<html> At 04:11 PM 9/2/2005 -0400, Eric wrote: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>My least favorite early-career related story is about a client who let me in and then left to go to the grocery. Unfortunately she had left her macaw (a very large parrot-like bird) out of the cage. The macaw landed atop a chair on the other side of the room and watched me get my tools out. I thought, well this is OK as long as he (she) stayed over there so I began to tune the large old Steinway upright. The only problem was that every time I hit a note, the macaw let out a (very) loud screech. It would sit there looking at me remaining perfectly quiet until I played a note and then, Bwraaaawk! .  The tuning wasn t the best but I wasn t going to mess with this bird they crack Brazil nuts in their beaks for breakfast!  </blockquote> Then there was the voice teacher I tuned for in Stockton, CA. She had a cockatiel. First, it gave me one side of a telephone conversation (with a student, probably), complete with pauses, concerned comments, and ahhs, and ohhhs. Then it started to solfege and sing arpeggios. Darned thing sang in tune. Have you noticed that parakeets and canaries will make a huge racket, but only when you're tuning the treble? I would stop tuning the treble and move to the bass because of the noise -- and it would stop. A couple of treble notes -- they'd start up again. I guess they had been waiting with such longing for another bird to shout down that even a few repeated piano notes would get them all excited. Susan </html>