[CAUT] Differences?

[rwest1@unl.edu]

This has been an interesting thread on many levels.  For one thing,  
my daughter is coming to my office to learn piano service.  She  
graduated from college last summer and likes the idea of working  
independently. She's pretty handy with tools (she has a minor in art/ 
sculpture), and has grasped tuning well, although I don't think she  
likes tuning all that much.

My question is this:  What problems do women run into out there is  
businessland?  I talked to one woman who doesn't put her address on  
her business card because she doesn't want it out there for all to  
have.  This was something I had never thought about, being of the  
male persuasion.  Also the upper body strength issue seems that it  
must be a major problem.  One rather petite woman I know had to use  
both hands to move the tuning hammer on pianos with tight pins.   
Another said she had to lift weights and work out to keep from having  
pain.  I know this isn't just a female thing, men have upper back  
problems too.  If my daughter does indeed continue to do well, it  
would be nice to know what she should be aware of when she starts  
working on her own.  Does PTG do anything to help women get together  
and talk about these things?  Maybe you "guys" just seek each other  
out and meet over lunch to exchange ideas.

On another note, I'd like to make an announcement.  I'll be retiring  
from my university job as of May 12, 2006.  I'll be 62 and will be  
moving into a part time piano service business and otherwise have  
time to do other things.  I'm looking forward to it.  I've worked at  
the university of NE for 30 years and it's been a good gig.  I'm  
announcing this so that any of you that might be interested in  
applying will know that the position will be open soon.  The  
department is preparing to advertise.  I don't know what the pay  
scale will be, but I'm pushing for a decent starting salary and the  
benefits are good.

Richard West
University of Nebraska


On Jan 22, 2006, at 1:20 AM, Jeannie Grassi wrote:

> I used to tinker with things, too.  I even fixed an old piano one  
> summer
> when I was in high school.  The funny thing is that I wanted to be an
> architect when I was in school and go to engineering school.  My  
> guidance
> counselor told me that I wouldn't be very good because I got a low  
> score in
> Mechanical Reasoning on my 8th grade skill assessment test! (As did  
> most
> girls!!!!!)   I believed it for a long time until I was an adult,  
> living on
> my own.  One day I looked around my apartment and realized I had  
> about half
> a dozen lamps and other things from friends who had asked me to fix  
> them for
> them.  I was really good at fixing things and all my friends knew  
> it.  It
> just took me a while to adjust my perception of myself.  It's funny  
> how some
> of those things can leave long-term damage.
>
> Shortly after that I embarked on a journey to do technical  
> work.....first in
> broadcasting.
>
> But enough of my stories one day.....I sure am envious when I hear  
> about
> teachers like Ted S.  Before he left Banff I was in the process of  
> figuring
> out how to go up there for a training session.  Then he left.  What  
> a shame
> I didn't act immediately.
>
> jeannie
>
> Jeannie Grassi, RPT
> Assistant Editor, Piano Technicians Journal
> mailto:jcgrassi@earthlink.net
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: caut-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf  
> Of Susan
> Kline
> Sent: Saturday, January 21, 2006 10:43 PM
> To: College and University Technicians
> Subject: RE: [CAUT] Differences?
>
> At 01:20 PM 1/21/2006 -0800, Jeannie wrote:
>> Then, when they told me they would teach me, they only gave me a  
>> small
>> amount of information, or in some cases, misinformation, so that I  
>> would
> fail.
>
>
> Jeannie, I'm really sorry to hear that you had to go through this.
>
> An incredible stroke of good fortune, that when I decided
> to learn how to tune and repair pianos in 1978, Ted Sambell had just
> set up the course I found. No doubt ever that he was
> thoroughly and very effectively on my side, and that I would be
> able to grow into any aspect of the business I wanted to, from
> the start he gave me.
>
> Yes, I had to take Home Ec in 7th and 8th grade as well, even
> though my mom had already taught it all to me years before. I
> didn't realize at the time how much I would have loved wood
> and metal shop. I used to tinker with stuff on my own, without
> having any real tools or knowing how to use them. I would buy
> folding Kodak cameras from second hand stores, take them all
> apart, fix the ball bearing shutters, clean them up, and put them all
> back together again, with tweezers, lens tissue and lens-cleaning
> fluid, sewing machine oil, and one small screwdriver. The big
> ones, with old sizes of film which one couldn't get anymore,
> I'd use by cutting and hand-loading sheet film. It was fun.
>
> Pianos were a great discovery -- real tools, real parts, a ton of  
> ways to
> do things, and a huge playground of clapped out old uprights to
> improvise affordable repairs on.
>
> Susan
>
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