I would recommend not agonizing over it so, Marshall. I would recommend merely saying to the customer on the phone, as you are making the appointment: "If you have a dog, please put it in a separate room before I arrive." or such. Dog owners know that their pets are often unruly and disruptive, so if they have any personal integrity at all, will not be surprised by this simple request. I finally got to the point, though, of not accepting jobs from dog owners because I am deeply offended by the way many of them smell (the "anal gland" stink that gets into your sinuses and stays there for a day or more) so started referring these customers to a tuner friend who has a dog himself. Cats, I don't have as much trouble with (unless the litter box is right beneath or beside the piano, in which case I ask the customer to remove it while adding that it will make the piano smell like that permanently) but yes, they WILL "back up" against your tool box when you least expect it, so it's best that they're not in the room, either. Thumpe P.S. Our trade offers an astonishing chance to experience the great variety of living conditions people consider suitable. And economics and/or education are not definitive factors: I have been in truly filthy homes owned by the rich and by professors, and in clean homes lived in by the poor and relatively uneducated ( by the world's standards). It is really a good idea, because of this, to wear coveralls or a second layer of clothing when arriving at an unknown customer's for the first time. If they wonder about the attire, just tell them that one never knows what to expect when seeing a piano for the first time, so this is a safety precaution. (Tell them about the dangers of mouse contamination and such. They'll get the point!) Then, if the piano and/or house is filthy, you can remove this outer layer and bag it, before getting back in your car. (Thus avoiding spreading filth to your vehicle, a restaurant you may later visit, your unappreciative spouse, or whatever.......) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20130105/fe36b7ce/attachment.htm>
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