Raising the county TOT will do the residents little good as the county will not commit to use it to promote tourism but only fatten the general fund. The general fund has already become a giant rathole as the board spends our money in ways that doesn't promote the county nor increase the tax base but only to fund unsustainable expenses.

Since folks rent a hotel room to sleep, one of the most important aspects of your destination should be a great bed. Jnr Hotel bought all new beds last year that have a 10 year unprorated warrenty. If they have a problem during the 10 year term we get a new one free. I think the company knows they made a great bed. Customers think so too with the great comments we get about the beds.

Another important aspect is location so when you get to your location driving to the store or resturant isn't a requirement. From the JnR Hotel you can walk everywhere. Most everthing is within a block.

Don't miss the tree lighting tonight at the Senior Center. It's always great!

Turkey Day

Wow, the year is almost over already! Most everyone is closed today to celebrate and give thanks. I hope you readers all enjoy the day.

There are still wonderful sights and sounds in Surprise Valley. Last night the cows were complaining about something. A rooster was crowing. And a flock of geese flew by. The deer of course visited. I only have seen the black baby deer once though so far in the driveway - so cute.

The Warner mountains are painted white, where the Nevada range has all melted off. We need some more moisture. The lake looks so barren without any water, but its a good time to explore it. There are all kinds of things out there. The rocks are still moving around too! Some freak of nature - wind, frost heave, magnetics, or visitors from the beyond. With a bit of wind it's a good place for Land Sailing.

It is hard to believe that I have been too busy to blog for so long, but that is the case. This weekend was the Stancoff/Minto wedding. The guests seemed to have had a good time and the wedding was a success.

The aftermath is cleaning all the rooms again and doing all the laundry. Business is good, yes, but my wife is still in San Jose caring for my recovering son, who we didn't think was going to make it. He is getting better though and there is hope ahead. It has been a long path for us all.

The weather is beginning to change with cold nights but really nice days. Soon winter will be here and then soon after we will start another year.

Today was the Fort Bidwell BBQ (Chicken & Steak). The profits go to the volunteer fire department. The weather was wonderful and the thunder storms did not appear - nice sun and in the high 70's with little wind (Last year was windy and very wet.). The food was excellent this year and they drew a big crowd but the serving line was under a minute. What a great bunch of efficient volunteers. The JnR Hotel was full so I took the housekeeper with me to take a break since she started at 8am and it was already 1pm when we left. She didn't finish until 5pm. I'm still doing laundry and thinking that I should have taken something out of the freezer for dinner. I guess I will go to the Country Hearth Restaurant and refill my stomach before it gets too late.

I like to automate everything I can to save labor costs and therefore keep low room rates. So I want to automate the housekeepers task list usung Excel. So far no luck but my formula is definately missing something. I am looking in a range of cells for a room number match, then another range of cells with a date plus another range with days staying to see if the room should be cleaned for a new guest or serviced for the existing guest or ignored since it wasn't occupied in the date range. I can get it to work until I change it to ranges of cells. Great challenge.

We had some motorcycle guests last night that came across the desert looking for flora & fauna. They said it was magnificent out there. Lots of water, fields of flowers and lots of animals - antilope, deer, wild horses.

Sounded like a great trip to take.

The Surprise Valley Chamber of Commerce met today and had an interesting presentation on the Ruby Pipeline project. The project involves running a 42" gas pipeline from Opal Wyoming to Main Oregon, all underground. The pipe will deliver 1.3 bilion cubic feet of gas per day when it is finished. There will be 3500 workers divided into 7 construction camps. 500 will be byVya Nevada near Cedarville. The camps will be self contained, but the workers might come to town now and then on their day off. Hopefuly not all at the same time.

The Surprise Valley Hospital saved a guest from certain death from an anurism. Quick response, good diagnotics, stabilization and a flight to a hospital with a specialist waiting by. Great job. I guess that's why we all love this hospital.