[CAUT] pin drop

[Susan Kline]

>48 and going strong.  I plan ("plan") on being here 20 years if I 
>can stand it that long!
>
>Paul


Hi Paul

At 48, you count as a young tuner compared to so many of my colleagues,
who are pushing, at, or just past retirement.

Just this morning, I thought about being 63 -- how long will I keep
on? Ten years, till I'm 73? But heck, ten years! You just blink and
ten years have gone by! I certainly don't want to hang up the tuning
hammer in just ten years -- and what would I do with my time? But
73 -- I'd better work out some health problems if I'm even to be
able to work at 73, let alone 78? If arthritis spreads from knees to
shoulders and elbows and hands ......

Baby boomers -- we crowded obstetrics wards, nurseries, kindergartens,
grade schools, colleges, and grad schools. Then we crowded job markets,
so that new Ph.D.'s in physics ended up pumping gas for awhile. At this
point, we're stressing out pension funds and preparing to bankrupt
Social Security. No doubt old folks homes and mortuaries will be
filled to bursting in due course.

I can't imagine what it must have been like for the generation (yours)
just following us. On the one hand, all that capacity built up - the
new schools, etc. - on the other hand, getting caught in our "rain shadow"
when looking for work, and finding everything picked clean by us.
But then, once we're out of the way, you're likely to be overworked
and in great demand ...

I'm cutting back gradually, because I think I'll be able to work on
pianos a lot longer if I don't do more than I really have the energy
for. Besides, unhurried jobs are more fun.

Susan Kline




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