Tuesday, January 30, 2007

I Almost Hate to Say It........


But, darn, today has been a good one! At the right is my first piano "job". It was the 1960's. This piano was in our finished cellar "playroom". We had a Baldwin Acrosonic upstairs in the livingroom that I took lessons on. My parents gave me permission to do what ever I wanted to this old upright. So..........voila'. It even had thumbtacks in the hammers for that honky-tonk effect.

About today...........let's see...........the Bridgeport reed organ is ready for polishing and I've ordered a special polish for that. OZ polish, the best! When I got home from walking/delivering this morning, there were 4 more messages on the machine (there were a pile yesterday, but more on that in a bit). Two of the messages will be jobs that I turn down and recommend someone else. Purely because they are too far away. One sounds like a player piano repair or rebuild, the other is tuning a player. Lynn and Boston. Then I got a message from a repeat tuning customer in Hamilton. She needs to schedule a tuning. The other call was from a Boston area tech that I just finished a keytop job for. He's sending another. YAY!!!!!! It was the first job I had done for him. Previously he had sent them elsewhere. Obviously, when I've got repeat customers, I can assume that my work is at least decent! But every once in a while, it's nice to be REassured. So, when this guy left a message that he thought my work was great and he was shipping more, it made me feel reeeeeeaaaaalllll good. I'm also working on a set of keys for a tech in TN. First time he has sent any to me.

Yesterday, the choral teacher from the high school called. She needs the Yamaha grand in the auditorium tuned THIS WEEK. BEFORE THURSDAY NIGHT! She wants another piano in a practice room tuned sometime soon. YAY! again. See here for more on the trials of getting the school piano "contract". Then a repeat tuning customer called to schedule a tuning next week. Then I scheduled a BIG repair job for Saturday. Seems I'll be very busy for the next couple of weeks.

Oh yes, I also got the lawyer's appointment scheduled. I called him again this Monday and my Mom and I go there on Friday afternoon. This is about the deed.

This past Sunday I went to Barnes & Noble. Sometimes I think that I would love to live there. Jayne had given me a gift card for my Christmas "bonus" and I had yet to get the opportunity to go browse. I bought a book called "The Birthday Party". A true story of when federal prosecutor, Stanley Alpert, was kidnapped off the streets of Manhattan. I've read a few chapters and it is a really good read! I sent Jayne a thank you note, today. I had bought some really pretty note cards over the last few months. The card I sent is "computer artwork" by a local artist, Thomas Philbrook. Check out the link. I think his photo/computer/art is fascinating.

I've got to say, it's been great to have such a positive start to the week.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do you still have that piano? I love it.

deb said...

Nope. In 1972, my parents sold the house where that was. Rather than move it, they gave it to a neighbor two doors down. It was rolled out and around the side of our house on plywood over the lawn, then rolled down the street and into the finished cellar at the neighbor's house. At some point the neighbors gave it to someone else. Wonder if it's still around looking like that!