<!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 5.50.4522.1800" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV>Oh Z!, Oh dear Z!, I have been waiting several years now to pass on = the following wisdom:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>"A female should wear a skirt and blouse, or slacks. Do not try ot = out dress the teachers, and some dress pretty casual. But you want to look = like a professional, not like a janitor. ......They always wear skirt suits. = And they carry coveralls in their car. When they need to do pedals, or = repairs that involve crawling around, they excuse themselves to the rest toom to put = on their cover-alls. When they are done with this portion of the work they = redress in their skirt."</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>.........Direct from the Randy Potter School of Piano = Technology coursework. There you have it Z! Any other questions?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Seriously though, my jaw dropped to the floor when I read that. Let = me be clear - I think the Randy Potter School of Piano Technology = correspondence course is a goldmine of piano technology instruction - BUT, you have to = weed through a bit of "stuff & fluff" to get to the meat - of which there = is plenty.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>:-)   Just could not pass up the opportunity.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I live in Florida. Nine months of the year I wear dress shorts and = a polo shirt. The other three I wear nice long pants and a polo shirt. At least = here, I should think the same would be appropriate for a woman.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Terry Farrell</DIV> <DIV> <SPAN id=__#Ath#SignaturePos__></SPAN> </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=diskladame@provide.net = href="mailto:diskladame@provide.net">Z! Reinhardt</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> Saturday, August 25, 2001 = 12:22 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Appearance</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Any sage advice for the women technicians?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Skirts and working under (between the = 3 legs of) a grand piano don't mix for modesty's sake.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Those floppy bow-ties of the = corporate mid-80s are (thankfully) out.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Dressing "like a man" still doesn't = cut it in the more conservative circles (although that is changing), yet is still = generally preferable to a man dressing "like a woman."</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>What's a woman to do?  She has = to look professional and feminine, yet not afraid of the tools in her toolbox = or what she might encounter upon opening up a piano.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>+ + +</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>About 13 years ago, I did a little = impromptu "research" on this very subject.  I called a number of the = clothing catalogue companies and asked whoever answered the phone to imagine = that they had made an appointment with a woman piano technician to come and work = on their pianos.  What did they envision her as wearing when she = came to the door?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The responses varied = tremendously.  Some thought it was a crank call and hung up immediately.  Some ran = and got their supervisors, who in turn relished the challenge.  Some gave = it the ol' college try ... and wondered what inspired such a scenerio in the = first place.  The suggested clothing articles ranged from the jeans-&-t-shirt routines to simple shifts to chinos-&-blouse = and all the way to full corporate drag (skirted business suit) complete = with the floppy bow-tie.  Unfortunately my sample size was not large = enough to do a meaningful statistical analysis, to determine the most common = assumption of how a woman technician would dress.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>We're back at Square One on = this.  What do you all think?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thanks for your = responses.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Z! Reinhardt  RPT<BR>Ann = Arbor  MI<BR><A = href="mailto:diskladame@provide.net">diskladame@provide.net</A></FONT><= /DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE 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=Billbrpt@AOL.COM href="mailto:Billbrpt@AOL.COM">Billbrpt@AOL.COM</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> Friday, August 24, 2001 = 8:39 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Appearance</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT lang=0 = face=Arial color=#000000 size=2 = FAMILY="SANSSERIF">>><<<BR><BR>Clean, neat clothing which indicates that you are a professional and serious = <BR>about your work may, in fact, allow you to get a better fee without too = much <BR>complaint from your customers but in my opinion, dressing too = formally and <BR>uncomfortably won't. <BR><BR>Bill Bremmer RPT <BR>Madison, Wisconsin</FONT> </FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>