Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Felony Flats?

It is an interesting thing nicknames. I remember the cruelty of many of them while in school growing up. I guess being so far removed from those days I hadn't really paid much attention, but then recently I saw an article in The News Review (our local news paper) about how bad things were in the Pine/Mill/SE Stephens neighborhood. Its true, the area is called Felony Flats by a fair amount of folks in this community.

We put it to a test last night. Not intentionally, but a test none the less. An employee forgot to close one of the garage doors to the facility. So it sat in plain view of anyone walking or driving by on Highway 99 through town.

The call came in from the alarm company about 3:30 am, motion sensors activated in several bays. I gave them my vehicle description to share with the police and headed toward the shop.

Here's the deal, I show up, recognize that there has been no damage to the door which is odd because we normally lock them from both the inside and the out. Without a key, you're going to have to damage something to get the door open.

The Roseburg City Police had been dispatched after receiving a call from a concerned citizen who noticed the door open when they drove by. They performed a really thorough inspection on the facilities, and in the process of entering the building tripped a motion sensor, thus the alarm.

So I wonder, how many people walked by but stayed honest. The video cameras tell the rest. All evening long, even into the early morning, folks stop, look and move on. So Felony flats? I say no way. This neighborhood like any other has its share of lawbreakers, but I would say if anything we're better than average on our good guy percentage.

Thank-you to all in the neighborhood for keeping it honest, and calling it in when we're dumb. It helps keep us in business, and we love being able to offer a needed service.

-Tim-

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rent...?

I was reading a flier for an event recently when I was reminded of this concept. The tie in was obvious to me, but I wrote the person in charge for the event to get their take on it.

Turns out he saw it the same way. I have long felt driven to help where I could in helping resources go farther. 

For instance, I hate seeing walk behind lawn mowers go to the dump when simply cleaning a plugged main jet in the carburetor could have it up and running again. I can almost guarantee this has happened more times than we care to count right here in the Roseburg landfill.

So I wrote an article about it, complete with picture's, you can find it in a previous blog post. 

Getting it running again keeps it out of the landfill, saves the owner money they would have spent on a new mower, reduces all the energy spent creating and shipping the new mower. That's how I see it anyway. We sell mowers, so this statement isn't in our favor.

The mowers we do sell last, they are better for the environment than cheap box store throw aways.

So back to renting, and the environment.

A.) You're sharing that resource with your neighbors, they are renting it too this reduces the amount of equipment manufactured. 

B.) Most equipment requires service (at least an oil change) twice a year to maintain the warranty. Unless it is used frequently, the time expires before the hours used trigger a service requirement. This means lots of wasted resources compared to equipment that is serviced for hourly use reasons.

C.) Most rental stores are pretty good about recycling. At Roseburg Rental, all waste oil is repurposed as fuel oil and used to heat various businesses around town. Equipment to be disposed of is disassembled as necessary and recycled (it how they fund the Christmas party!). Carboard, paper, bottles and more are all recycled whenever possible.

What this all means is that renting is good for the environment and;

You don't have to store it

You don't have to maintain it.

You don't have the to drop a bunch of dough to purchase it (good for your cashflow).

You get to use commercial grade equipment that usually mean a better finished product, done faster, and was easier to use.

For a great place to rent in Roseburg or central Douglas County for that matter, check out; Roseburg Rental