Yakutat Bay Lodge

I have had several calls asking about the status of the Yakutat Bay Lodge.  Apparently their phone number is disconnected and the e-mail contact doesn’t work.  Today Chris called asking,  so I was finally prompted to find out…

Yakutat Bay Lodge did not renew either their city,  or state business licenses.  They had been offering the property for sale,  but had no takers as of yet.  The Yak-tat KWAAN native corporation is considering a purchase of the lodge property.  I talked with their commercial property representative today and learned that the KWAAN has the financing to make the purchase,  but a final decision will not be made until the next corporate meeting in April.

They are considering several options – to continue to operate it as a lodge,  utilize it as an apartment building,  or for office space.  All this will be decided in April.  In the meantime,  there will not be any lodge operation in time for the spring steelhead season.  There is no guarantee they will operate it at all as a lodge.

No further information at this time.  It has been a struggle in Yakutat over the past couple years especially in the lodging business.  We may see more casualties (or opportunities) in the coming season.  No matter where you are reading this,  we all are sharing in the struggles this poor economy brings.  Yakutat has fared pretty well thus far,  with its high reliance on grants and stimulus.  That is finally drying up,  so the pressures the rest of the country has endured will undoubtedly be striking Yakutat hard in the coming year.

Like I said,  we’ll see more casualties – or opportunities – depending on whether your glass is half-full,  or half-empty.

Happy Presidents Day

On this day in 1942,  President FDR issued his Executive Order that authorized the rounding up and imprisonment of  American citizens from Japanese descent.  Although the Japanese were the primary target,  they also imprisoned Americans with German and Italian heritage.  Although the overarching goals of America’s fight against Imperialist Japan and Fascist Germany and Italy was a noble and heroic cause,  the deeply embedded racism of President Roosevelt and many Americans resulted in the persecution,  imprisonment and theft of property of hundreds of thousands of completely innocent Americans that just happened to have a different ethnic history than the majority of our nation.

America was and is a shining example of freedom in the world,  however we must NEVER forget the mistakes we have made.  We must remember where we come from,  warts and all,  or risk repeating these same mistakes.  The rule of law must apply to all Americans regardless of ethnicity,  race,  or background.

As part of the Defense Authorization Act of 2012,  the Republican controlled House,  Democrat controlled Senate and President Obama passed and signed into law the ability for the government to arrest and detain American citizens within the United States without trial for an indefinite period.  With the historic event that took place on this day exactly 70 years ago,  it can and has happened here.  It also happened at Woodrow Wilson’s hand in 1918.

What was once “Washington’s Birthday” has now become a diluted holiday honoring ALL our presidents,  even those who should be reviled,  not honored.  There is so very little that Wilson did as President that warrants his inclusion in a holiday.  If FDR’s true legacy was revealed in our history books,  one would be repulsed.  This holiday was meant to honor a truly great man who more than any other birthed our nation.  He risked his life that we all could live in freedom – the freedom we take for granted and do not value.  Although most Americans at the time wished for him to become their King,  George the Washington stepped down from power.  An amazing man for an amazing time. Was he a perfect man? No man is.  But oh,  to have a man like that now.

We must remember our honest history,  or we will repeat the past.

Kid Photos

Now that taxes are done,  I’m stalling about getting back into the mood of hangar construction.  So,  one evening this weekend we were looking at old photos with the kids.  These are some of my favorites that Tanis and Eden took:

Nothin' like a good portrait taken by my son!

Action shot of mom, obviously hard at work...

They can on occasion get your head within the frame, but the results are rarely better than cutting your head off.

Mom reading through curriculum stuff.

The best photos are when they steal your camera and you get to see what interests them.

Gee, I wonder what Tanis thinks about...

When he starts thinking about girls, I'll have to keep closer tabs on my camera.

Now here's something after my own heart...How about a little wildlife in action?

More wildlife

Or any compromising action...

 

Very nice.

As usual, Teen manages to avoid looking like a dork. Could it be because she doesn't look like a dork?

 

Sometimes the only way to avoid the spotlight is to never leave your bed.

They will on rare occasion make a mistake and take a great photo.

Like this!

No sense in smiling for the camera...

 

Eden's self-portrait

 

Thank you for your patience.  I hope you have enjoyed this little photo exhibition from my kids.  These days slip by so quickly and then they are gone.

Stalling on My Taxes

I’m finishing our taxes.

Going through the list of completed info…

1) Commercial Fishing for me

2) Commercial Fishing for Tanis

3) Dry Bay Fisheries,  LLC (the Dry Bay fish plant)

4) Dry Bay Holdings,  LLC (the airplane)

5) Yakutat History Foundation – DBA Alaska Warbird Museum

6) The Hangar

7) Situk Casters Unlimited,  LLC – DBA Situk River Fly Shop

Just finishing up the last bits of our personal stuff and going through our itemized deductions.  My brain is fried.  Teen read me an e-mail she received from a good friend in PDX who asked if there was any chance we would be coming south this winter…  Um…  Nope!  Because…  “it is only a 3 hour drive to SEA from PDX.”  With my brain fried as it is,  I started reciting the poem – theme to Gilligan’s Island.  Tanis turned around from his school work and looked at me like I had lost my mind.  LONG AGO,  my son!  Long ago.

My kids have no idea what Gilligan’s Island is!  Have you ever tried to actually explain the premise as if it is something serious?  I showed them the candy factory scene from I Love Lucy last month for the first time.  I have to get the Gone with the Wind scene from the Carol Burnett Show for them.  They have no idea why I always tell Teen she should wear a dress and pearls when doing housework like Mrs. Cleaver.  These kids are sheltered!  How will they function in life without all this useless knowledge cluttering up their brains???

I have started exposing them to important movies.  I forced Tanis to sit down with me through Young Frankenstein,  so now they walk through the house asking,  “Pardon me boy,  is this the Transylvania Station?”  Then Eden answers,  “Ya,  ya!  Track Twenty-Nine.  Oh,  can I give you a shine?”  “Um,  no thanks!”  We also watched Jaws,  Singing in the Rain and I have Airplane cued up for some night without the girls.

Ever wonder at just how much CRAP we have stored up there in our noggins?  Since we don’t have TV,  or radio here,  my kids have the chance to put useful information in there instead of all the insipid song lyrics and TV theme songs I have ready to spring forth at any moments’ notice.  Well,  I sure as heck can’t let that happen!  No sense in giving my kids that much of an advantage in life. I think I’ll go on Amazon and buy some TV boxed sets.  I have Star Trek and M.A.S.H. already and Teen bought Little House on the Prairie for some unknown reason.  Time to get a few more…  What is a sick day home from school without I Dream of Jeanie and Get Smart?  ANYTHING to avoid finishing taxes!

“To Serve Man…  It’s a cookbook!”

More Storm News…

OK,  you know we had quite the storm last week with our 100 MPH winds.  What I didn’t talk about was the big damage to the hangar that we’re currently coping with…  The hangar is old and after 30 years of neglect at the hands of the City of Yakutat,  some maintenance issues are becoming maintenance hazards.

This looks so much worse in person... Yes, the chain is keeping three planes from being crushed.

One of the big rolling doors “failed” in the storm.  On several of the doors,  each place where a horizontal support joins the outer vertical frame,  the water that collects there has rusted through and weakened the frame.  Weakened to the point that one door failed completely and threatened to collapse on top of three planes.

We have been able to get the door back upright,  so it is supporting itself again and not an eminent threat,  but we have another door that is in the process of failing,  plus two other doors that are rusted through,  but still straight.  Their failure is just a matter of time.

The weak point of another door

We do have new doors,  but installation will cost in excess of $400,000.  Not exactly an expense we can afford at this time.  We may have to essentially weld the doors shut to keep them from collapsing,  or some other dramatic step to make things less of a threat.  The rest of the hangar’s steel structure of course is still in great shape,  but its use as an airplane hangar may be at an end,  until the doors can be replaced.

Quite the thrill, coming in and seeing this...

So…  we have a lot on our plate at the moment.  Our “hope” to make it a couple years more was as empty as other “hope’s” we’ve had recently…  Reality is here.  Although plane storage is looking impossible next winter,  we’ll still be able to open enough doors to continue with other non-aviation storage (I “hope”).  I’ll keep you posted.  Really,  really big bummer…

But…  we do have the door secured for now.  We should be able to address the problems more thoroughly come summer,  but not a lot we can do about it right now.

Truth

A week or so ago,  Teen was reading a book to the kids about a missionary couple in a remote part of Mexico from about 60-70 years ago.  The missionaries were having a tough time communicating with the people of this small tribe about the word of God,  or at least difficulty spreading the Word to other villages because of the language barrier and not having the Bible translated into the tribal language.  Then a wonderful gift came in the form of a set of phonograph records that had several books of the New Testament translated into this obscure language.

OK,  after this lengthy set up…  The villagers were at first terrified by the strange black tortilla that spoke.  After some semi-humorous exchanges,  one of the older villagers (and this darned set up is just getting longer and longer…) explained that God made the words leap from the tortilla to their ears.  The missionary smiled and confirmed that this was the case.  Um…  Not!

I butted into the “lesson” at that point and asked my kids,  “when is it OK to lie to forward your cause?”  In this case,  the missionaries lied about how records worked.  I wasn’t very impressed by this “delightful” little story and the impression it would leave with my HomeSchooling kids if left without my commentary.  OK,  so this is a pretty benign “lie” that doesn’t really effect much.  Or does it?  If any one of these villagers were to discover the truth about recorded sound,  sound vibrations and the workings of his inner ear,  he may discover that he was lied to over something pretty insignificant.  Leading to wonder what else were they lied to by the missionaries?  Could the entire mission of the missionaries be at risk simply because of a lazy lack of effort to either teach the truth,  or at the very least to admit when you don’t know the answer to a question?

Shortly after the President’s State of the Union address last month,  I was attending my once-a-quarter Board of Directors meeting for the Alaska Warbird Museum.  Even though we’re still a long way from being a real museum we have to hold our regular meetings if just for the IRS to accept our non-profit status (OK,  the set up for my point is growing longer and longer and longer…).  One of the guys on my board popped out with some liberal sloganeering before the meeting officially started – that it was unreasonable for one of the wealthy Republican candidates to pay less in taxes than his secretary…  Oh my God!  Where to start…

Now understand that I did not listen to the President’s State of the Onion speech because I choose not to torture myself.  After my meeting,  I did go back and see some of the online clips that our President was throwing out there and some of the coverage relating to this whole Romney-15% tax thing and not his secretary,  but Warren Buffett’s secretary who sat with the First Lady during the State of the Onion.

1)  I’m not exactly a big booster for moderate Mitt

2) If Mitt pays 15% in taxes,  that is about right in my opinion.  It isn’t an issue of too little in taxes,  but too much spending!

3) 47% to 51% (depending on what report) of the population of the US pays ZERO in federal taxes.  If anyone wants to demand that “we all pay our fair share”,  how’s about everyone pay for the services you use – everyone,  not just the rich?

4) How about this uncomfortable statistic from the liberal source the IRS – 97% of households pay less than 12% in taxes,  with half paying nothing at all.  If Mitt is paying 15%,  then he is in the top 3% and the entire argument for the rich paying less than the average American is a flat-out-lie.

I don’t see any point in delving deeply in the difference between income tax wages and capital gains,  other than to point out that we want to encourage the wealthy (as well as anyone else who wants to invest in stocks) to invest their money back into the economy.  Mittens’ numbers are skewed anyway,  since he donated 15% of his gross income right off the top to charity (something we all can deduct and I would hope my non-profit board of directors would understand!).  Oh well.  But it does get a little worse…

Especially in the news coverage,  you had the talking heads decrying the outrageous claims that Mitt only pays 15% when AVERAGE Americans pay 30-36%…  Um…  remember that 97% pay less than 12%…  OOPS!  That’s a big fat hairy lie.  To pay 30% in federal taxes,  Warren Buffett’s secretary must really be paid well!  Oh,  actually according to Forbes,  she makes between $200,000 and $500,000,  which is “slightly” above average (average private sector HOUSEHOLD income is under $50,000) and still well below that 30% tax rate line…

OK,  one more little factoid…  Warren Buffett has been a big supporter of candidate and now President Obama.  Well,  he has that right in this country to make poor decisions (in my opinion).  He has of late been campaigning to promote a higher tax rate for “the rich” and again,  he has that right.  He thinks that the rich should pay more than they do…  But what he has not been mentioning and the media has not been bothering to point out much is that he owes literally a BILLION (with a “B”) in back taxes that he is suing the IRS to get out of paying – the lower rate of taxes he publicly says is too low is apparently too high too.  Um…

This post was supposed to be about lying.  When is it OK to lie to get your message out?  Even if you think your goal is honorable and good,  is it OK to lie to get people to fall in line?  For me,  it was wrong to lie about how tortillas make sound,  even when spreading the word of God.  For our President and the third richest person in world,  no lie is too small,  if your cause is just (in your own mind).

Anyone else tired of this crap?  And all the Republicans could come up with is Mitt and Newt for our battling frontrunners?  Do we have any conservative with a spine and/or honor?

http://newsdeskinternational.wordpress.com/2011/09/02/buffetts-berkshire-owes-1-billion-in-back-taxes/

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/17/berkshire-netjets-lawsuit-idUSN1E7AG1WC20111117

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203611404577046374108267952.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/29/warren-buffett-taxes-berkshire-hathaway_n_941099.html

 Now for today’s exciting news (if you’ve stayed with me for this long…):

Today,  President Obama declared war on Iran by Executive Order.  Um…  wasn’t he the anti-war candidate?  weren’t all the lefties protesting in the streets because that previous President went to war without a declaration from Congress?  Hasn’t Obama done this 4 times now?

http://www.infowars.com/obama-signs-executive-order-on-iran/

Congress gave the President authorization to declare war without their help in the 2012 Defence Authorization Bill (the same bill that authorizes indefinite detention of US citizens without trial).  What the hell is our Republican controlled House and Democratic controlled Senate doing?  They want this power when their guy is in charge?  How about NONE of them should have this.  The thing about being a genuine conservative and not a Republican is that your beliefs make sense.  Both parties are out of their minds!

And…

The Federal Reserve has announced that they plan to devalue the US dollar by 33% over the next 20 years.  Um…  compare the dollar to the price of oil and gold…  they have more than doubled the money supply in three years,  thus our dollar buys half the gold and oil it did.  In other words,  they have already devalued the dollar by 50% or more.  Look at the price of food,  fuel,  cotton and any other basic commodity.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/charleskadlec/2012/02/06/the-federal-reserves-explicit-goal-devalue-the-dollar-33/

Newt (and his ego) are as much a nightmare as Obama.  Mittens?  Heaven help us.  Maybe with Santorum,  we’d have a chance,  but that’s still a big maybe.

And for a follow-up to my comments about Billionaire Buffett (Warren,  not Jimmy)…  He invested $5 BBBBBillion just a couple months ago,  you think he may have had some insider info?  Ya think?  Think he’ll pay his taxes on this windfall?  Or just demand others may more while he continues to skip out on his and demand more from others:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/buffett-stands-to-profit-handsomely-from-mortgage-abuse-settlement/

I ask again,  anyome else tired of this crap?

To Hell in a Handbasket

I have been avoiding political babblings lately,  since there is plenty of that available with the election fast approaching.  I think I’m going to make a couple this week though…

As a HomeSchooling parent,  I have the “pleasure” of reading some really “wonderful” opinions from professional educators about how horrible HomeSchooling is.  Anyone who meets my kids understands how well socialized and educated they are,  by their non-professional teacher/parents.

Our own brilliant President Obama thinks there are 60 states in the United States (if you didn’t see his interview as candidate Obama where he said that he had been to “57 states…  and I have one more to go…”  His staff wouldn’t let him go to Alaska and Hawaii – YES,  that adds up to 60!  And you expected him to run our country any better than he has???  In Obama’s honor,  you must take a moment to watch how well-educated these high school kids are in Washington State – where I managed to graduate way back before the dawn of time in 1986:

 

You could not create a more pathetic educational system if you tried…  Hmmm…  Could this be intentional?  Keep the populace dumb and you can get them to do anything.  How’d the media treat any slight misspeak from my Governor?  Compare that to “The One” and their slobbering love affair with Him.

And just in case you missed candidate Obama’s classic interview:

 

More tomorrow…

“Damage” Survey Flight

OK,  so it was a gorgeous sunny day and “surveying the damage” was just a lame excuse for going flying…

Around town, everyone took advantage of the warm weather to get ahead start on the snow removal

We flew out to Dry Bay to take a look at the fish plant out there.  Most of the beach around the mouth of the Situk and Lost Rivers were snow-free,  but upstream on the Ahrnklin Inlet,  it was still a frozen wasteland:

Frozen-over Ahrnklin

 

Teen had the camera as we flew, so not the best view out the back of the plane. This is the mouth of the Dangerous River at high tide. On the way home, the huge river was barely a trickle with the glacier frozen solid in winter.

 

Approaching the Dry Bay fish plant with the Alsek River frozen in the background

 

A close-up of the facility - way too much snow to land, but doesn't it look clean?

 

Leaving Dry Bay and the Alsek behind... Teen just had ocean on her side, so no more photos from the air worth posting.

 

We landed at the Italio cabin and everything looked fine. Tanis and I walked down the beach to see what may have washed ashore in the storm. Not much considering… But you can see the 4 feet of sand blown up on top of the snow layer. That’s how dunes grow…

 

The tideline littered with 6" thick ice - try spotting glass balls in that glittery mess...

 

My guess is this is all the frozen surface ice that broke apart and flushed out of the Akwe River during and after the storm

 

Yep, we did find a Japanese Glass Ball eventually, but there really wasn't much that washed ashore in the storm

 

But there was a HUGE bone protruding from the cutbank...

 We even saw some bear tracks and heard one up in the bushes as we walked along the riverbank.  Lots of moose tracks and saw three as we lifted off from the landing strip.  Oh,  how we wanted to stay a few nights,  but not thinking straight,  I had left the hangar doors wide open and we had to fly back to town.  Oh well.  Maybe next time…

 

Yakutat Snow Photos

I finally found my charger and could get these photos off my camera…

Two good-sized blizzards hit in November, dumping 3-4 feet each time to start our winter off right.

 

Tanis busy blowing a maze in the fly shop parking lot.

 

Bars on my bedroom window

 

The house during our sub-zero week.

 

The state DOT guys have done a great job of keeping the main roads open and clear.

 

Some of the other roads... not so much!

 

Alaskan River Vultures waiting to pounce on the few remaining silvers spawning in the ditches around the airport.

 

Jealously looking out from Cannon Beach toward Alan in warm Hawaii...

 

I managed one more photo right before my battery died of the Yakutat Lodge. Don't it look cozy?

 We flew out to the cabin to check on things after the storm and I’ll post those photos tomorrow.  Three gorgeous calm sunny days followed the big storm,  but now it is starting to rain.  And my legs are cramped sitting in the car in the school parking lot,  trying to mooch their internet.  Our HughesNet satellite dish is munched into the airport fence at the moment.

 

Storm Update

We had a gorgeous calm and sunny day today,  which was a blessing for Yakutat residents to assess and/or repair the damage from yesterday’s wind storm.  Temperatures reached 60+ degrees on our sunny porch,  but not a lot of melting happened anywhere else with our low sun angle and little heat from it.  Everyone seems to be taking it all in stride with not much more whining from our usually whiny community.

Tanis and I put our porch roof back together and I have calls in to see about getting a temporary fix to the damaged hangar door.  This spring,  we’ll order a replacement window along with the new windows for the next two retail shops and board it over for the time being.  Things could have definitely been worse.  I’m pretty confident the Italio cabin and Dry Bay plant survived just fine,  since the snow pack should have kept them pretty deeply buried.  Tanis and I will fly out at some point to take a look and hopefully I’ll have a functional camera by then.

I did exaggerate in my post from yesterday…  Apparently those winds were in statute miles,  not knots.  Sorry.