Gratuities

[Avery Todd]

Glad to read that everything came out OK, Wim.

Now, just to show that one "never knows".........

I haven't mentioned this on the list but a couple of weeks
ago, on a Sunday, I had to help move a harpsichord over to the
PBS station on campus for a performance/interview with a DMA
student. Then a little later in the week, it had to be moved
again for her recital which in this case, was held in a
Catholic church fairly close to the university.

She had a friend who furnished the vehicle, a Suburban,
but I still had to furnish the equipment, tuning, etc.
for the two moves. I guess I felt a little "put upon"
but I just agreed to it nicely (I hope) and did it.

Well, this morning I found a thank you card in my
mailbox with a nice note written and a rather large
denomination bill in it! Now, I almost feel guilty
about the way I felt. :-)

However, that being said, I still feel justified in one
thing I told her, which is unfortunately way too common here.
Way too many performers schedule recitals, etc. using a
harpsichord without even checking first to see if it's
available on the date needed. Plus they also rarely consider
the logistics of getting everything done. I guess some just
think that things like this just magically appear. :-) OK,
I'm done venting now. And I really do appreciate the money! :-)

Actually, overall, I guess I'm fairly lucky here.
Besides money another time or two, I've also
received a bottle of Chopin Vodka for doing extra
HT tuning work for a pianist on his DMA Lecture
Recital on Chopin. Horacio Gutierrez also once gave
me a very nice bottle of wine for letting him use
my shop to practice in for almost a week when we
discovered that the rented 'D' for his studio
wouldn't fit into our freight elevator and my shop
was the only room available for extended periods of
time for him to practice for a performance here.

Avery