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Alan,
<p>Commendations to you for hanging in there. Unfortunately I don't
always have that much stamina.
<p>When I began as a federal prison volunteer around 1997, I noticed they
had a 1990 Baldwin 6000 vertical piano in the chapel. The prison
was built about that time, but the piano appeared not to have been serviced
since then. It was up to 160 cents flat, two bass strings torn, lots
of bobbling hammers, the casters were gone, and the thin plywood at the
bottom of the back was loose. I persevered to get in, in 1998 and
again in 2000, and took care of everything, but now the sustain pedal mounting
is pulled loose, and of course it needs tuned.
<p>Have you ever tried to get in a prison to work on a piano? I had
to detail everything I took with me, even though an officer was assigned
to me all the time. If I didn't jump through all the right hoops,
I could drive the 90 minutes it took to get there and they wouldn't let
me past the front gate.
<p>Since then I've given up. It's too hard to contact the right people
to make the arrangements. It's government, after all. I'm still
sad about it. Oh, yes, I didn't charge them a cent. Volunteer
work, you know.
<p>Regards, Clyde
<p>"Alan R. Barnard" wrote:
<blockquote TYPE=CITE><font face="Arial"><font size=-1>Didn't know if it
would be too "OT" (new term I learned here) and bore people. But since
you described your day, here was my very memorable yesterday: 8 hours
in a nursing home doing major work on a Chickering older than most of their
residents (1910). Piano can't be moved to any place more private than right
where it is. So ...</font></font> <font face="Arial"><font size=-1>Gentleman
in wheelchair kept rolling past very, veeeery slowly.... <snip>
These are just a few of the highlights. The whole experience was sad, funny,
and aggravating at the same time. Such mixed emotions are very tiring.</font></font> <font face="Arial"><font size=-1>Pray
for me. Over and over again.</font></font></blockquote>
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