[CAUT] pin drop

[Porritt, David]

So it's confession time huh?  I'm retiring from a full time position at SMU on February 1, 2010.  The job has not been posted yet, but will be soon (it takes a while for HR to jump through the legal hoops they need to jump.)  It is a great position working with some great musicians who are also great human beings.  It's just time to slow it down for me.

dave (70)

David M. Porritt, RPT
dporritt at smu.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Susan Kline
Sent: Wednesday, October 28, 2009 3:18 PM
To: caut at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [CAUT] pin drop


>Everyone is getting fatter...

True enough! But maybe the demographic problem is with the
benches, not the students and profs. Were most of them bought
at around the same time? Maybe they all are getting decrepit
and senile at once?

Come to that, aren't most of the piano techs getting decrepit
and (hopefully not) senile in lockstep with each other? Who is
going to replace us in ten or twenty more years?

Shall we do a little informal CAUT survey --- how old is
everybody? Retirements imminent? Plans for how long to keep
working? (only if you feel like telling us, of course.)

I consider myself just passing through the outer fringe of
semi-retirement. I've cut back general work about 30%, but
still do all the concerts. I've started turning down (or
trying to pass on) work involving tilting pianos, upright
players still containing player actions, and square grands.
I do lots of small repairs, some repinning and rebushing now
and then, but full stringing and parts replacement I pass on
to someone who does it full time.

Susan Kline, 63