all of us to reflect and remember that we are all dealing with some bit of a struggle in our lives but it is those challenges that make us stronger as a person. Please carry these rules or ideas with you on a daily basis, find peace within yourself, be kind to your neighbor and always smile and have fun!!

The Armor of God

Ephesians 6:10-21 (New International Version)

The Armor of God

¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. ¹⁹Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. ²¹Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing.

Self Storage for Businesses

Most people think that storage facilities are only used for individuals storing personal items. I hear this often when business owners call to ask about storage options, storage units for businesses big or small are a great way to save money and space. Prime example here at Cedardale; I have several businesses who store seasonal items, items needing archived, and especially now with the overflow of holiday items they do not have room for. Utilizing space in a business is important so remember that Self Storage for businesses is very common and a great way to help your business grow.

Those that pray together stay together!

Dino’s Storage owner, Dave Paladino has started something that will keep the company’s values and beliefs going strong. Every Wednesday at 6am at the office we are going to sit down and pray together. It will be about 15 minutes. Prayer requests are welcome and we will pray for each other.

Packing Materials

Remember Dino’s storage not only has storage units for your items but we have everything here for your packing as well. We stock a variety of different size boxes, everything from small boxes for books to large boxes for linens and towels. We carry several different specialty boxes, such as, wardrobe boxes for hanging clothes, flat boxes for pictures and flat screen TV’s, different types of dish packing boxes with the perfect dividers in them for plates and glasses. In addition to boxes we have mattress covers, furniture covers, bubble wrap and the tape you need to secure everything.

HELP DINO’S STORAGE RESTOCK THE FOOD BANK

As you may know from previous blogs, it’s important to our owner of Dino’s Storage to serve and contribute to and within the community. So one of the things he encourages the individual facility managers to do is run specials at our storage facilities that help non-profit and charity organizations.

So this month at the Center St (Midtown) facility I am running the following special:

HELP US RESTOCK THE FOOD BANK!!

Donation of 5 items gets you $5.00 off the monthly rate for a 10×5 unit.

Donation of 10 items gets you $10.00 off the monthly rate for a 10×10 unit.

Don’t have time to go to the store? Monetary donations of $5.00 and $10.00 can also be made directly to the Food Bank at http://www.foodbankheartland.org

Offer valid only once, applies to new move-ins only, and items or receipt must be presented at time of lease signing.

MOST NEEDED ITEMS ARE:
peanut butter, crackers, canned fruit, canned vegetables, macaroni & cheese, pancake mix, cereal, pasta sauce, pasta, canned soup, canned meat, pork & beans,
hamburger helper & other boxed meals

ALL DONATION GO DIRECTLY TO THE FOOD BANK FOR THE HEARTLAND.

The Midtown location is an indoor, multilevel, climate & humidity controlled facility with 5×5 – 10×20 size units available. Facility amenities include 24/7 access, digital camera surveillance, and individual coded access to the building.

Kerry Lambert – Property Manager

5328 Center St – Omaha, NE 68106

(402) 504-4600

Boo, Blessings, Ho, Ho, Ho

Isn’t it fun to see all the holiday decorations–on a Halloween drive finding ghosts, witches, spiders, and jack-o-lanterns: a Thanksgiving drive seeing Pilgrims, turkeys and pumpkins; and the best is a Christmas drive spotting Santa, sleighs and reindeer, lighted trees, candles, and a manger scene.
After it is over, where do they put all those wonderful decorations for next year? Do they stick them in the basement, or attic, or maybe the garage? Many have found the best solution is to take them to a storage unit. A storage unit means the decorations are safely out of the way but so handy when needed for next year. A unit at one of the Dino’s Storage locations might be just the ticket for your holiday decorations.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, HAPPY THANKSGIVING AND A BLESSED CHRISTMAS.

Storage Auctions

Storage auctions have increased in popularity over the last decade due to the various TV shows. If a lessee defaults on the payments, the storage facility has the right to legally auction the items in the unit. Dino’s Storage holds auction every month for units in default for non payment or abandonment. There will typically be between 15-25 attendees and while there are regular bidders, we do occasionally have new people that attend our auctions or call to inquire about the auctions. I would like to take this opportunity to share a few of the more common questions that are asked by storage auction attendees.

The most frequent question is, “How many units do you have?” That varies from facility to facility. I typically will have 3-5 units on a monthly basis that default into the auction process, whereas, another of our Des Moines locations rarely has any units for sale. The lessee that has defaulted technically has up to the time of auction to settle their debt and reclaim the unit, so it would be best to call the property the day of the auction and ask the manager how many units they anticipate selling.

Next, we get asked “What size units are you selling?” Again, that varies month to month and most managers will announce the unit size just as the door opens before bidding starts. We have units ranging from 5×5 all the way up to 10×30. And it is hard to judge by size alone until we open the door for you to peak in. I have auctioned a 10×20 unit with only a couple items, then turned around an auctioned a 5×10 that was packed to the brim.

A lot of people will ask, “Do you have anything good today?” This question really is a matter of perception. What I think is “good” might be completely different from what yours is. Or perhaps you are looking for something in particular or have a certain taste in style. I have been a storage manager for 5 years and I have seen many auctions. I have seen buyers come out way ahead and I have also seen buyers bust on a purchase. Since you can not see what is in every box or bag, buying units is often a surprise and you take the good with the bad.

For those of you that have attended a live storage auction or have at the least seen the process on TV, you know that we open the door and give you a few minutes to view that unit without touch anything or going into the unit before the bidding starts. I have had people ask me if we sell individual items out of the unit and that would honestly take all day in most cases, so no, we sell the unit as a whole.

That brings me to the next question, “How long do we have to clean out the unit?” The Des Moines auctions are usually held on the last Friday of the month and we will give the buyer 24 hour access to remove all the items by Monday morning or we will be happy to lease the unit to the buyer if more time is needed.

I try to keep my comments to a minimum during the auction process to ensure everyone is playing on an even field. Of course you will have the regular bidders that come every month and know a little more about bidding, winning and re-selling the units but we also have new bidders or people that just come out to see what storage auctions are all about, but everyone deserves a fair shot at winning a unit. So, if you are a small business owner that buys units regularly or a first time bidder, bring your credit card and try your luck at one of our storage auctions…Happy Bidding!!