diff --git a/turbinia/client.py b/turbinia/client.py
index e5a37969c..2128b60e5 100644
--- a/turbinia/client.py
+++ b/turbinia/client.py
@@ -324,7 +324,7 @@ def wait_for_request(
     log.info('All {0:d} Tasks completed'.format(len(task_results)))
 
   def get_task_data(
-      self, instance, project, region, days=1000, task_id=None, request_id=None,
+      self, instance, project, region, days=0, task_id=None, request_id=None,
       user=None, function_name='gettasks'):
     """Gets task data from Google Cloud Functions.
 
@@ -609,7 +609,7 @@ def format_task_statistics(
     return '\n'.join(report)
 
   def format_task_status(
-      self, instance, project, region, days=1000, task_id=None, request_id=None,
+      self, instance, project, region, days=0, task_id=None, request_id=None,
       user=None, all_fields=False, full_report=False,
       priority_filter=Priority.HIGH):
     """Formats the recent history for Turbinia Tasks.
diff --git a/turbinia/state_manager.py b/turbinia/state_manager.py
index 5fef4c3d2..c85dd98e4 100644
--- a/turbinia/state_manager.py
+++ b/turbinia/state_manager.py
@@ -123,6 +123,8 @@ def get_task_dict(self, task):
     # TODO(aarontp): Migrate this to actual Datastore namespaces
     config.LoadConfig()
     task_dict.update({'instance': config.INSTANCE_ID})
+    if isinstance(task_dict['instance'], six.binary_type):
+      task_dict['instance'] = codecs.decode(task_dict['instance'], 'utf-8')
     return task_dict
 
   def _validate_data(self, data):
diff --git a/turbinia/turbiniactl.py b/turbinia/turbiniactl.py
index 29faaa6eb..d538e4149 100644
--- a/turbinia/turbiniactl.py
+++ b/turbinia/turbiniactl.py
@@ -335,7 +335,7 @@ def main():
       help='When used with --statistics, the output will be in CSV format',
       required=False)
   parser_status.add_argument(
-      '-d', '--days_history', default=1000, type=int,
+      '-d', '--days_history', default=0, type=int,
       help='Number of days of history to show', required=False)
   parser_status.add_argument(
       '-f', '--force', help='Gatekeeper for --close_tasks', action='store_true',