<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; = charset=US-ASCII"> <TITLE>Message</TITLE> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2769" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=156542817-30122005>OK, = gang. Here's my last question for this year. Is there a filth level at which point you = refuse to work on the piano? Or, for that matter, even enter the = home?</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=156542817-30122005></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=156542817-30122005>In the = last month I've had two customers where I had serious second thoughts about even = entering the home. Please indulge me as I share these two = adventures.</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=156542817-30122005></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=156542817-30122005>The = first one was a middle-aged lady who, as she opened her front door, asked me if I would = be bothered by her collection of teddy bears. She followed that by = emphasizing that she meant a LOT of teddy bears. No-problem. But when I entered through = the door and found out why it wouldn't open all the way I paused. Did I say A LOT = OF TEDDY BEARS? She lived in a single that was literally hip high and = wall-to-wall teddy bears and other stuffed animals. And what turned out to be a = fairly decent Kawai console was clear at the other end of the room. I was not aware of = any real furniture. I waded across the room, took my hat and coat off and = laid them in the lap of one of the larger TB's. She immediately grabbed them up telling me that putting a hat on a bed is bad luck. There's a = bed there? Anyway, the piano was ok, and while I was tuning she ran off to do some dumpster-diving, (her words), to collect some bottles for recycling so = she could pay me the balance after the check that her mother had provided for half = of it. Took me weeks to spend $4 in pennies, but she was overjoyed at having = her piano sound right again and said it was worth every cent, and more. Something = sort of rewarding in satisfying a customer like that.</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=156542817-30122005></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=156542817-30122005>The = second was an old curmudgeon tow-truck driver, again living in a single. He'd lived in = this apartment with his two pianos, one bed and one TV and no other furniture = for ten years. The windows and shutters had never been opened and the place = had never been cleaned. There was music covering everything, most of it in = tiny little shreds. And dust and detritus was measurably thick over the = floor, the pianos and pretty much everything but the TV. Both pianos were easily = 100 years old and neither had seen service in close to 30. I spent half a day on = one of them and we agreed that the other would be rescheduled. He then = proceeded to stiff me for half my bill saying, essentially, that's all it's worth to = me, that's all I got, (as he peeled off a C-note from the outside of a wad of bills), take it or leave it. Needless to say I = won't be going back.</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=156542817-30122005></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=156542817-30122005>So, = have any of you ever refused to enter a home because of filth? Or refused to work on a = piano because there was more dirt inside than you were willing to take care = of? Or perhaps even just because you get a real bad vibe from the people? And = what do you tell them?</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN = class=156542817-30122005></SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN = class=156542817-30122005></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=156542817-30122005>-- = Geoff Sykes</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=156542817-30122005>-- = Assoc. Los Angeles</SPAN></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>