<html> <head> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; = charset=us-ascii"> <meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 10 (filtered)"> <style>  </style> </head> <body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple> <div class=Section1>  </fo= nt>   -----Original = Message----- From: = pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of Tvak@aol.com Sent: Sunday, April 11, 2004 7:14 = PM To: pianotech@ptg.org Subject: Re: there's NO = business like NO business   List Several of you have responded that if it weren't for rebuilding, store = work, or other sources of income you don't know what you'd do... Of course, I have other sources of income.  But I entered into this pianotech thing with the assumption that one day I'd be able to make a = living at tuning pianos.  Your responses lead me to believe that this may = be more difficult than I first thought/hoped. I recall my first PTG meeting.  I attended the informal dinner = before the meeting, and I asked everyone at the table, "Is there enough work = out there for me, and for everyone?"  A resounding YES from ALL at = the table was the response, and yet when the meeting began, the VP stood up = (an outgoing jovial kind of guy) and called out to the membership, "How = many here tuned a piano today?"  Half the room raised their = hands.  Half the room. "How many tuned two pianos today?"  Less than a = dozen.  "More than two?"  Maybe 4 or 5 guys raised their = hands.  Out of maybe 35 guys. It's times like this, when I have three tunings in three weeks, that = makes me wonder if I've invested alot of time and money in a part-time job. Tom Sivak Chicago           =       Tom,       =       A few ideas       =       The first  is to hook up with a piano store.       =       Floor tuning, troubleshooting .In home service.etc.       =       The pay is less than the work you’ll generate on your own but = it’s better than staring at the phone.       =       Secondly, buy an old upright.       =       Here in the Northeast they can be had either for free or a few hundred bucks. = Even with moving costs the right piano   can be reconditioned and sold @ = a decent               =       Profit.       =       Tom Driscoll </div> </body> </html>