A Thank You and an Apology

[Les Smith]

Greetings, all:

This concerns my recent post on Chickering pianos.

First, I would like to thank everyone who replied--both public and
private, pro and con--to my post. Your replies were sincerely ap-
preciated. However, I believe an apology is in order.

Shortly after posting that piece to Pianotech, my computer crashed
big-time. As luck would have it, my computer "guru" was out of town
on a golfing vacation (business must be good!), and he didn't return
until yesterday, thus I have been off-line for over a week. Bummer.
Consequently, I have been unable to respond back to your replies all 
this time. Unintentional although this silence on my part has been, it
has still given the appearance of a lack of Pianotech courtesy and for
it I sincerely apologize. In the future, I will do my best to see that
my replies are made in a more timely manner.

Now back on-line, I will respond back to everyone privately, so as not 
clutter up the list with old business.

BTW, when John, my computer man, had finished this morning, he gave me
his bill, along with a piece of advice: "I don't charge by the hour. My
bill doesn't reflect how long the repair took. I get the big bucks be-
cause I know exactly where and precisely how hard to hit your computer
with the hammer. It's an acquired skill, which requires much practice!"

I didn't question the bill. How could I argue with such logic? After all,
John sounded just like Jim Grebe, justifying his bill to a client! :)

Have a good week, all,

Les Smith