End Week Week End

Wow, did I get dumped on over the last few days! Two sets of keys came in on Tuesday. One for tops and bushings, the other just tops. Got to work on them right off and it was a good thing because on Wednesday the phone rang...another tech sending keys and he needed them in a rush. I didn't think it would be a problem. Thursday rolls around and USPS delivers a box to the door. Hmmm, must be that rush job. Oh no, another set! I took the box to the workshop and opened it up. Keys from a tech in North Carolina that has never sent any work here before. No check, no note, no instructions. Return address on the box is the only clue. I got started on them figuring Friday's mail would probably bring the check and the instructions as to color choice. Not a thing in Friday's mail, but UPS delivered the keys for the rush job. I finally had to look up the North Carolina guy's email. Sent him one (an email, that is) and gave him 24 hours to respond. Nothing. Finally made the long distance phone call and got him squared away...idiot.

Friday, I shipped out two sets and still had three to go! Then the phone rang. I set up an appointment to give an estimate on a repair of an Indian harmonium. The customer would bring it here on Sunday, just before lunch. By Friday night I was starting to wonder how I would get everything done on time. Especially since I had promised Amanda and my mother a day of furniture shopping and other errands on Saturday!

Then the phone rang again. This time it was Amanda's work wanting her to fill in for someone on Saturday. Since she needs the cash, she decided to give up the Saturday outing and go to work. I still gave up my afternoon, Saturday, to drive my mom on some of the errands she wanted to do.

Saturday morning I worked like crazy and made good progress on the keys and after dropping Amanda off at work, my mom and I headed north. Our first errand was to drive to Merrimac to see if Skip's had posted a sign with their opening date. And they had one up! Yay, Skip's is opening for the season on April 23rd. I've subsequently told Amanda to ask for her birthday (24th) off from work and we'll all go up for lunch.

After the Skip's drive-by, we headed east and then south towards Newburyport. We stopped at one furniture store just to check on a nightstand for Amanda. They had one that we think she'll like, but are waiting to take her to see it before my mom buys it as a birthday gift. After the furniture store, we headed for Tendercrop Farm. My mom was looking for some dried flowers. She didn't find anything she wanted, but look what I found! Tendercrop Farm has a llama. And...Tendercrop Farm has Bunky the buffalo. Bunky has been there for a number of years, but this is the first time that I've seen a llama at the farm. The llama spent a good amount of time chowing down on some carrots that a little boy was feeding to it. Bunky was looking hungry and jealous.
Sunday was work, work, work. Shame on me. The lady came with the Indian harmonium and after some fiddling with it, it worked just fine. She has left it to have the keyboard repaired. The keys are poorly made and have swelled and are rubbing on each other. Most of the key tops have fallen off and also need to be trimmed for clearance. After she left, I finished two more sets of keys and nearly the third.

This morning set three was finished and boxed and I was off to the shippers. Now I'm just fighting the nit-picky harmonium keys. A nice change, but they are annoying to work on.