<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> Friends, Please do not interpret my comments here as favoring neglect of pianos, by rich people or anyone else.  I have a book that gives interesting insights into how many rich people think.  It's titled The Millionaire Next Door, and my copy was in paperback.  Unfortunately it is currently on loan to my brother, so I can't give you more information right now, but you shouldn't have trouble finding it.  You may be interested in reading a copy.  A couple things stick in my mind, though. 1.  Rich people often are very careful in how they spend their money. 2.  Some families who appear to have it made are deeply in debt to maintain a lifestyle they can't afford. To change directions a little, I am appalled when I hear statistics that say the average American household has $7,000 in credit card debt.  That means every year they are paying out (at a 14.3% interest rate) over $1000 in after-tax money that does nothing more than increase the credit card company's profits. Yes, I believe there may be some instances where carrying a balance for a short period of time (several months) may make sense, but one should always have the goal of getting out of debt and staying out, if at all possible.  My opinion, obviously. Regards, Clyde Hollinger <blockquote TYPE=CITE>I've tuned in many a mansion, some of them more like $2,000,000 homes, whose owners could justify nothing better than a 50 year-old Cable-Nelson or Wurlitzer spinet, which of course had seen a tuner maybe once every 10 years, and had  never felt the touch of a capstan wrench or hammer filing paddle.  And they're reluctant to spend more than the tuning fee until they find out if the poor child has the "talent" to get the horribly regulated, unevenly voiced old box to sound like a piano.  They didn't get rich by wasting their money on piano service, no      --David Nereson, RPT, Denver</blockquote> </html>