Catching Up

I decided that I'd better get to writing a post before dickiebo disowned me...or worse. There are just times that I haven't felt very inspired to write anything. It's not that I haven't anything to say or to write about, it's that I can't seem to motivate myself to get started on it. Overdoing other things, I guess.

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A week ago was the first Old Firehouse Craft Fair for this year. At 8:30 am, I hauled myself and my gear downtown. Actually, my mom did the hauling of my gear and me. She was there to give me a hand setting up. Then she left for most of the day, returning only to give me a break around lunch time and helping me pack up at the end. The fair lasted from 10 am until 4 pm. Being as it was very poorly advertised (read 'next to nil'), attendance was slimmer than I had hoped. As you know, Mary and Beth came down and they made my first sales of the day! Later in the afternoon I sold some more packages of notecards and a couple more easel minis. So, not as profitable as I had hoped and I will be modifying my items for sale. The next fair will be on July 5 and I'll be there. I'm adding two or three new products to my inventory. One of which is still in 'development' but I'll whisper the idea to you as long as you promise to spread the word! Added to the product line will be wearable oil paintings. I am in the process of creating necklaces featuring original oil paintings on ivory (authentic elephant ivory reclaimed from old piano keys). There may be another new product or two, but all will still focus on oil paintings of regional scenes.

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Other stuff...My participation in 'Pay It Forward' is nearly done. One person that I nominated did not respond to my address request but it is understandable why. The 'gift' is still here, waiting, just in case.

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Key work is still coming in on a somewhat regular basis. Friday I shipped out two finished sets.
One went to God, the other to Jesus. They both had addresses with a view.

Truly.

My mom said that I'd better hope they liked my work!

So as to be able to remember to notify them when their keys would arrive, I wrote the information on the back of a business card from the shipping company. It read:

God Weds
Jesus Mon

The company name on the flip side is ESP.

Left the shipper's hoping I didn't lose the card someplace along the sidewalk. Might scare the person who would find it!

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Oh rats! Yes, indeed. And I've named him Junior. Mom called to me a few evenings ago to look out her back window. Lo and behold, there was an enormous rat darting in and out from under the fence in to my mom's garden. He was eating the birdseed that had fallen to the ground from the feeder. We don't like this one bit, folks. We like chipmunks. We like squirrels. But mice and fat rats....NO!

Sooooooooo, today we headed for the hardware store to see what there was to see in the 'rid yourself of rodents' department. There's not much. First item was the monstrous spring-loaded trap. Not an option. Might catch Chippy or Son of Squirt instead. Then there were the sticky traps and we ruled them out for the same reason. We could have purchased a humane trap, but then what does one do with a live rat? Can't really release it many places for it to thrive. We thought and thought and then very reluctantly opted for poison. Now, no lectures about what these poisons do. I know what they do. I don't like what they do. But THIS IS A RAT. We had located Junior's home nestled down and between the roots of an old tree stump. Today, while Junior slept, we inserted a poison briquette in his home. We covered it and the opening well with plastic weighted down with granite. We wanted to make sure that no cats (or squirrels or chipmunks) could get to the poison. Hopefully, tonight will be Junior's last supper.

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And finally...upon the suggestion of a few colleagues, I've written a story for publication. Watch for updates.

Crafty

Today is THE day. I'll be heading to the craft fair in town in just a few minutes.Think $$$$$$$

PIF

Huh? Yes, it is continuing. Dickiebo was treated to a surprise gift and the nice thought is to 're-pay' by sending a gift on to three other bloggers. Well, my dear blog twin chose me as one of the recipients and now I'm announcing my choices. So, although I may guess at actual street addresses based on the limited information these people have provided, in the past, on their blogs, I really could use updated information.

So Annette, Linda, and Rob...you have each been chosen to receive a gift. It is going to take me a couple days to actually 'collect' the gifts that I'll send, but they will truly represent Rockport. If you wish to increase the odds that I have your correct snail mail address by 100%, please email the information to me at a440deb@yahoo.com. You will receive your gift via snail mail shortly after I get your address.

Enjoy and 'Pay It Forward' if you so desire.

Diamonds in the Rough

Even the booking of today's tuning was a little different. The phone call came a couple weeks ago from a pleasant sounding woman who said she was making the call for her backdoor neighbor. Mr. J needed his piano tuned. She was calling to check on the price and to schedule a convenient date. I asked her how long it had been since Mr. J's piano had been serviced. She paused and then said she would put him on the phone. Odd, I thought she was making the call because he was at work or something and unable to personally speak with me. Mr. J gave me the information needed. He owns a Steinway grand. It had been tuned about a year ago, but since then one bass string had broken. I told him my tuning fee and he scheduled the tuning for today.

This morning I slept in a bit and once I did get going with breakfast and shower was dreading the tuning job. Having a string break on it's own is not a good sign, nor was I relishing dealing with ordering a replacement and the subsequent repeat visits to install and tune it. I'm in a 'give me simple' mood. Nevertheless, with tuning gear in hand, I headed out for the 10:30 appointment.

Mr. J's place was about a fifteen minute drive and easy to find. But what a place. As I approached and parked in the gravel drive, it was difficult to convince myself to stay. His house looked like a small, old barn. Added on and patched however the mood swayed carpentry. It was two stories tall. With a deep breath I gathered my tool kit and headed for the aged front door. Rough sawn and slightly beaten, it did boast one small window, a kitty door, and an enormous door knocker. As I rapped with the knocker, I stole a cautious glance through the window. It didn't look good. My quick view didn't show ordinary living quarters. To the right, and in a little, was a large utilitarian sink. To the left, haphazard storage. I stepped back from the pane as I heard footsteps approaching from inside.

Mr. J seemed to be in his late sixties or early seventies. I found it very hard to tell exactly. He was disheveled but clean and somewhat reserved. I extended my hand as I introduced myself and my purpose for being there. He commented that he had forgotten my name but did remember our appointment. Since all I could see was the old sink and lots of piles of 'barn-ish' storage, I asked where he was hiding the piano. Mr. J said it was upstairs. At that point I noticed the worn staircase to my right that had been hidden from outside view and hauled myself and tools upward. Mr. J followed. Halfway up I saw a kitty bowl filled with water on a small landing.

Upon arriving on the second floor I was greeted by an expansive view of Ipswich Bay hampered only by the white streaks of thermal glass panes gone bad. I made a quick assessment of my surroundings. The second floor was one large room. I was standing in the 'living room' section. I looked further and saw the old Steinway at the far end. As I approached the piano, still looking around, I spotted Mr. J's bed on the left. A double sized mattress on the floor. Mr. J's house seemed as disheveled as Mr. J.! The lid to the piano was open so I set my tool case down by the bench and had a look inside the Steinway. It wasn't a pretty view. What should have been bright and shiny was layered in gobs of rust. Everything steel was host to the orange-y brown parasite, including moderately sized patches of the cast iron plate.

I was thrilled with this discovery. Nothing better than piles of rust to justify my exit. I pointed out the problems inherent with trying to tune a piano with such decay to Mr. J. He was unfazed. I told him that ethically and professionally, I felt it best that a tuning not be attempted. I told him that there would be no service charge. Still he wanted me to try. I knew I had dreaded this appointment for some reason! Not many sounds worse to a piano tuner than strings breaking or the plate cracking. I got everything ready to start and then closed the lid. Better for breaking tensioned steel to hit the interior of the piano than me. Luckily, things weren't too far off, tuning-wise, and I gingerly began making some fine adjustments where needed. And only where needed.

About fifteen nerve-racking minutes into the tuning, I heard Mr. J holler, "MoMo get over here!" I turned to see Mr. J grabbing on to a cat's tail trying to 'haul'er in'. A split second later there was even more commotion. MoMo let go of a field mouse and it scurried across the floor and under a couch. Then the fun began! MoMo was frantic. She couldn't find her new playmate. Mr. J was frantic because he couldn't either! They both searched and searched and scolded each other. Finally MoMo headed out to find another friend while Mr. J continued his search. After ten minutes, or so, even he gave up. I told him that between a rusty piano and a loose mouse in the house, he was fortunate that I was still there! He said he usually just catches the mice in his hand and carries them outside to free them.

Wonderful. But where was that mouse?

Remarkably, after temporarily forgetting about the newest, tiniest house guest, and after an hour of tentative tuning waiting for the snap. The snap never happened. The piano was tuned with not one string breaking. I advised Mr. J that paying to replace the one broken string was probably not an economically sound choice. It's absence was not perceptible being one of a pair. It's partner was still there for that note. I sat down at the key board and played a short passage of ragtime. Afterwards, Mr. J sat down and performed a stunning piece of 30's jazz. He was totally amazing.

I wonder what was.

Where In the World?

and other goings-on.

I took a few days off. Sort of.

This week being one of Amanda's vacation weeks gave us the opportunity to make the trip to 'the other' Cape, Cape Cod. It was an on again, off again kind of thing. The plans had been made long in advance - weather pending. I HATE driving in poor weather conditions. Particularly on the highway. By the end of last week they predicted that Sunday, Mother's Day, would be the one real diamond amongst coal. Monday and Tuesday were looking to be a nor'easter. We called and canceled our overnight stay at my cousin's house since the forecast looked so poor for a return drive on Monday. Canceled - weather pending. By Saturday the non-omniscient weather predictors had changed the outlook. No rain until late in the day on Monday. Back to the original plan! So we headed south to my cousin's and then she drove us all out to the cemetery to my dad's and aunt's graves. The day was beautifully sunny. A tad windy and the wind was cool. On the way back over the Bourne bridge, I tried to shoot some pics out the van window.
Looking north through the railing at the Cape Cod Canal.Looking south at a barge being towed through.And the bridge from a distance.
The drive back home on Monday was fine. Cloudy and very gusty winds, but no rain. By today the sun was out once more. Seems the big storm skirted south of us.

Today was special in two very different ways.
The first was a surprise in the mail.
About one month ago I had received a set of keys in the mail. The technician said he would be sending the prepayment check in a couple days. Nothing arrived and after a week or so I left him a message inquiring about payment. He left a message for me that he would forward his customer's check as soon as he received it, he had called to remind her. Well, I waited a couple more weeks and still, nothing. I left him another message last week and he never returned the call. I was beginning to wonder what to do about it, when today........the check arrived! No wonder it took so long to get to me..................................
He'd sent it to my street address, but he'd sent it to MS instead of MA. Mississippi rather than Massachusetts! It took being hand sorted to discover the mismatched state and zip code and then some detective work to decide which was correct. Thankfully there is no Rockport in MS. I got to work on his keys this morning while waiting for our afternoon treat.

This afternoon we got to meet the new owners of the Minoan! We had emailed back and forth a bit, and then as you know, I had posted some photos for them here on the blog. P and G arrived at the boat last Thursday evening (from England) and have been working hard to get her back in shape. They took today off to take the train to Rockport and visit. We had an enjoyable afternoon with them. First lunch at Ellen's (of course), then some postcard buying(by G) and a drive down Bearskin Neck and around town. We drove by Front Beach so they could see where the Minoan had been driven ashore in a northeaster in the fall of 1977. Then we all came back to the house for the photo album 'show and tell'. We hope they enjoyed their visit with us and that they will come back soon. P said he hoped to be able to come back before their return to England so they could explore the area some more. We think that would be great! We took them back to the train in the early evening and they headed back to the boat with all our best wishes for safe and fun sailing.

Wednesday is another partial day off. Some key work in the morning and then we'll be heading for an afternoon at the Moseley Estates (Maudsley State Park) and dinner at Skip's.

Thursday is a very full day of piano repairs and tuning, Friday and Sunday at Tuck's. I haven't a clue what may happen on Saturday but the weather sounds lousy!

Wondering?

Where's deb?Don't worry, I've just gone adventuring for a couple days. I'll be back blogging, maybe Monday night, to let you know what I've been up to.

Just Plain Tired

A few days back I hinted that there would be biggish news. Well, tonight I'm ready to let all of you hear it. I didn't want to say anything earlier in case I severely blew it and messed up. So...since that didn't happen, leaving me only feeling a bit old and inept, I guess I can tell.

While I still maintain my primary occupation as a piano technician and have a secondary occupation/avocation with the miniature oil paintings (that I hope will pay), I now have a third, albeit very part time, job. I'm working retail sales at Tuck's, here in Rockport. Just one or two days per week. Today was my first training day of four. I should call it re-training as I worked there nearly thirty years ago, even managing one of their stores. A lot has changed in thirty years! They even have electric cash registers now (yes, really and truly, we had the old-fashioned manual type when I was there years ago). Anyway, after six hours of training my brain is scrambled.

So why did this happen? The big R word that our government doesn't acknowledge. I believe the closest Bush has come is to say that our economy is in a slight temporary slowdown.

HAH.

If you are finding it hard to pay your mortgage, put food on the table and gas in your car, are you very worried about getting your piano tuned or fixed? I think not. Add to that MY soaring heating bills, gasoline expenses, and property taxes (and let's not forget the quarterly tax payments that Uncle Sam expects) and I was scraping the bottom of my bank account. What's a poor piano tech to do but look for a way to keep piano tech-ing while supplementing that income. I finally got up the nerve to venture back in to the retail world fueled by tourism. The owner of Tuck's called early last week to offer the job and schedule my first day.

Then (and I mean mere minutes afterwards) my phone started ringing. Five calls for tunings and service. One I had to turn down as I couldn't fit it in at the time the client needed it. That afternoon a tech came by to drop off a set of keys. Two more sets arrived the same day. One in the mail and another by FedEx.

I'm swamped. I'm working 14 hour days to keep up. Yes, I am trying to pace it by taking a tad of time off to eat. I picked Amanda up from work at 5 and we had dinner at Ellen's Harborside tonight (I was too tired to think of cooking). Tomorrow morning I'll get up extra early to finish some key work and then we go to Skip's for lunch. We had intended to go on Friday, but now I'm scheduled for Tuck's that day.

I hope this evens out a little! Off to bed.......................

A Message for P

Cousin PB, I tried to send an email to you about the easel miniatures and changing (hindsight) what I said on the phone. The email bounced back to me. Has your address changed? Please send an email to me so that I can have the correct address (if I don't talk to you before you read this!)

Thanks.

The rest of you out there in blogland can anticipate a future post with some sort of big news.

Mary, don't you let on. LOL

I've Committed Myself

Hah! Not what you think. Although the thought can be tempting...sleep, eat, no worries, can be as whacky as you feel like and no one wonders!

Truth is.............

I've sent in my table rental fee for the first craft fair of the season. It will take place on May 24th at the 'Old Firehouse Trust' building in Dock Square (Rockport). I'm almost ready for it with 15 framed 5X7's (see sidebar show), 2 dozen easel miniatures, and 10 packages of assorted art print notecards. I've built display racks and shelving. I have a table easel that displays "About the Artist" and a price list. I have packaging materials and of course, will have cash on hand to make change. I've created divided carrying boxes that will strap to a luggage cart. The only thing left is to find a suitable table covering.

It's a little early in the season, but it is Memorial Day weekend. If the weather cooperates there should be a lot of people in town.

Gosh I hope this goes well. Think good thoughts for me that day. Don't worry - I'll remind you!

Gosh, Darn, I've Been Tagged

And it's dickiebo who is to blame. Now if it were almost anyone else...but how can I say no to my blog twin? So the deal is: List seven little or little known facts about me. Then tag others by listing their blogs on this post and then leaving a 'you've been tagged' comment on their blogs requiring them to check back here to see what's up. Well, I'll go so far as answer, but since we seem to read similar blogs, I don't know who I'll tag. We'll see. Oh yeah, this HAS been around not too long ago making the odds of 'retagging' rather high.

1. I've never dyed my hair. Not once, never. Probably never will. Unless it's to do something weird like make it blue or purple. Ya never know.
2. I spent many years eating a bowl of popcorn every night. About two years ago I quit. Cold turkey. No more popcorn.
3. I get vertigo when up too high. Only when I'm standing, looking up. Never when I'm sitting or looking down.
4. I really and truly wish life were a whole lot simpler.
5. My number one wish destination for a vacation is Australia.
6. I miss Florida (but you should know that already).
7. I love working...I just wish I could do it because I like it, not because I need the money.

There. Done. And I'm not specifically tagging anyone but I'd enjoy reading your list in the comments!

Hello, Hello, Is Anyone There?

A lot of things have combined to create this post. The first is a feeling that I'm living in some weird, warped isolation from the business world. I've had three calls for key work in the past week. One set arrived. No payment and missing instructions. I called and left a message about the instructions three days ago. Nothing. Supposedly the check is on it's way. I'll just wait for that as I'll be able to figure the job based on the amount of payment. Did some keys over three weeks ago and the guy forgot to enclose the check. I called to remind him that return shipping would be free with prepayment. Yep, he says, check will be sent right away. I've sent the keys back, finished, with a bill. Nothing. I sent a second bill and added in the shipping costs. Nothing.

So, today's picture was chosen while I was looking through some old photographs over the weekend. I'm calling it the first cell phone. I've included (copied) the 'letter' that my dad wrote to his father that was written on the back of the photograph. My dad is the guy with the polka dot tie, third from the right. Pop - This photo is of the first Emergency Radio Equipment of it's type ever built. The units in this photo were used to establish telephone communication between President Eisenhower and the Nations telephone facilities. The part I'm happy about, Pop, is that after I engineered it - it functioned satisfactorily on the first trial. Al

All that so that Eisenhower could go on his usual fishing trips at a location with no phone lines! Talk about government's wasteful spending.

So put THAT phone in your pocket and go!

Star Gazing in Alaska

What a beautiful summer day in Sitka! Clear blue skies. Town was packed with the movie, of course. It's nice going down in the morning when the local kids are still in school. We can be paparazzi without much competition! Dock Square continues it transformation, today a 'new' old building was being created. Amanda and I were stood talking to a friend, when one of the crew came along and asked if we were extras. I replied that we could be, if needed. Guess we weren't needed. Filming was taking place on the North Basin side of Bearskin Neck and it was off limits. Amanda and I sat across the basin at the very end of T-Wharf and had front row seats to the filming.The above picture is the scene they were filming. In this scene Ryan Reynolds is grabbing Sandra Bullock's luggage from the back of the pick-up truck and dropping it at her feet. He walks off, leaving her to haul her own heavy bags. Actually, other than a few of the crew readying some boats, we were the only ones out on T-Wharf. Here's Ryan having a post shooting discussion with Betty White (light green jacket) and Mary Steenburgen (white jacket). Then we heard the director say that they were wrapping up for lunch, so Amanda and I headed for 'the Neck'. We had perfect timing! Just as we approached, Ryan Reynolds dashed by, only an arms length away, to a waiting SUV. Amanda couldn't believe we got so close. We stood on the corner waiting with a couple other people as Betty White walked out. She loves animals and the lady next to me had a dog on a leash. Well, Betty just had to stop and pet the dog and chat! After Betty left our little group, Amanda nudged me and said, "There's Mary." I had the camera ready for a shot of Mary Steenburgen as she walked by. No conversation, though.

And then, back home to reality and work for both of us.

Sitkaport, Alaskachusetts

We are having identity problems. Yes, folks, Hollywood is in town once again. This time filming the movie, The Proposal, due out in September 2009. So, does Rockport filming guarantee a flop movie? Time will tell. Other movies I remember being filmed here have been: The Good Son, A Rockport Christmas, The Love Letter, and Stuck On You. Big stars in some like McCauley Culken, Tom Selleck, Ellen DeGeneres, Greg Kinnear, Matt Damon, Elijah Wood and more. None have been particularly great movies. The Good Son was most likely the best of them.

The Proposal's cast includes Sandra Bullock, Betty White, Mary Steenburgen, Craig T. Nelson and Ryan Reynolds. Rockport has once again been transformed into someplace else (we're rarely Rockport). This time we are summer in Sitka, Alaska. Town is really spiffed up! Amanda and I spent about two hours watching and roaming on Monday. We are thinking of heading down again today. Yesterday we took pictures of some of the sets and the transformations in town. I also got several photos of Ryan Reynolds. Honestly, I don't have a much of a clue about him other than he's a nice looking 30 something who was in the remake of The Amityville Horror. Filming is taking place over about a week and a half, finishing up the end of this week.

The Tax Man

To (dis)honor the day, I offer:

The IRS motto..........................

"We've got what it takes to take what you've got."

The Image

In the photograph he is smiling. His wife stands next to him. She's an average woman. The type that makes you feel as if you have seen her before or conversed with her at some unspectacular event. Somewhere. Hard to believe that they have been married for over six years. She is his fourth wife. Where do you know her from? Well, it really doesn't matter, does it? She has no part in your life. But the man. Another photograph captures him laughing, obviously sharing a light-hearted moment at a social function. Strange to see him laughing. Is he truly that happy deep down inside? How could he be? It wasn't so long ago. Maybe he had shared his unhappiness with his third wife. Strange that she owned the house he and his second wife had wanted to buy so many years ago. Odd coincidence. Does he even think of those days any more? You know, the ones spent with his family. Seeing the photographs makes you wonder.

His second marriage wasn't perfect, but it was his longest at fifteen years. His first had ended in four years, mimicked it seems by his third. Number two had appeared destined to last. He had a close family. They seemed to share the same goals, aspirations. They worked hard together. They laughed together. Then after more than a decade, they started to grow apart. But they didn't quit. They still enjoyed each other and the family that they had created. Things would get better, they thought, and when he earnestly began new hobbies, his wife encouraged him. He felt good that there were new goals, new opportunities to be happy together. She, too, felt optimistic once again. It had been a tough battle but they had stayed together and worked through it. There was so much to look forward to together.

Until one evening when he told her he had filed for divorce. He gave her nothing to grasp for a reason. He said, simply, that he wasn't happy. He had never been. Not once, he said. She later heard rumors that he had met another woman, but by the time she'd heard that, she had no longer cared. He would be moving out in two weeks. They should tell their daughter. And they did, but he didn't leave, and they played a charade of acceptance of the inevitable divorce until ten months later he was gone. His ex-wife had primary custody of their daughter. He had liberal visitation and he picked his daughter up every other weekend. Then, after a few months, she didn't want to go with him one Saturday and he walked away. He never tried again. He sent gifts at Christmas and on her birthday. He paid the required child support until she graduated high school. Then it was over. He didn't see her. He didn't write. There were no cards, no gifts. A month after his mother died, he sent his daughter a letter and the obituary.

Could a man discard his own child so easily? Surely he must have regretted his decisions.
How does he laugh so readily? If the camera could look inside this man how different the pictures might be.

Tune Time

My, my, my. I just never know what will happen. After last week's (and weekend's) massive pile-up of key work, I started getting tuning calls. I do only a moderate amount of tuning work. Not because I'm not looking for it, but mostly due to being the 'new' tech in a territory with a 'legendary' tech. So I'm lucky if I do one or two tunings per week. Thursday was booked with a morning tuning and another in the afternoon. Both repeat customers and the jobs went smoothly and easily. So much so that I didn't hesitate to delve in to spring yard clean-up when I got home at 3:30. Yes, I knew that I had another big tuning day coming up...well, an afternoon anyway. Friday afternoon was devoted to getting two pianos in shape and tuned at the Rockport High School. It was a short notice, high visibility/impact job. On Wednesday morning I got a call from the Rockport Chamber Music Festival. They were coordinating a full orchestral performance with Gordon College for local elementary school students. Or some such thing...anyway...Rockport High was the only school that would/could provide two pianos on stage.

Now, one of the pianos lives on stage and is a nice Yamaha G1 grand that stays fairly well maintained and tuned. The other was to be moved on to the stage. It would be a Yamaha P22 upright that I hadn't tuned in two years. Yikes. That's why I set aside the entire afternoon. I was more than a tad nervous about the P22, and very nervous about getting it to sound decent with the grand. I rolled the grand in to position on the stage and a group from the school lifted the P22 from the auditorium floor to the stage, then I rolled it to it's position next to the grand. The better piano, the grand, would be the first to be tuned. It would be the standard to match with the upright.

Just before I started, one of the music teachers came in and asked if I had time to tune one of the practice room pianos when I finished in the auditorium. Sure, why not?

The grand was flat. Tis the remnants of the dry heat of the auditorium in winter! When I had tuned it last September it was a slight bit above standard pitch and I had left it there (summer humidity the culprit). My next tuning, just before Christmas, and the piano had settled in at pitch. Today, I would have loved to let it 'float' very slightly flat of standard but in tune to itself, knowing that upcoming warmer and more humid weather would inch it sharp, but with a multi-instrument performance that wasn't an option. I made a quick tuning pass and then played hard and heavy. I went back through and caught a few notes that had drifted.

On to the P22! I got everything set including the tuning lever in place on my starting note, then I walked to the grand and simultaneously played the same note and wedged the key down to keep the note sounding. A quick couple strides back to tune the note on the P22 to match. From that point I tuned the midrange of the P22, then went through the wedge routine with the grand to make sure both pianos sounded as one in the midrange. Then finished the P22. Since it, also, had been a tad flat, I went through each key and 'beat them' with a firm blow. Touched up a couple upon checking for drift and did a random check between the two pianos. Everything sounded good, but I'll be returning very early (for me) on Monday morning for a quick check through. The musicians will be setting up around 8 a.m. and I think the performance begins at 9 a.m.

With aching arm and back and legs, I packed up my tuning gear and headed for the office to let them know I'd be in the music department tuning an additional piano.

This piano was very flat and I yanked the daylights out of it to get it up to pitch and then cruised through a tuning. I discovered a very weird 'fix' that the previous school technician (or someone) had made and undid it. I did a proper fix. By the time I finished, my body was starting to scream. It's not used to 5 pianos in two days! (Not to mention the yard work).

Thank goodness for a weekend in which I'm expecting only one set of keys...for key tops and key bushings. I like those 'double' jobs!

History Lessons

Where were you when?I was keeping an eye on the paperwork.Mom was checking payments!

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.

Dirigible?

These will be that last of the photos that I post specifically about the Minoan. Sure, there are piles more but mostly I can't get them out of the photo album. The album of the photos that we took is one of those advertising gimmicks that were called 'magnetic' which really meant 'will stick so well you'll never get it out' unless...you don't need to take it out, therefore it falls out of it's own accord. The photos that were taken by LIFE magazine are too large to fit in my scanner without risking damage to them. I have managed a portion of one of them and that is this one of my dad. Do you think he looks enormously pleased? Even smeared with cement. This next photo is when the Minoan was being rolled over in our backyard. This is a good illustration of the strength of the hull as she is balanced at two points. All 5 tons. All the wood that is seen in this picture is only part of the mold and will be ripped apart. The Minoan has a ferro-cement deck that is made as an integral part of the hull. Amid the boat building years, my family decided to move from Groveland to the neighboring town of West Newbury so the Minoan was loaded on to a flatbed boat hauler and 'paraded' to Wallace Boat Yard in Merrimacport. And I mean paraded. You see we were quite well known by that time and people lined the streets watching the boat hauled by. After more years of fitting-out, she was launched in 1977. Several years of day-sailing later and it was time to cruise south to Florida for the winter. The first couple days out were rough weather with 50 knot winds. As soon as it settled down enough, Minoan motored through the Cape Cod Canal (above). Mom and dad spent the winter aboard in Stuart, Florida. We joined them for Christmas 1981. I hate this photo of myself! Be kind, I was over 5 months pregnant. I'm sharing the picture because it is one of the few that show 'down below'. And finally, a nice day in May, heading back home at the Cape Cod Canal. My dad is buried only a few miles from where this photo was taken.

For many years we were the neighborhood 'entertainment'. When we moved from Groveland, many of those neighbors said how boring life would be with us not being there. The best question..."So what's next, Al, a cement dirigible?"

What the Heck?

has been keeping me busy?


Part One
What are these little 'signs' for? These signs are located intermittently along Rte. 128 (a state highway). We have seen them nowhere else, yet. They are not evenly spaced along the highway nor do they seem to be placed in any intentionally useful regard. There may be several within mere feet of each other, or next to each other, or none for miles. Although all the ones in the pictures are mounted on other signs, there are many mounted on the guardrails, some on sections of granite ledge amid the brush along side the road, some on chainlink fences and on bridge abutments. Personally, I find the ones on the granite to be the most confusing. There are only three color types: plain brown, plain blue, or a vertically divided half brown-half blue. Sorry for the poor quality of the pictures. The signs are about 5 inches square. You try getting a good picture of something that size while being driven along at 55 mph! My mom thinks I worry too much about little things. That I might be a tad too curious. I'm not worried in the least about them. Curious, of course. They now bug me.

















So now every time I drive down 128, which is at least once a week, I wonder. I've got Amanda wondering, too.

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Part Two
Today was nice enough that Amanda and I went out for a walk in the woods. Once again, the easy trip down to Loop Pond and back around through the town tree farm. This time we decided to climb around on the 'ridge' at the edge of the pond. It was good exercise and something that will be totally impossible once Spring has sprung with brambles, tall grass, and saplings. I think the next time we woods-walk I'm going to first drive to the top of Summit Ave. and park near the stone mounds (remember those elephant graves?) and explore from there. Here's a picture from today that struck me for some reason.

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Part Three
Another thing that has been occupying some time is getting all the stuff ready for the Arts & Crafts shows. I've had a week of tunings and estimates and calls about key work coming in, but nothing in the shop (other than the reed organ that I'm still working on). I've been using the time finishing up the easel minis, making props and writing an 'About the Artist' placard that will rest on a small table easel. I've decided that I have enough inventory for the start-up with all the 5 X 7's that you see in the sidebar and 13 easel minis. Today, I took this picture of the minis and the collapsible display shelf for four of them. Oh yeah, I am making all the display rigs collapsible for ease of packing and transport. The easel minis are about 2.25 X 3.25 inches (I make the easels, too, and they fold flat like a real easel).