<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1522" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV>Suggestion,</DIV> <DIV> These tidbits by themselves could not fill a book. However if = collected would make for fine reading. I'm thinking if we could donate our stories for a PTG fund rasing = book. ?? whadyathink</DIV> <DIV>Joe Goss RPT </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; = BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">Susan, What a blessing to see your warm homey soapstone oven. = Your account of the key washing reminds me of a frantic call I received = many years ago. I stopped in mid tuning and rushed to a the mansion of = a very prominent family in town. The heirloom family Steinway was being = given to the grand- daughter and the maid was told to wash the ivories. Whereupon the maid put ivory soap in a bucket and was happily = scrubbing the inside of the piano. Several months and many dollars later = I asked if the maid was still working for them. I'll never forget this = line - "Yes, the poor dear never was too bright". And, finally, Connie and I returned home from a great evening of dinner = and a movie. The answering machine was filled. A piano teacher friend of = ours was frantic. It was flu season and one of her students had = .... onto the mid section of the keyboard. Still warm. I would have preferred = she put the keys in the sink for that mess as your lady = did. However, I did learn that the students homeowners policy = paid for the clean-up. Here's hoping all a healthy 2006. Happy New = Year. Joel Joel Jones, RPT Madison, WI On Dec 31, = 2005, at 2:02 AM, Susan Kline wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE>At 08:36 AM 12/31/2005 +1030, Robin wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE>Yesterdays temperature here in Port Pirie was 45 degrees = C (113F) and going for 106F today. </BLOCKQUOTE> And here = I have chicken and a potato roasting in the soapstone stove's bakeoven, = after a nice fire to 250C. In here it's warm and dry, and outside we've had = such rain that the whole yard squishes. Luckily I don't live on low = ground. There's flooding and mud slides out there in vulnerable areas. We = call it a "Hawaiian Wet Front." As for deciding what not to put up with = -- I was a real softy for far too long, and did some totally ridiculous = jobs, but I have worked out a few things over the years. First to disappear = were square grand tunings (I just said too hard on my back, though my = back is good.) After twenty years of doing every upright player-with-pneumatic-action which came my way, I balked after a = really hard one, where I had trouble getting the rewind to work after I was = finished, and it joined my "too hard on my back" list. I figured, twenty years = was long enough -- I had served my sentence. I used to hate = tuning for road shows. In Stockton, CA, a guy used to call me for them. After = one, which involved climbing a ladder to a little platform and tuning a = terribly false electric grand, with tons of noise going on all around me, I = had a couple of convenient "conflicts" when the guy called to schedule. He = got the picture really fast, and stopped calling, and I hardly felt guilty = for the fibs. There was one mentally ill old lady in a bad part of = town -- I had to go out on the porch to keep from fainting. I had managed to = tune for her several times, but the next time she called me, I told her she = should try someone else. I felt sorry for her, but I couldn't face any = more. She really needed a good house fire (while she was away), and some help = from a social worker. I often clean the keys, especially in schools = and churches. Clean keys feel better while working, give that little = smug glow of superiority, and also show people (some of whom are not = particularly good at music and pitch) that someone has been there. Also, I think that = a piano with a clean keyboard gets a little bit more respect than one which = is filthy, so perhaps people won't beat it up as badly. I = learned one day to hold my tongue about how filthy a piano is. I evaluated an = old upright which was truly filthy and I said so, as I vacuumed and = dusted. When I came back to bush the keys, the lady had them out and was washing = them off in the sink! It was retrievable with a lot of glue and persistence = ... barely. Susan <fire = 7.jpg>_______________________________________________ pianotech = list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives </BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOT= E></BODY></HTML>