Can we ever retire?

[Dick Beaton]

Hi again all....
I really didn't mean to start anything by telling you I am 82 yrs old.  I
spent 44 years working for an airline as radio operator, then station
manager at several locations.  Got interesten in pianos thru a friend, then
in Weather Bureau, in 1993, went to Little Red School House in 95 and really
loved it.  Been tuning part time since 1994.  Retired from airline in Dec.
81. Joined PTG in about 83....good move!! Still enjoying it....have six
pianos lined up for this week.
-----Original Message-----
From: Newton Hunt <nhunt@jagat.com>
To: pianotech@ptg.org <pianotech@ptg.org>
Date: Sunday, March 14, 1999 6:32 AM
Subject: Re: Can we ever retire?


>Hi Wally,
>
>> "Old piano tuners don't die - they just go beatless!"
>
>from Dick Beaton, and don't know
>> if I should react positively or negatively.
>>
>> "I'm 82 yrs old now and don't usually do more than one tuning a day."
>>
>> On the positive side, I'm glad that piano tuning is an occupation that a
>> person with reasonably good health and hearing can continue well past the
>> normal "retirement years".
>>
>> On the negative side, I'm not sure if this is a clue that piano
technicians
>> geneally are not able to take a "normal retirement".
>>
>> The 1997 PTG survey shows that 17.8% of members responding were over 65
>> years of age. Of them, quite a few still put in 20, 30, and even 40 hours
>> per week at piano related activities.
>>
>> Maybe the question should be, "Would we ever WANT to retire?" Is this an
>> occupation that only gets more and more enjoyable the older we get, or is
>> it simply one in which the majority of us can never earn enough money to
>> afford a comfortable retirement?
>>
>> One question that we might want to ask on a future survey:
>> "What percent of your total household annual income is from your present
>> piano related activities?"
>>
>> Wally Scherer, Piano Technician, Norfolk, Virginia, USA
>> Associate member of the PTG, Hampton Roads, Va. chapter
>> mailto:WallyTS@iName.com
>> Web page: http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/2411
>> "Old piano tuners don't die - they just go beatless!"
>>
>>
>