<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; "><BR><DIV><DIV>On Mar 16, 2007, at 2:03 PM, Gould, Jeremy wrote:</DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Money isn't everything.<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN></FONT></P> </BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR><DIV>No, but if there isn't enough of it, it very quickly becomes the main thing. And when there isn't enough moonlighting one month, you might not be able to make it up later. That becomes debt, which just grows.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Unfortunately, the attitude that "money isn't everything" is the main reason our salaries are so low.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">The faculty has been very appreciative of my</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">efforts.</DIV></BLOCKQUOTE><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>until there isn't enough of you to get all the work done...</DIV><BR><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "> Greeley is a pretty nice place to live, being only about an</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">hour away from both Estes Park and Denver. Working at a University has</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">certain benefits for me besides money. Having a music faculty that</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">views me as a colleague has been one. Being able to check out books</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">from the music library for 6 months at a time is another. Being in an</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">environment where people value music, talk about music, and perform</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">music, is another.</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Yes, all those are really nice unless you can't pay your bills.</DIV><BR><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">I have enjoyed my short time here, but have found that tuning constantly</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">makes it impossible to practice. <BR></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Now you're getting to the meat of it. I used to consider myself a musician, but I don't even have time for church choir, much less practice time. Family time also suffers. The reason we work in the first place is what sacrifices.</DIV><BR><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "> I also found that my requests for more</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">money, a budget, etc. were not likely to be answered to my satisfaction.</DIV></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><DIV>That isn't just at your school. You're describing the normal situation. I've been begging for the 9 years I've been here for a real budget and more help. Attempts at convincing that we needed a larger piano tech staff years ago are now being answered with, "we have a plan to (basically increase your workload) that could result in justifying a second position." My answer was, "yes, and based on what you are describing, we will then need two more." </DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>These people who appreciate your work, still really don't understand it at all.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>You have also just identified how your university job also has the ability ruin your reputation. If staffing level, or the budget, or the combination of both is insufficient to adequately keep up the inventory, the technician is the one whose reputation suffers.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>I used to believe a university tech job was my dream job. It is becoming a nightmare.<DIV><DIV><BR><DIV> <SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><DIV>Jeff Tanner, RPT</DIV><DIV>University of South Carolina</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"></SPAN> </DIV><BR></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>