A little humour here

[Clarence Stout]

Dr Coleman, PTD a/k/a 'Jim' -

It was with interest that I read this convention
based letter - also ones from Jim Bryant and
others.  At first I took things 'with a grain of
salt'; that you were the victim of practical
jokesters.  But then I came to realize that the
'honorarium' was for real.  Congrats, Jim.  No one
has earned this and all other honors more than you
have.  I always seem to find time to read the
e-mails from Jim, Sr while some others are always
deleted.

I finally am gaining back some of the weight I lost
since March 2 and the prostate operation.  After my
last hospital stay, I weighed 164 pounds, down from
about 220.  However I now can almost get along
sitting without my extra sponge 'pillow' and have
gained about 14 pounds back again.  I still have
tuned only my Daughters piano but intend to try some
others soon now.  It really seemed good to be
preoccupied in tuning once again.  Oh yes, I have a
really talented (but busy) young man who works for
Western Sugar Company as a student.  He really has
picks up things fast.  As a guitar musician (and a
good one!), tuning guitars seems to have been a good
common ground with piano tuning.  At least he knows
strings and how they work.

We probably will come down to AZ early this fall.  I
have given up with my customer lists here in Holyoke
and vicinity so there is nothing to keep us in
Colorado until December now.  Looking forward to
seeing you again, Jim. 	
						Clancy and Bernice S.







Jim Coleman, Sr. wrote:
> 
> Dear list:
> 
> I put a great deal of effort into the preparation of my class on Advanced
> Tuning. To give you and example of how stressed I was about it, I had my
> usual shower just before going to the airport in Phoenix. By the time I
> arrived at the hotel in KC my body odor was worse than I had ever noticed
> before (OK, maybe some of you have wanted to say something about it before
> but were too chicken hearted to do it). Even after my shower, my body
> chemistry was still in a different mode.
> 
> My first half of the class went without any hitch. During the one hour
> break between the two morning sessions, I completed the tuning of the
> Coleman Pure 5ths tuning so that we could evaluate it in comparison to
> the FAC tuning on the other identical piano.
> 
> Right after the evaluations, three officious looking individuals entered
> my class, came right up front and asked me to step aside and told me to
> "shut up" (actually, they politely pleaded with me to be quiet). Can you
> imagine someone coming in and commandeering a class like that? It had to
> be someone with a strong military background because I am ordinarily a very
> strong person (Oh well, odor isn't eveything). This astute gentleman began
> reading a litany of some kind, actually it was a proclamation.
> 
> As many of you know I have been referred to often as Dr Coleman on this
> list. Occasionally, I have demurred that I only have a degree in BS (and I
> don't mean Barbra Streisand). Actually it's a Batchelor of Arts degree with
> a Major in Music and a Minor in Math.
> 
> As this fearless leader began nervously reading this proclamation, his
> cohorts in crime began dressing me in a manner fit for this dignified
> occasion. The reading went like this:
> 
>                          KNOW ALL YE
> by these Presents that the Piano Technicians Signified below
> and Representing the Full University of Piano Technology,
>                  The College of Hammers and Tuning
> and With no Authority whatsoever Do Hereby Confer Upon
> 
>                 James Coleman, Sr., RPT
> 
>                      the Degree of
> 
>           Doctor of Real Piano Technology. PTD
>           [Doctorium Pianotorius Technocratici]
> 
> Said Title and Degree to carry all the Rights, Privileges
>    and Deferential Treatment appertaining thereto
> 
>        Signed this 19th Day of July, 1996
> 
> (This was followed by signatures of 32 two individuals who
> would virtually make up a list of Who's Who in PTG)
> 
> While all this reading was being delivered in solemn tones, the
> cohorts dressed me in a black robe (Kmart special), The colors
> fitting the degree, and a cap with tassle already attached on
> the left side. Now that cap was special. It was an official
> Harley Davidson Motorcycle cap with a tag pinned to the top of
> it (Mini Pearl style) certifying that this is indeed an official
> cap.
> 
> Well, to say the least I was flabbergasted, however, "motor-mouth"
> came to the rescue and I was able to continue my class, non-plussed
> and I even finished on time (which for me was a first). Since that
> auspicious occasion a few choice individuals have greeted me as
> "Doctor Harley."
> 
> In another post I will give some of the details of the Coleman vs
> Coleman tuneoffs which occured in my class that day.
> 
> Jim Coleman, Sr.