<HTML>In a message dated 12/19/02 7:03:27 PM Central Standard Time, fssturm@unm.edu writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">I remember you commenting you thought a full time job caring for 70 pianos would be a walk in the park, when you first took the job. It's keeping up with bushings, and hammers, and knuckles, and regulation, and broken strings, and, and, and . . . - keeping those practice pianos almost as good as a concert instrument all the time - that really defines what being a CAUT is all about, IMO. And means a lot of hours, more than anyone in the retail field could imagine.   All that said, thanks for asking about the plastic cauls. Keep questions and ideas coming. It keeps us awake and alive. Regards, Fred Sturm </BLOCKQUOTE> Fred Thank you for a very comprehensive view and explanation of bushing, and practice room pianos, and their bushings. Yes, when I first took the job, I made the comment that taking care of 70 pianos would be easy. But it wasn't long before I asked, how in the world can one piano tech take care of 70 pianos, much less 100 or even 150 as some of you do. I thought I was a pretty good technician. But I have to admit that this past year and half my learning curve has gone straight up. Having attended the Steinway tech class has helped tremendously. But just by asking a lot of questions on CAUT has also increased my technical skills. Somewhere along the line we need to explain to university administrators, that a piano technician for a university is not for the faint of heart. That the qualification for the job needs to be more than just a passing knowledge of pianos, and it must be someone with more than just a couple of years of experience. And most important, that the university needs to allow the technician time to attend seminars and convention, on "company time." That is, if they car at all about their million dollar investment in pianos. Again, Fred, thanks for your comments. Wim </HTML>