<HTML>In a message = dated 4/11/04 4:15:09 PM Pacific Daylight Time, Tvak@aol.com writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-= LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">Several of you have respond= ed that if it weren't for rebuilding, store work, or other sources of income= you don't know what you'd do... Of course, I have other sources of income.  But I entered into this= pianotech thing with the assumption that one day I'd be able to make a livi= ng at tuning pianos.  Your responses lead me to believe that this may b= e more difficult than I first thought/hoped. I recall my first PTG meeting.  I attended the informal dinner befo= re the meeting, and I asked everyone at the table, "Is there enough work out= there for me, and for everyone?"  A resounding YES from ALL at the tab= le was the response, and yet when the meeting began, the VP stood up (an out= going jovial kind of guy) and called out to the membership, "How many here t= uned a piano today?"  Half the room raised their hands.   Half the room. "How many tuned two pianos today?"  Less than a dozen.   "More than two?"  Maybe 4 or 5 guys raised their hands.  Out o= f maybe 35 guys. It's times like this, when I have three tunings in three weeks, that mak= es me wonder if I've invested alot of time and money in a part-time job.</FO= NT></B= LOCKQUOTE> Tom, The informal quiz taken by show of hands by your chapter VEEP may be mis= leading. First off, not all piano technicians have a desire to tune much.  S= econd, some PTG members, at least in my chapter, are hobbyists and have no a= spirations to be more.   Hooking up with a store is the best thing you could do right now.  = I don't know if you have such a connection or not, but it's worth a try. &nb= sp;You will get floor tunings/repairs/regulations (for which you won't make = squat but you might be able to buy a few groceries with it), but most import= antly, you should get free tunings of pianos that the store has sold or rent= ed(charge double your floor tuning rate or more) and private jobs referred t= o you from the store.  If the management is cool about it, you will not= have to pay referral fees or give the store a cut on the private jobs, beca= use you've given them good service for a cheap price. While I often whine about lack of prep of pianos by dealers, without the= stores that I do work for, I'd be up an odiferous creek without means of pr= opulsion. Just an idea, Dave Stahl </HTML>