At 5:01 PM -0700 4/24/00, Charly Tuner wrote:
>I have a feeling that I'm not the only one who has bumped, slammed, smashed,
>or otherwise made painful contact with our friend the piano. I'd like to
>hear from other techs who have stories of their WORST mishap involving their
>work with pianos...should prove immensely interesting!
In 3/86, I was re-attatching the bell to a Steinway AI rim, seated on the
floor using a screwdriver bit in a brace. At a certain point the large wood
screws were pointing near-horizontal and outwards (outside the rim. The bit
jumped the slot on one of them, and did a bee-line for my right eye-ball,
going through the retina like a roto-tiller. That was 10:30a. By 2p I was
on the operating table at the regional hospital and back home 3 days later.
On pain medication for three weeks, slowly resumed tuning in the second
month, and started to drive again by the third.
Another 1/4" further and the best-case scenario would have been my wife
(bless her) spoon-feeding me for the rest of my life. As it is, I'm blind
and slightly wall-eyed on that side.
My buddies all got together and voted me the "DUMMY OF THE YEAR" award. A
variant of mideastern justice: an Eye for an A.
Bill Ballard, RPT
New Hampshire Chapter, PTG
"Woh"
...........Keanu Reeves in "The Matrix"
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