As I mentioned in a
previous post, we have a two week gap period between when our sublease ends and when we can move into student housing. Which means we had to get storage. I mentioned how steep I thought Manhattan Mini Storage's prices were, and how I had found a great little company that dropped off a storage closet right at your front doorstep. Or the door to the apartment building in this case. Turns out I had a tough time getting back in touch with the guy, who was supposed to call me to get payment info but never did. But it also turns out that if you play coy with Mini, they give you discounts. The day after I spoke with their sales rep, I got an email for 20% off. The day after that I got another discount. And another. Until finally the price was comparable to that of Mr. Flaky Closet Storage Man.
So I bit the bullet and signed up for a 4' x 4' x 5' unit, which I thought would have plenty of room for the few items in our studio. I started packing and sizing up our stuff:
 |
| The boxes from my fun trip to Home Depot |
I thought I was being so organized by measuring everything out and planning exactly how it would all fit into 80 cubic feet of space. I even decided that I would have room left over.
Another perk about Mini is that they provide a free "taxi" to the facility, which is actually a large moving van. So the day after packing, this guy shows up and we load everything inside.
I show up at the storage facility and unload everything onto three large dollies. I had never been inside one of these places before, and didn't realize how creepy they are. All of the lights are turned off and flicker on only when you walk under them, turning back off immediately after you've passed. Everything is white and sterile, and there are surprisingly few people for a place this large. The hallways are just wide enough for you to push their dollies through, which led me to a few minor accidents en route to my unit.
 |
| This actually isn't a black and white photo... |
 |
| Realizing why it's called "mini" storage |
I finally unload all of my junk, and realize I may have slightly misjudged the amount of room our stuff would take up. Not accounting for the corrugated walls totally threw me off! The (former?) engineer in me felt shamed, but I was still convinced I could wedge the remainder of our stuff into the unit. Here's how it looked after the first trip:
 |
| Plenty of room left!? |
About a week goes by, and as I'm gathering the rest of our stuff I'm starting to doubt my planning abilities even more...
 |
| Where did it all come from?? |
When I finally get everything together and realize how much space the vacuum cleaner, microwave, printer, computer monitor, etc. take up I decide we're gonna need another unit. Blast. I decided to get the cheapest one possible, which was on the second level instead of the first, meaning it was five feet off the ground. This didn't seem like a huge deal when I was loading stuff into the ground unit, but when I show up with a second truckload of stuff I realize why the top units are so much less expensive. There were really only five or six steps to get to the top, but while lugging suitcases and boxes I felt like Rocky going up that long flight of stairs. Only not as graceful, and in slow motion.
 |
| Cue motivational theme music |
To add to the fun, there was a mutant horse fly that really wanted to hang out on me and kept getting disturbed when I would move. I think he may have been drawn to the sweat. Gross.
Stage one of Operation Storage is now complete, thankfully, and we're going on vacation until we move into student housing, when we get to do the whole process all over again. Good times!
