U.S. Bunkers
Today my friend, Mike, sent me the following e-mail:
From: Neff, Mike
Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 2004 2:13 PM
To: West, Karen
Subject: They've got to be kidding
I click on the link and find a truly odd offering - little spaceship styled bunkers for your personal home usage (in addition to their obvious military usage and the not so obvious undersea usage). The site is dedicated to the sale of these cute little backyard bunkers. What is a bunker, you ask? Well in the FAQ's for the site, it states:
What is a Bunker?
A Bunker has traditionally been a fixed armored concrete structure primarily used in war for the sole purpose of security and protecting the lives of those inside, until now. U.S. Bunkers is dedicated to providing the most ultimate, portable and multipurpose habitat for protection and security from threatening and non-threatening situations. These patented, armored, aerodynamic, monolithic concrete Bunkers have unlimited potential for adapting to an endless variety of conditions and uses. They are excellent in extreme temperatures and inclement weather conditions and they can be made to blend or camouflage themselves to the surrounding environment.
My first question to Mike was, "But can it float in a tsunami?" His response was, "You have to get the Posei-dome version." Cute, huh?
After reading the FAQ's I have several questions. First, is it possible for something made of concrete to be "aerodynamic," and if so, why would someone make a concrete object aerodynamic? How is the aerodynamics of a stationary object a selling point? Also, is it really necessary to have protection and security from "non-threatening situations?" I understand protection and security from threatening situations, but non-threatening situations? Come on now! I also have to wonder if the word "bunker" has become a proper noun, since they capitalized it throughout that paragraph. The U.S. Bunkers website also shows several government officials, many in their military uniforms sitting in or standing next to these bunkers in an apparent endorsement of the product, which seems like a bit of a conflict of interest to me, but what do I know? They invoke Secretary General of the United Nations in their scare tactic attempt to persuade people to purchase a bunker. Still, the little girl inside of me thinks that their geometric shape is really groovy and can't help but imagine how cool a house built out of these pods would be.
1 comment:
Glad you liked my find. I especially liked the pictures on the web site of the possible "uses" for these bunkers. The picture of one in the backyard next to a swimming pool, as if it were some sort of backyard lawn art, was very amusing.
The site also suggests that each pod can hold up to six people. From reading the dimensions of these things it seems that indeed they will hold six people as long as only one of them wants to stand up at any given moment. I imagine after a few hours inside with five others, thoughts of the Donner party may arise.
I love the fact that the pods also offer an extra escape hatch in case the main door somehow becomes blocked, as in the case of your dead neighbors' bodies becoming lodged against it in a last ditch attempt to pry open your little slice of Eden.
Anyhow, it would be a fun weekend project painting the thing.
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