List, I am 44--"Middle aged" I suppose. I LOVE this business! (Almost to a fault. I nearly eat, drink and sleep pianos.) And I really like my fairly new job here at Texas Tech. I guess I fall in between all those who are fast approaching retirement, and the new "kiddos" that I am also VERY encouraged to hear such a resounding voice from! This is so exciting. This discussion, due to several other things that have happened recently, has stirred up a great deal of nostalgia, gratitude, and even emotion. Let me explain just a bit. I am EXTREMELY grateful to all my mentors and friends that have given so much time, effort etc. and have taught me this business. Jim Geiger is my official mentor and has had more impact on me than any other. Thanks Jim, and Susie too- I'm so glad we invented the "Golden Fork Award". You deserve it-except it should have been solid gold as opposed to gold plated. Thanks also to David Geiger, Dave Porritt-can't believe you're retiring man!, Tom Seay, Mary Smith, Craig Waldrop, Dale Probst, and Liz, Norman Cantrell, Bernard Mohlberg, Dan McSpadden, and others. Thanks to so many who dedicate their life's work to this. Thanks for making a pretty decent technician out of me--and still learning every day! I know I could call guys most any time for help. I just could not put off saying this, because time flies and it may never get said. And thanks list, for causing me to think about all this-and for the lump in my throat! Looking forward! Kevin Fortenberry Today's Topics: 1. Pin drop (Israel Stein) 2. Re: pin drop (Graves, Tony J.) 3. Re: pin drop (Susan Kline) 4. Re: pin drop (Paul Milesi) 5. Re: pin drop (Paul Milesi) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:19:07 -0700 From: Israel Stein <custos3 at comcast.net> To: caut at ptg.org Subject: [CAUT] Pin drop Message-ID: <4AE9B26B.3090208 at comcast.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Wednesday, October 28, 2009 4:01 PM Susan kline wrote: > I think that one problem faced by the profession over the next > decade or two is the idea that for the full-time positions, people > either do the whole thing, or they do nothing (retire completely.) > If we face a shortage of young people training up and getting > the experience they need to handle concert work, wouldn't it make > more sense to split the positions, letting today's full-time > people partially retire but do some concerts, while acting as coaches > to their younger replacements? (if any can be found ...) > Interesting... The position here at San Francisco State has always been split - two half-time jobs. This allows two technicians to get full Calpers benefits (health insurance and retirement) while being able to make a decent living in the private market - aside from the measly State salary. The manager (we work for a separate technical services entity - not the Music Department) let the technicians set their own schedule - so working 2 ten-hour days a week leaves us plenty time for our own work. Tom Winter, who was the senior technician here for a long time, did essentially do what you suggest - he would hire relative novices, have them work primarily on the old beat up practice room uprights, and gradually get experience with concert work and grands as those issues came up on their shifts. This way D Jones (that's what she calls herself) and Keith Jones (no relation) were two of the young technicians who got lots of good training and experience this way. D moved on to work on her own somewhere in the Midwest and Keith took over as senior technician when Tom retired. Except that Keith did not want to work with a novice - so convinced them to hire one of the more experienced technicians in the area (Margie Williams). Then Keith got a plum job at the University of Denver and moved away - and Margie also did not want to share the work with a novice (too much trouble and responsibility, i guess) so she convinced me to take the opening. I like to do it because I get tired of working by myself all the time - I like the institutional atmosphere and the challenges of such work. And the benefits are nice. I don't know if I would like it as much full-time.) Anyway, this sort of split-job idea may or may not work in the way you envision, Susan - but I suppose that the SF State example shows that it might. . At 62 I have 5 years to go until my retirement gets vested (if the job survives the California budget woes - don't get me started) having begun here as a youth of 57... So I expect to stay with it at least until then. I have been slowing down in my private service business - turning away jobs and clients that I don't wish to deal with, and refusing to work at inconvenient hours (except for steady long-time clients). I still take on stringing and action rebuilding jobs (warning the clients that it might take a while - what with my school schedule and my other institutional and professional clients, which are the backbone of my private practice). I manage to have something in the shop most of the time... And yes, I will work as late in life as I physically can - gradually getting pickier as to what jobs I take on... Israel Stein ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:20:57 -0400 From: "Graves, Tony J." <tjgraves at bsu.edu> To: "caut at ptg.org" <caut at ptg.org> Subject: Re: [CAUT] pin drop Message-ID: <C70F2B19.5C08%tjgraves at bsu.edu> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" I'm 32....I went to Piano Technology school at Western Iowa Tech fresh out of high school. I think the odds of having SS by the time I hit retirement age are slim and will have to try to build up my retirement fund as much as possible so I'll probably end up working for as long as I physically can. -- Tony Graves RPT Piano Technician School of Music Ball State University Muncie, IN 47306 (765) 285-0053 On 10/28/09 4:18 PM, "Susan Kline" <skline at peak.org> wrote: >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 ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:15:23 -0700 From: Susan Kline <skline at peak.org> To: caut at ptg.org Subject: Re: [CAUT] pin drop Message-ID: <7.0.1.0.2.20091029100534.0422eeb8 at peak.org> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Hi, Dale >The biggest problem Elizabeth and I have seen, starting relatively young, >was the older techs in our areas that were tuning just for "gas and >groceries" as one told me. I'm 59 and I'm determined that whoever follows me >won't have the same problem. Jimmy Gold taught me to leave a piano better >than I found it so I'm applying that to the trade in my area. <grin> Yes, I hope also to be a very hard act to follow! But not by working for pennies. I'm relieved to hear from Debbie and Anne that the young people are there. Maybe it is just a local phenomenon, that all the tuners around here seem to be the same age. We don't have any very old people here either. I believe I also heard that Steve Brady has some people up in Seattle in training. Susan
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