<HTML>In a message dated 2/1/03 12:15:02 PM Central Standard Time, Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">Wim's kick in our butts about no-shows left me scratching my head a bit...which is always a good thing in my book. Couldnt quite figure out if his message was simply  "quit yer whining" or  more of a "lets try to be nice these people....even when they do everything in their power to weasle out of  taking responsibilty for costing a <<hard working honest days work kind of guy >>a couple hours income". Food for thought regardless. </BLOCKQUOTE> Well, Ric, I guess it's a combination of both messages. Quit your whining about no shows, because, as I said in my article, for most people, there are other things in life that might be more important than getting the piano tuned. Let me put it this way. Have you ever forgotten an appointment?  I don't care why, or when, or what the circumstance was, that doesn't matter. The fact is, that people do forget. Now, if the same person stood you up twice, then you know the old adage: fool me once..... But given that we see about 20 - 30 people a week, (that's over a thousand a year), the odds are pretty good that one or two of them are going to forget. My message just says, accept it as part of our job, and get over it. Have a nice day. Wim </HTML>