Days

[Richard Brekne]

Speaking of these...grin... sheeshh what an experience I had today.

Got called tuesday to do a job for the local Jazz club. I know these guys
so I had expected that this was going to be a pretty straightforward job,
even tho it was a special consert in an unusual location. The place was an
old factory, they make nails and hardware and such stuff. Huge open
production hall... not attractive in the slightest really, but they did
their best at making it presentable..

Anyways I show up at the agreed upon time and they got this processing
machine going. I mean this sucker was really loud. Musta been 90 dbs or so
going all the time. They had a truck going to just in front of the stage,
you know, one of those lift trucks for hoisting up lightings and speakers
and such. Diesel driven thing. I thought that that was what was making all
the noise so I waited while they finished up with that (about 10 minutes).
When they turned it off I couldnt hear any difference... it was the process
machine making so much noise.. so much that I couldnt even hear the truck
going right in front of the stage. I was amazed.. They werent about to turn
off this machine of theirs either. Administration had aggreed to turn it of
10 minutes before the concert was to begin.

I of course just shook my head and said this was absurdly hopeless and that
I would have to just pack up and leave. So a couple factory jocks show up
just as I was about to leave. And this is where the story REALLY gets
pathetic. These two guys show up with those mickey mouse ears on... you
know the hearing protection things. They get right up in my face and open
one ear and ask (as in screaming so as to be heard) why I cant tune the
piano.. Incredulous.. This machine was making the most incredible amount of
noise. You could get right up to this grand and bang out a big chord as
hard as you wanted to and you couldnt hardly notice the sound of the piano
through this noise... A constant... Bdadadadagdeadadagdaa with a few
Tsjiiaa's thrown in from time to time as the steam overflow was released.

I can not for the life of me come even close to being able to fathom how
anyone who resembles in the slightest a sane half intellegent gorilla with
an IQ problem could in their wildest fantasy dream that any living (or
mechanical) being in this universe could even come close to being able to
tune a piano in that noise.

On top of it all, on showing up and calling my contact for closer driving
directions to this building within the factory complex,,, the fellow was
too busy to talk to me and just told me to find someone around to get
directions, then he hung up on me without further adui. It was raining
elephants and giraffes so no one was about to stop and chat you know.

All in all, an insult to my intellegence...and I told them so. The fellow
responsible for the artists called an hour or so later to ask if I could
come later on that evening just before the consert (with a hall full of
people mind you) and go over the piano then... I would have all of 15
minutes he assured me.... grin..

I mean really... can you top this one ????

--
Richard Brekne
RPT, N.P.T.F.
Bergen, Norway