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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I have a funny delivery story. =
This happened
before I was a full time tuner. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>This was an early summer evening, about =
dusk.
We were delivering a spinet to an older couple. As we arrived and =
first
walked in with the piano, we got a strong smell of freshly baked =
cookies.
MMMMmmmmmm. My partner and I were eyeing each other with a nod, to =
confirm, we are getting COOKIES.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The house had an odd shape to it. =
There was a
hallway leading off to the left, just inside the front =
door. At
the end of the hallway there was a step down into the living room. =
The
step, however, was at a 45 degree angle to the room and hallway. On both =
sides
of the step there was a brief railing. The rail was parallel with =
the
front of the step. Hard to describe, but not super important to =
the
story.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Anyway, as I hauled the dolly back to =
the truck and
pick up the paperwork for the customers to sign, my partner was inside
explaining piano care and answering any questions they had. This
conversation was going on right at the step. I made it back into =
the room
just in time to hear the end of Q & A time. We were taking our =
time
because we were positive we were getting cookies. And yup, just =
then the
man of the house was walking down the hallway with a large plate of
cookies. Did I mention the railing? My partner caught a =
glimpse of
the man coming down the hallway. As my partner turned to receive =
his
reward the railing caught him in the gut and folded him over at the =
waist.
Of course no piano mover would be caught dead on the floor. So, to =
catch
himself, my partner put his hand right in the middle of the plate of
cookies. Not a good idea. Not only did my partner go down, =
he took
out the plate of cookies AND the old man. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The speed a which this happened with =
the
accompanying "gulp" from the rail to the gut made this a story worth
repeating.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Mike Bratcher</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=ssclabr8@flash.net href="mailto:ssclabr8@flash.net">SUSAN =
P
SWEARINGEN</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, November 24, 2002 =
12:15
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Stupid Mistake</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hi everyone. I had my first =
little accident
as a piano technician yesterday. I'm fairly new to the business =
and this
is my first mishap so I'm feeling a little guilty about =
it.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Here is what happened.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>After tuning a 3-year old Yamaha U3 =
upright, I
was placing the front board back in place when it slipped out of my =
hands and
crashed into and on top of the piano. It caused some =
minor rubbing
on the finish but thank goodness it was only on the surface and it =
buffed out
just fine. The owner was standing nearby when all this happened =
so it
was quite emabarrasing. I thought everything was ok but the =
owner called
me the next day saying the very left note (A0) was not playing. =
She
flipped open the top lid and peered in and saw that the A0 hammer was =
missing,
just a broken hammer shank left.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Of course, I'll be taking care of =
this little
problem at no charge but I feel like such an idiot over the whole
thing.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I think it would be very theraputic =
to hear a few
stories of similar mishaps when you more experienced folk were just =
starting
out. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>How about it?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Corte
Swearingen</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>