Chena Option LLC

 

Okay folks, here's your retirement plan. After you read this entry, let me know what your contributing skill set will be for our new cooperative.

We need to buy Chena Hot Springs. We will operate it as a retirement community with the idea of breaking even so we can all live on our social security. It's going to be a working retirement, so don't think you get off easy. We will need people to work the restaurant, the pool, the grounds, the airport (Carl dibs the airport), the sled dog kennels, the gardens, the stables, the hotel. Some of us may need to rethink how our skill set will fit this new environment.

In the summer we'll be working sunup to sunset, somewhere between 18 and 21 hours. With this rigorous schedule, we may need to take in some non-social security members who just want to check out of corporate America early. They will have the energy we need and provide a business continuity plan.

You can catch up on the sleep in the winter, when it will be darkish and mighty cold, but a dry cold, they say. Running water probably won't work at 50 below, but maybe we can divert some hot springs to fix that problem. Anyway, the springs will keep us clean year round. Not to worry about hygiene.

In the winter we can work with the sled dog teams up and down the valley and get involved with the Yukon Quest in February. Maybe the dogs need life coaching, for example? We can even take turns returning to the land of light during the winter to see the family, but we will still need staff for our Aurora Borealis business.

The paybacks are wide open spaces, incredible scenery, and a primo hot springs to soak in every morning, noon and night. You can have summer jobs lined up for the kids/grandkids.

We can hook up with University of Alaska Fairbanks, only 60 miles away, for our continuing education. We'll need to make a run into Fairbanks anyway to pick up paying guests and groceries. In March, we'll go to the ice carving contest with regularity. You'll probably want to ditch your car for a 4 x 4 pickup with really big tires. Oh, and a snowmobile. You will want one of those.

I don't think it will turn out to be a full time job for anyone, so don't let the camp capers scare you away. There will be time to write your book, learn your foreign language, paint your masterpieces. I learned that even though the sun might only be out 3 hours, there are really long dawns and twilights here in the winter, giving you lots of the kind of light that artists crave.

More about the primo hot springs. The water is channeled into a rock pool. At first as you cross the pool, you wonder why there is a cold spray in the middle, but it takes about three minutes to realize how smart they are to add cold water. Once you parboil under the pipe that massages your entire body, you have to cool down. Standing under a sprinkler for a few minutes does the trick. There are cooler spots suitable for a little dog paddling, and there are hot spots just right for boiling corn. It's perfect. If you happen to schedule a massage after soaking, you will be over the top.

Perhaps we will organize a Northern Lights trip just to experience winter here. That would be an important next step in building our commitment.

I will be serving as the temporary CEO until we get our board of directors in place. So give me a post back, and I will certainly consider your skill set in our business plan. Oh, and what year can you start?