<HTML>Elian, Thank you for the update on Thomas's health.  I'm really sorry to h= ear of the crippling effect that chemo has had on his energy level.   I will help in any way I can.  You are right about his generosity. =  Though I've never met Tom, we have exchanged e-mails.  He once of= fered me some advice that changed my whole perspective on tuning.   Tom, if you are reading this, hang in there.  I'm sure you'll find = that there's a whole lot of support for you out here! Dave Stahl In a message dated 8/30/03 11:02:13 PM Pacific Daylight Time, elian_dege= n@cantv.net writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-= LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">Dear Friends and Colleagues Please read on to the end. Many of you know me from when I used to be active in the list, for those= who does not, I will briefly say that I used to be a Piano tuner and technic= ian in Caracas, Venezuela. Member and Founder of the Venezuelan Piano Tuners Association and due to the instability of Venezuela the past two years I have been working my way towards moving to US. Presently I am in Weston Florida. and still with to many problems to be active as I used to be, b= ut I am making an exception today, because a person, a colleague and a friend= who is also a PTG member needs our help. I had the pleasure and the honor to meet Thomas Sheehan in Venezuela sev= eral years ago, he came to visit some family that lives there, and also to ch= eck some of the pianos. Since I met him I found him to be not only a professional in his line of work, but also a very nice and decent man. I met him again some time ago in one of my trips to US. Troubles had sta= rted in my Country, and he was one of the persons I could call and find suppo= rt with in those times. Last year I learned he had developed cancer, I do k= now PTG made a fund rise and I am very grateful to all of you and his friend= s. But he still needs our help. I have been following up and lately as I sp= oke to him, (last time was yesterday evening) he has been working less and l= ess and now Chemotherapy has undermined his strength to a point that has bee= n unable to leave home. His long illness and the therapy have left him in = a desperate economical situation, He referred many of his customers to oth= er tuners without asking anything in exchange, and I am positive he has not asked anything else to his friends and colleagues. I took the initiative= of doing it. I did talk yesterday night with Ken Swaford and Paul Kupelian = and they promised me to do what they could. Please, those of you who think can help in any way get in touch either w= ith Paul Kupelian or Ken Swaford, This is something that could happen to any= of us. and I think we will all feel much better knowing we are not alone. A= lso, besides the economical part, those who know him or live near him, give h= im a call, cheer him up a little, As I understood from what he told me, Chemotherapy  was achieving positive results, he is just very weak,= If we can make him feel he has our support and care, that will also strengthen= his will and could help a lot in his recovery. If you know people out of the list who could help or who knows him send = them a copy also Any other questions you can also call me Ken and Paul's numbers you can find them in the PTG listing, Toms phone number is 1 (212) 712-0957 Beside the phone listed below you can also reach me at (954)385-6501 Thank you very much in advance</BLOCKQUOTE> </HTML>