A downside to self-employment

[Diane Hofstetter]

Dave,

That's a lot of good advice people are giving you about disability 
insurance.  You may only lose a week or so this time--my husband only lost 
about two months with his heart attack and by-pass surgery-- but his stroke 
and now congestive heart failure turned off his tuning, or should I say 
working capacity, completely.  Something to think about!  I wish someone had 
been more explicit to me about this twenty years ago!

Those extra tunings that come in at the end of the day can help pay for it.

Yes, I still sell the earplugs.
Diane



Diane Hofstetter




----Original Message Follows----
From: piannaman at aol.com
Reply-To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: A downside to self-employment
Date: Sun, 08 Oct 2006 17:42:52 -0400

  Hi Diane,

Thanks for the advice and wishes.

I do try to take care of myself, but sometimes it's hard to turn down that 
extra job at the end of an already tiring day.  Turning down money is an 
acquired skill that requires discipline....:-)

I always give myself a break on Wednesday morning and early PM, and go for a 
long bike ride with a bunch of friends.  Keeps me fresh, and fitter for work 
as well.  That's the HUGE upside to self-employment:  self-scheduling!  It 
far outweighs all the negatives.  It allows me to go to my 6 year old's 
school functions and other activities as they come up.

Thanks again,

Dave Stahl

PS  Are you still selling the earplugs?

  ----Original Message-----
From: dianepianotuner at msn.com
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Sent: Sun, 8 Oct 2006 10:24 AM
Subject: RE: A downside to self-employment


Dear Sunday Sofa Spud,

Actually, that's the upside to self-employment---that you can learn what 
your limits are and respect them. And the sooner the better. I've had a lot 
of trouble learning that lesson, and it continues to cause me problems when 
I forget to take care of myself.

I just spent four months of not tuning at all. The pain in my hands, arm, 
shoulder, lower back--- ALL WENT AWAY! What an eye-opener THAT was!

I hope you feel better very soon!
Diane

Diane Hofstetter


----Original Message Follows----
From: piannaman at aol.com
Reply-To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: A downside to self-employment
Date: Sun, 08 Oct 2006 01:44:26 -0400

You don't get paid when you don't work. That's the big downside. Vacations 
we generally tend to account for, but it's hard to plan sick leave.

I probably should have taken this whole week off. I had a couple of nights 
of fever and chills, and was feeling weak most of the time. But like the 
stubborn ox I am, I pushed through what I thought was a cold, capped by a 4 
tuning-with-some-voicing Friday that included a fair amount of driving. I 
ended up in the ER that night with chest pain. Turns out it was a mild case 
of pneumonia, not a heart issue.

Do others of you notice a difference in sound perception when you have a 
fever? Even pianos that I tuned that passed every interval and etd test 
available to me sounded unpleasant and off.

Next time, I'll listen to my body when it screams, "take the time off." It 
would be a lot more costly to end up in the hospital for a long stretch than 
to miss a few days of work.

Be Well,

Dave Stahl, Sunday Sofa Spud

Dave Stahl Piano Service
650-224-3560
dstahlpiano at sbcglobal.net
http://dstahlpiano.net/
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