Just checking in...how's everyone been?

On Sun, 23 Nov 2008 00:03:05 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

Ah, well -- next time I want to get down to Stuttgart, in the area I *think*
my family is from.

When you do that, drop me a line. I am not too far away from there and
perhaps there is a chance to show you that GA is not THAT bad in
Germany after all...

Tobias

When you do that, drop me a line. I am not too far away from there and
perhaps there is a chance to show you that GA is not THAT bad in
Germany after all...

Hey, GA is wonderful EVERYWHERE. It's just the damned cost of it that
sucks!

:-)

Thanks for the offer, though. I don't know when we'll get back, but it'll
hopefully be in the next two years. (We were hoping to go back next year,
but that's looking less likely since the bottom dropped out of our economy.
It's not a good time to own a hotel, that's for sure...)

One bright note: A few months ago, it cost over $200 to fill the "Mighty
Grape's" 55 gallon transfer tank full of mogas. Today, after a flight to
Wisconsin, it cost just $98 -- an incredible savings! Fuel now costs less
than half of what it did this summer, which SHOULD help to revive GA (and,
hopefully, or economy).
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
Ercoupe N94856
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in
news:IYnWk.449100$yE1.23220@attbi_s21:

When you do that, drop me a line. I am not too far away from there
and perhaps there is a chance to show you that GA is not THAT bad in
Germany after all...

Hey, GA is wonderful EVERYWHERE. It's just the damned cost of it that
sucks!

:-)

Thanks for the offer, though. I don't know when we'll get back, but
it'll hopefully be in the next two years. (We were hoping to go back
next year, but that's looking less likely since the bottom dropped out
of our economy. It's not a good time to own a hotel, that's for
sure...)

One bright note: A few months ago, it cost over $200 to fill the
"Mighty Grape's" 55 gallon transfer tank full of mogas. Today, after
a flight to Wisconsin, it cost just $98 -- an incredible savings!
Fuel now costs less than half of what it did this summer, which SHOULD
help to revive GA (and, hopefully, or economy).

Good grief.


Bertie

In article , Bob Noel
wrote:

I gather that the Germans are a bit more responsible about drinking.
Specifically not getting blitzed. Which leads to the question of
how to get that across the pond into the American culture...

I worked as a coop student in a printing press factory in Germany from
November 1977 until June 1978.
Upon entering the manufacturing space, I noticed two bottled drink
vending machines. The first was a soft drink machine and the second, a
beer machine. That was very interesting.
My first day on the job, I watched as my coworkers would purchase a beer
at the beginning of the shift (6:30 AM). They would return to their work
station and place the unopened bottle on nearby. At break time, around
9:30 AM, they would open the bottle, take a couple swigs, replace the
cap, and place the bottle back where it was.
During the remainder of the morning, they would take a couple more
swigs, usually finishing off the 0.5 l bottle around lunch time.
The bottle came out of the machine cold. By the time they took the first
drink it had warmed up.
They preferred to drink it warm. When I inquired why they drank it warm,
I was told that cold was bad for the stomach.

On Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:17:41 +0000, Jay Honeck wrote:

If business keeps declining (okay,
crashing) at the rate its been going down since September, we'll all be
selling apples on street corners by next July...

For what it's worth, I read an interesting editorial recently. It
pointed out that business climates like this cause established companies
to pull back...which leaves opportunities for "risk takers". It further
explained that both Oracle and Microsoft had formed during similar times.

As a business owner, this may be food for your thought. I know that it
is for me.

Unfortunately, at least for me, this is translating to less time flying.

- Andrew

On Nov 20, 6:53*pm, "Jay Honeck" wrote:
So I've been contacted by half a dozen folks, telling me that my absence was
the topic of a rather lively thread here -- so I thought I'd pop in for a
peek at my old stomping ground. *How's everyone been?

Well Im just fine Jay and thanks for asking. Germany is cool. Its too
bad americans cant drink like Germans do. I spend a bit of time over
there and between Octoberfest and the Wine Festival in my parents
hometown I have seen alot of drinking over there but no drunk and
disorderly conduct. If you ever get the chance do some flying in
Germany , the scenery is spectacular and the local pilots have always
treated me like royalty. Too bad about the slowdown in travel, hope it
turns around soon. Mebee you and Bertie just need to sitdown at
Oshfest and chug some brew and hammer things out. Its funny that I
only come around this list once every 3 months or so and I usually
come across one of your posts. Best holiday wishes,
F. Baum

Andrew Gideon wrote:

For what it's worth, I read an interesting editorial recently. It
pointed out that business climates like this cause established companies
to pull back...which leaves opportunities for "risk takers". It further
explained that both Oracle and Microsoft had formed during similar times.

Not to mention that outsourcing opportunities often increase when larger
businesses pull back.

Everything I manage in the course of my job at a biggie is actually
completed hands-on by contractors. I used to worry about outsourcing.
Now, I realize that I've developed a whole new salable skill set of
managing outsourced work.

For what it's worth, I read an interesting editorial recently. It
pointed out that business climates like this cause established companies
to pull back...which leaves opportunities for "risk takers". It further
explained that both Oracle and Microsoft had formed during similar times.

Not to mention that outsourcing opportunities often increase when larger
businesses pull back.

All of these things make perfect sense -- but don't translate well into the
hotel biz.

Right now we're seeing the perfect storm in our biz. First, personal flying
is down to the point of being almost immeasurable. In fact, if our fly-in
business went away tomorrow, I'm not sure how we'd even measure the loss --
sad to say. This is the single most disheartening part of the downturn,
since we never set out to be innkeepers in the traditional sense. Rather,
we created this place to be the ultimate pilot hang-out, and finished it --
apparently just in time to see the demise of personal flying in America. Of
course, we can't blame that entirely on this particular downturn, as GA has
been declining precipitously since at least 2005, and has dropped 50% or
more in the last 12 months.

Combine this with businesses cutting back or eliminating their travel
budgets since September, and we've lost two important parts of our business.
All we're left with is the weekend "getaway with your honey in a hot tub"
business, which -- while significant -- is insufficient to support a hotel
in the long run.

As with all downturns, it's a temporary thing -- everything is cyclical --
but it still sucks, especially since we were having a record year until
October hit like a big, wet blanket, making the change appear all the more
stark.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
Ercoupe N94856
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote:
Right now we're seeing the perfect storm in our biz. First, personal flying
is down to the point of being almost immeasurable. In fact, if our fly-in
business went away tomorrow, I'm not sure how we'd even measure the loss --
sad to say. This is the single most disheartening part of the downturn,
since we never set out to be innkeepers in the traditional sense. Rather,
we created this place to be the ultimate pilot hang-out, and finished it --
apparently just in time to see the demise of personal flying in America. Of
course, we can't blame that entirely on this particular downturn, as GA has
been declining precipitously since at least 2005, and has dropped 50% or
more in the last 12 months.

Combine this with businesses cutting back or eliminating their travel
budgets since September, and we've lost two important parts of our business.
All we're left with is the weekend "getaway with your honey in a hot tub"
business, which -- while significant -- is insufficient to support a hotel
in the long run.

This current economic situation has everyone pretty scared. It isn't
only "businesses cutting back or eliminating travel budgets" ...
FAMILIES are cutting back, not taking time off work for getaways, and
eliminating travel budgets ... and rightly so. With all the talk about
higher taxes, retirement becoming a thing of the past, jobs being
eliminated right and left, and zero social security, people are not
taking vacations and are spending weekends with family right there at
home visiting local attractions that don't require hotel stays. If it
weren't associated with an economic crisis, returning the focus on
family/home life isn't a bad thing, though businesses like yours will
obviously take a huge hit, sad to say. The other thing is that people
who are already retired are going back to work, IF they can find jobs.

My own flying frequency is down. It isn't because of the fuel costs
(which have now come down considerably), it's because of the instinct to
keep nose to the grindstone and work while there IS work vs. opting to
go "play". Call it "guilty conscience," but while the passion for it is
still there, it's harder and harder to rationalize the expense.

Lastly, lots of people have lost a huge part of their nest-egg, if not
all of it, so money they'd allotted for extras like flying, vacations,
or "weekend getaways with honey in a hot tub" is now not "extra", and
the tub in the upstairs bathroom is looking pretty attractive!

Scary times.

On Sun, 30 Nov 2008 08:43:39 -0700, Shirl wrote:

people are not taking vacations and are spending weekends with family
right there at home visiting local attractions that don't require hotel
stays

Well, I'm obviously not in - or anywhere near - the hotel business. But
I've this sense that, somehow, there's perhaps some small opportunity
here. For example, what if Jay's hotel manages to become a "local
attraction".

Certainly, he's invested enough money being a unique hotel. What would
it take to be an attraction to locals?

I vaguely recall that there's a nice simulator setup there; nice enough
that it's better than what most people would afford on their own.
Perhaps he could expand this and introduce something like "league play"
in air combat? I also recall reading here about what might be as
sophisticated as a "simulated aviation world" available via the Internet;
perhaps access to this with high-end gear has value?

Again, I'm no expert so I'm probably nowhere near the mark. But I like
the idea of no crisis going unexploited grin. Best of luck to you, Jay.

- Andrew