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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I brought home a very expensive free =
piano late
last night. This is an old piano that my step father had acquired =
decades
ago in Texas and then transported to California. Eventually this =
piano
found it's way to a garage about one mile from the central California =
coast
where it rested on it's side on a cold concrete floor for the better =
part of 13
years.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>In an effort to "clean out the garage" =
I was
offered to take the piano home at no cost to me. I was planning =
the trip
for Christmas anyway so the timing was right. The specimen in =
question is
a 1930s-ish Wurlitzer baby grand. The piano had already been =
bought and
resold who knows how many times, ultimately passing through a dealer =
somewhere
in it's history who painted across the agraffs in attempt to make it =
look
better. As I recalled from when it was last on it's feet the pins =
were
fairly loose. But</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2> what the =
heck, it's
not costing me anything right? Bring it home, some =
minimal
patch work, make a couple thousand dollars selling it to someone =
who's
looking for some furniture. Well....</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>First I would need a trailer. I =
called U-Haul
and arranged a one-way rental. One problem: The trailer =
wasn't
there. "No problem", I was told. Two were due in and should =
arrive
shortly. They didn't. Several calls later and it was still =
not
there. Then finally one came in... with a bad tire. =
Long story
short, I didn't get a trailer till the next morning. </FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2>I arrived at the garage where the piano was
stored only to discover a mountain of junk in front of =
it. You
would have never known there was a piano behind it all. After =
digging it
out the piano was absolutely covered with dirt and
grime. It's only protection from the floor was an old piece of =
3/8"
plywood, (the lid had been removed). I put two legs and the lyre =
on it to
set it up temporarily in order to get a skid board under it. One =
of the
lyre screws was stripped out so I had to improvise. Then I =
discovered
that the piano was too tall to fit in the trailer on a skid board. =
It had
to be pushed in without a skid on plywood. Hard work, but =
done. I
loaded a few other pieces of furniture I intended to take home, strapped =
it all
down tightly, and closed the doors.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sunday morning the weather was REAL =
bad. It
had rained all night and the roads where very wet. The main =
obstacle
between California the Nevada desert is Tehachapi pass, a huge mountain =
that I
would have to tow the trailer up and over. After a rather =
uneventful
couple hundred miles I approached the grade. We climbed.... and =
climbed...
and climbed. Slowly the rain turned to snow... wet and =
slushy
snow. Visibility deteriorated. Suddenly I felt something was =
very
wrong. I couldn't steer straight and suddenly got that "disaster" =
feeling
when I realized the truck was hydroplaning on the icy road. I =
quickly let
up on the gas and took a deep breath when I felt the tires grip the road =
again. I crawled up the grade keeping it at about 40 MPH in an =
effort to
try to stay in control. It took a full hour at that speed to reach =
the
top. Fortunately the laws of meteorology stood firm as the weather =
immediately cleared and dried out on the wayward side of the =
mountain. No
further events other than exhaustion and by late evening I made it =
home. I
called Alan Meyer and this morning we pushed, pulled, and strained the =
thing off
the trailer and into my garage.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Upon closer examination this thing will =
require a
LOT of work to turn it back into a piano again. The stings and =
multiple
other metallic surfaces are rusted badly from the salt air. It =
will
undoubtedly need a new pin block. The finish is a beyond repair =
and will
require complete stripping. Fortunately the soundboard and bridges =
look
pretty good so long as it survives the drying out process in the Las =
Vegas
environment. Okay fine, it didn't cost anything did it? I =
mean it
was free and all wasn't it?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Rob Goodale, RPT</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Las Vegas, =
NV</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>