<!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 6.00.2900.2769" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>> Last week it was a piano that had = flowers on it for 20 years (treble <BR>> keys sticking, layer of earth found in keybed.)</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Had soil horizons developed yet? Yikes!</FONT></DIV> <DIV><BR><FONT face=Arial size=2>> Tonite I went to a 70's drop = action Wurlitzer someone got for free.  </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>There's your first big tip-off. I often = tell piano folks that free pianos are a lot like a free puppy - before you even get = it home you have a $500 vet bill.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>> A0 <BR>> not working, key stuck = down- opened bottom board to find A0 had no <BR>> sticker or wippen- = totally gone (I propped it up with cardboard <BR>> punchings).  Later on I = noticed some bass notes were real sticky, and <BR>> noisy in the front pin area.  Lifted up a key to find what looked like <BR>> glue = between the keys.  Tried to scrape it off, then noticed there was <BR>> more = on the keytops.<BR>> I checked under the keys, and there was a puddle of 10+ = year old vomit, <BR>> moldy and petrified, and a few petrified felt punchings.  It was <BR>> definitely an "after-party" = piano.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Help - Thump!!!!!</DIV> <DIV><BR>> I informed the owner I had removed a small portion of the = food, but the <BR>> remainder would have to be chiseled and planed out = another day.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>You forgot........ by someone else!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>What is it with some pianos? Impressive tale.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Terry Farrell<BR></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>