 |
| The shelters are delivered. |
My family has lived in Northern Alabama for 3 years. We've had several tornado warnings, but this year was the worst. Up until April 27, I was perfectly fine sitting in the interior bathroom with two cats, the teen, and the hubby during a tornado warning.
April 27 changed my mind. Try riding out 21 tornado warnings over a 16 hour period, the last 4 hours in the dark with no communication, in a small bathroom. Try doing this after seeing 2 tornadoes begin to form over your house and one heading your way. Try doing this after realizing that an EF5 tornado with winds of over 200 miles has blown through 100 miles and just missed your house by a few miles.
 |
| Bob and Mean Bill move it! |
Not fun. Very scary. Very very very scary. So I finally decided to cough up a big chunk of change and I called Valley Storm Shelters to discuss getting an above ground tornado shelter installed in our garage. You can learn more about this company
here.
I ordered a 4x6x6 steel shelter with carpet, a light, a fan, the ability to run power and the strength to withstand an EF5 force tornado in May. It was built off-site, then finally delivered on July 6th. Bob and Mean Bill (yes that was his name) installed the 2000 plus pound shelter in our garage during a rainy, thundery, tornado like day. To be honest, any dark cloud with a whorl in it scares me these days!
 |
| Pulling her through the door! |
 |
| Will it fit? |
 |
| Mean Bill gets it in! |
I'm really pleased with my new shelter. It fits perfectly in our garage. There's only one problem. It's white. Super white. It's a big box of white in my garage. I want to decorate it. Darling Teen agrees. Maybe some applique stickers? I don't know, but I can't stand the idea of sitting in the all white room. It's too coffin like to me. Darling Hubby is worried it will impact a future buyer's opinion. But I think it is no big deal. All a buyer will care about is if it is a shelter.
 |
| Bob and I pose for a picture. |
So who do you think should win? Me and Darling Teen or Darling Hubby? Look at the pictures and give me your vote.
 |
| Stay white or decorate? You decide! |
37 comments:
Gosh. Tornadoes have got to be scary. Well done for getting the shelter.
I'd say decorate!
Thanks for the vote for decorating the white box!
:-)
And Congratulations Kieran Kramer!! You won a copy of MAN LAW yesterday. Woohoo!! Now you'll have something else to read on that treadmill desk. Which, by the way, I am tres curious about :-)
I vote DECORATE!
But you knew I would.lol!
I was on twitter that night reading your tweets when you suddenly disappeared. Actually it was your wifi that disappeared, not you... but I was so worried about you.
So glad you got the shelter!
And you know I have an online source for Clings if you need it- you know where to find me! ;)
Hi Pamela: Thanks for the vote. And thanks for worrying about us! This area is great, but the tornadoes and storms take some getting used to and I doubt I'll ever feel "safe."
The clings are good because they are easy to remove, right? I'll check them out!!
Darling Teen and I are on a winning streak for sure :-)
Of course I vote for you, however, if you ever sell the house, the decoration might not be to someone else's taste. But I'm glad you got the shelter and I don't think anyone will care what color it is as long as you're safe.
Definitely decorate!
Hi Marilyn: I vote to decorate, too. But we'll see what the big man says. LOL. I think those clings might be nice!! I'm glad we got it, too.
Now I'm hopping over to the Petit Fours blog to see how your short story is like the Harry Potter books :-)
Hi Wendy: Thanks for the vote in favor of decorating. I wonder what the husbands will think about decorating. Any man votes out there for decorating?
You need to come over and check out my little white condo in the garage :-)
Great idea, Christine. I didn't even know such a thing existed. And I definitely vote decorate. That thing looks like a big ol' blank canvas to me...
I saw decorate it!!!
I'm boring. I wouldn't decorate, but don't take advice from me. The inside of my house looks like a dentists office! Am I the only one who is very curious about the inside? That I want to see.
You could compromise and decorate with magnets. I am jealous of your shelter. Two of my neighbors had trees come through their house the morning of 4/27 when several baby tornadoes tore through my area of Birmingham. They only had minutes between the siren and BLAMMO. I would love to see inside your shelter!
I say decorate if it makes you feel better. Oh, and open the door and take another picture. ;)
Hi Pam: Thanks for your vote! I'm definitely going to add a picture to the blog showing the inside of the shelter. Maybe a before I decorate and after decorate blog is in the works now!
Hi Lynn: Yes! I agree. I might have to use the magnet suggestion. I like that one a lot. They are removable. You should come by sometime to check it out!
:-)
Hi Nicki: You and my hubby are on the same page! Haha. I'll tell him you said not to decorate. But you are not boring. Just practical :-)
Hi Heather: I wish you lived closer so I could shelter you from the storms!! The tornadoes on April 27th were terrible. I'm so glad no one I know got hurt during that day.
Hugs! And thanks for the magnet suggestion. I like it!
:-)
Hi Carol: I will open the door and take a picture of the shelter. Maybe more than one. I think decorating with clings and magnets will work great.
So I guess I'll have to do a before and after blog. Do you think maybe Vern from HGTV could give it a mini makeover?
:-)
I HATE tornadoes. I remember hiding in the hallway under a mattress with two babies in OKC during one of the worst. I always wondered why new houses in tornado-prone parts of the country aren't built with shelters or reinforced safe rooms.
Anyway, I vote decorate. Even if it's something removable. You have to live with it now, not your future buyer. Have fun!
Hi Gwen: I remember you telling me that story. Yuck!! Super scary. And yes! Why don't builders automatically HAVE to do this in these areas? As it is the new construction peeps are advertising that they are doing this NOW after the fact because they want to sell houses. Me? I had to add it after the fact but that's okay. I feel better already knowing it is there.
I'm decorating it! Stay tuned :-)
Very cool! I too vote to decorate. But then again, I can't stand a white wall...grin... Besides, YOU have to look at this every day until YOU move. So you might as well enjoy it (unless you are thinking of moving within a year. Then I would reconsider).
I hope this makes you feel a bit safer. I can't even imagine what you guys went through. Glad you are safe.
Tami
Yikes that looks small!
HI Tami: I think I will decorate it with the removable clings and magnets. I am happy we have it, too!!
:-)
Hi Wendy M.: it does look small, doesn't it? But it holds 4-6 people if they stand. Most likely I'll be the only one it along with the kitties.
:-)
If you can't hide it, decorate it! Isn't that the old adage?
I'm the odd woman out, I guess, Christine. I'd keep it the way it is. That way, when it is dark and you cannot see anything, the reflection from your flashlight off of that glorious white beacon will lead the way to safety. ;)
I'm envious and must learn more about this shelter, but I'm more happy that you and your family have nothing to worry about now. Stuff is stuff. Life is life. :D
I'm thinking what if you got in there and couldn't get the door open if debris blocked it. I'm claustrophobic to an extent. LOL
Hi Lexi: I love that adage! Decorate it--:-)
Hi Katherine: I would love to show the shelter the next time you come over. I think a sparing amount of personalization will occur. I can't bear that all white--at least not totally.
:-)
Hi Patricia: Darling Hubby and I aren't fans of enclosed spaces either. That's why we went with an above ground shelter. Less coffin like to us. The door to the shelter swings in so that's good. And we're registering with the fire and police department so they'll know we're there if the house collapses on top of us. Hopefully that will never happen!
:-0
Definitely decorate! Can it even be painted? Or maybe Wallies which peel off when you leave. Either way, decorations will make it look less like a large reriigerated room which may make people wonder what you're doing in your garage!
Miss u!
xx
Sharon
Hi Sharon: I think I am going to use magnets on the inside. That might make it more cheerful!
And I miss you, too. Happy Writing!!
I got to thinking about this thing and wondering...is it fastened to the floor in some way? If not, what's to keep a tornado from lifting it up and sending you and the shelter flying through the air?
Oh, Carol, it's bolted to the garage floor with these super massive bolts that go deep, then a special fastener is also sent into the ground with it that gets super hard, too. It's been approved by FEMA so we're golden.
:-)
Okay, whew!
Hey, do you not have an RSS feed? I was going to put your blog in my Bloglines aggregator, but couldn't find a feed. ???
I thought I had an RSS feed at the bottom of my blog site. I'll ask my darling teen to check for me. I'm technologically challenged, but I'll try to fix it.
Sigh.
Another non-writing task LOL.
Post a Comment