<!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 6.00.2900.2963" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY text=#000000 bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV dir=ltr align=left>Wow!  If one looked at my website, I should be driving a Jag, have a couple weeks in the mountains now and then, savings out the wazoo, and have a really nice retirement fund.   Instead we live in a tiny house, my wife's teacher's retirement  medical insurance, a ten year old car.  Yet, I sure do like my boss, even though  he is the most horribly disorganized creature I've met and it means  a terrible job of drumming up business.      To know that every client is in a sense another "company to please", see repeat business, word-of-mouth references, and people who even dare to say, "you said my piano was so bad it shouldn't be  in my house. Would you come back and tune my new Steinway?" or "Thanks for  your honesty" .......................   Oh I guess I'll just risk that somehow I can live till I die and be incredibly glad to be self employed.</DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left> </DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left>les bartlett</DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><A href="http://www.bartlettpianoservice.com">www.bartlettpianoservice.com</A></DIV> <DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left> <HR tabIndex=-1> From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of Hechler Family Sent: Sunday, October 08, 2006 3:46 PM To: ed440@mindspring.com; Pianotech List Subject: Re: A downside to self-employment </DIV> <DIV></DIV>Should have? You have to be making enough money in the first place to even think about the first two. Even my mentor of 30+ years is slightly hurting. So if he is hurting, you can imagine what that is doing to me!! We have Boeing, Ford plant and Chrysler plant - either hurting or closed. SO, give me ideas on how to get business from your existing clientèle when THEY are hurting ?! >From a depressed city with no chance of moving, Duaine <A class=moz-txt-link-abbreviated href="mailto:ed440@mindspring.com">ed440@mindspring.com</A> wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE cite=mid11117350.1160339614520.JavaMail.root@mswamui-billy.atl.sa.earthlink.net type="cite"><PRE wrap="">Dave- Every self-employed piano technician should have 1) Disability insurance 2) A sick leave fund 3) A doctor who knows your income depnds on your hearing. Rest well. Ed Sutton </PRE> <BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><PRE wrap="">----Original Message Follows---- From: <A class=moz-txt-link-abbreviated href="mailto:piannaman@aol.com">piannaman@aol.com</A> Reply-To: Pianotech List <A class=moz-txt-link-rfc2396E href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org"><pianotech@ptg.org></A> To: <A class=moz-txt-link-abbreviated href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> Subject: A downside to self-employment Date: Sun, 08 Oct 2006 01:44:26 -0400 You don't get paid when you don't work. That's the big downside. Vacations we generally tend to account for, but it's hard to plan sick leave. I probably should have taken this whole week off. I had a couple of nights of fever and chills, and was feeling weak most of the time. But like the stubborn ox I am, I pushed through what I thought was a cold, capped by a 4 tuning-with-some-voicing Friday that included a fair amount of driving. I ended up in the ER that night with chest pain. Turns out it was a mild case of pneumonia, not a heart issue. Do others of you notice a difference in sound perception when you have a fever? Even pianos that I tuned that passed every interval and etd test available to me sounded unpleasant and off. Next time, I'll listen to my body when it screams, "take the time off." It would be a lot more costly to end up in the hospital for a long stretch than to miss a few days of work. Be Well, Dave Stahl, Sunday Sofa Spud Dave Stahl Piano Service 650-224-3560 <A class=moz-txt-link-abbreviated href="mailto:dstahlpiano@sbcglobal.net">dstahlpiano@sbcglobal.net</A> <A class=moz-txt-link-freetext href="http://dstahlpiano.net/">http://dstahlpiano.net/</A> ________________________________________________________________________ Check out the new AOL. Most comprehensive set of free safety and security tools, free access to millions of high-quality videos from across the web, free AOL Mail and more. </PRE></BLOCKQUOTE><PRE wrap=""> </PRE></BLOCKQUOTE> <PRE class=moz-signature cols="72">-- Duaine Hechler Piano, Player Piano, Pump Organ Tuning, Servicing & Rebuilding Associate Member of the Piano Technicians Guild Reed Organ Society Member St. Louis, MO 63034 (314) 838-5587 <A class=moz-txt-link-abbreviated href="mailto:dahechler@charter.net">dahechler@charter.net</A> <A class=moz-txt-link-abbreviated href="http://www.hechlerpianoandorgan.com">www.hechlerpianoandorgan.com</A> </PRE> -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.407 / Virus Database: 268.13.1/466 - Release Date: 10/07/2006 </BODY></HTML> -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.407 / Virus Database: 268.13.1/466 - Release Date: 10/07/2006