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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Yea Nick,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I am always reassured in this day of technology
when standing on a porch I dial a number (dial?) on my cell phone and hear a
phone ringing in the house.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I used to work for a piano rental company, Earl
Gardner, back some 30 years. Anyway, a client had not paid in months if not
years and never was home when we were out with the truck. Then one evening the
light was on and we knocked on the door. There was the piano right where we had
delivered it some years back, the same piano but different people. Earl let them
know that was his piano and he wanted it back, these people said no way it
theirs and we'd best be leaving or they'd call the cops. Anyway, somehow Earl
makes his way in with the contract to prove the piano is his, he lifts the lid
to see the serial number, they were right, it was their piano. Same brand, same
place, different channel.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Fenton</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=gravagnegang@att.net href="mailto:gravagnegang@att.net">Nick
Gravagne</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">'Pianotech List'</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, August 01, 2008 3:47
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> RE: No- shows..... again</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV class=Section1>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Amazing no-show (kind
of):<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Many years ago when I
lived in Albuquerque a brand new customer and I agreed that if she wasn’t home
she would leave the door unlocked and that I could just go in and tune her
grand piano. Since I tuned for her Church and other friends she trusted me to
take care of business in the event of her absence. Well, I arrived and knocked
at the door – no answer. <st1:place w:st="on">Rand</st1:place> the doorbell,
more nothing. I tentatively tried the doorknob – not locked. It’s hard not to
feel creepy in these situations, but I gingerly entered the house and found a
mahogany grand piano. Still, I lamely called out something like, “Hello,
anybody home – I’m the piano tuner.” The sound of silence was deafening.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">So, I tuned the piano
completely undisturbed; left my card and bill and moved on with the
day.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">That evening and a
phone call from my customer. She wants to know what happened; she was there
for our appointment and I never showed up. I assured her that I had, and that
no one was home and that I tuned her mahogany piano in the living room.
Trouble is, her piano is ebony and it lives in the studio, not the living
room. A mystery now. We made another appointment for the following day and I
had dinner that night, sitting wide eyed, sure I had entered into the Twilight
Zone.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Later that evening
and the phone rings. A man identified himself, but all I really heard was “I
don’t know who asked you to tune my piano, but it sounds great and thanks. I
will get a check in the mail tomorrow.” Of course he wanted to know
more, who put me up to it and so on. I asked the man for his address and I
wrote it down, and when we hung up, I checked it against my appointment book,
and as they say in the South, “I like to fell down.” I had the correct house
number but was on the wrong street! And the street names were similar; they
had a theme, such as Cedar, Spruce, and Cider. Well, somewhere along the way,
when I was looking for Cedar I ended up on Cider two blocks away, and with no
appointment walked into the house of a perfect stranger, tuned a mahogany
grand, and managed to get paid!<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">What are the odds?!!
Later that night I imagined all sorts of weird and wild scenarios that might
have happened, but thankfully did not. I’ll leave it to the rest of you to
think about. I also wondered how I could possibly justify such an unbelievable
tale to my new customer with the ebony grand, who I “stood up”. It turns out
she believed me, and sort of knew the other party. We
laughed.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Who could forget such
an odd story? Still, I learned to never walk into a strange house unless I was
absolutely and completely sure of the address; or better yet, if I had never
been there before to simply not go in, or even try the doorknob for fear that
on the other side of that door might stand, cigarette in hand, Rod
Serling.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoAutoSig><EM><B><I><FONT face="Trebuchet MS" color=black
size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Trebuchet MS'">Nick
Gravagne, RPT</SPAN></FONT></I></B></EM><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoAutoSig><EM><B><I><FONT face="Trebuchet MS" color=black
size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Trebuchet MS'">Piano
Technicians Guild</SPAN></FONT></I></B></EM><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoAutoSig><EM><B><I><FONT face="Trebuchet MS" color=black
size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Trebuchet MS'">Member
Society Manufacturing Engineers</SPAN></FONT></I></B></EM><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoAutoSig><EM><B><I><FONT face="Trebuchet MS" color=black
size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Trebuchet MS'">Voice
Mail 928-476-4143</SPAN></FONT></I></B></EM><o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><FONT
face="Times New Roman" color=black size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: windowtext">
<HR tabIndex=-1 align=center width="100%" SIZE=2>
</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Tahoma color=black size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">From:</SPAN></FONT></B><FONT
face=Tahoma color=black size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">
pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] <B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">On Behalf Of
</SPAN></B>pianolady50@peoplepc.com<BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Sent:</SPAN></B> Friday, August 01, 2008 1:02
PM<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">To:</SPAN></B> <st1:PersonName
w:st="on">Pianotech List</st1:PersonName><BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Subject:</SPAN></B> Re: No- shows.....
again</SPAN></FONT><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Best No Show
(for me)</SPAN></FONT><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: windowtext"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The job
involved removing the 'drawer' in a Recordo grand to bring in to the shop
for rebuild. The customer lived an hour and a half away (one way) in a
gated community south of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Tampa</st1:City>, <st1:State
w:st="on">FL.</st1:State></st1:place> She had told me that she would
be meeting her husband at the airport, but that she would
leave my name with the guard at the gate, and the house key would be
under the front mat.</SPAN></FONT><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: windowtext"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Seeing as I
knew extra hands would be useful in the drawer removal, my dad accompanied me
on the trip. </SPAN></FONT><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: windowtext"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">(Can you
anticipate what happened?)</SPAN></FONT><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: windowtext"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">After
battling our way through <st1:City w:st="on">Tampa</st1:City> and hauling
down the east side of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Tampa</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Bay</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> to Symphony Isles (no kidding), we
arrived at the guard shack. Pleasant older man emerged and I announced
my name, my customer's name, and my purpose for being there. He hadn't a
clue. The customer had forgotten to tell him. How frustrating to
be sitting there, knowing that just several streets away was that house key
waiting for me.</SPAN></FONT><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: windowtext"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">We drove the
hour and a half back home and I immediately called the customer getting her
answering machine. I left a pleasant, chiding message. She called
back that evening to apologize and I could hear her husband, in the
background, kiddingly giving her grief. We made a new appointment and
she assured me that the guard would be told. I asked for the phone
number at the guard shack! I called him before I headed out to her
house, and every time in the future. </SPAN></FONT><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: windowtext"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: windowtext; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Debbie
L.</SPAN></FONT><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
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<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=3><SPAN
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