World-Class Junk of Susans muses (rambling)

[pianoman]

Hi Susan and all,
Your good article brought out several things that have been problems for
all of us.  Consider case parts removed.  There is no best place.  If you
lean them they can fall, if you lay them on the floor they can scratch the
floor but also someone can trip over them.  If you lay them on a couch will
the client like that?  I have one client that makes sure I put the music
desk of her Yamaha on a rug not her marble floor. 
	On the subject of taking off shoes:  I am not the most graceful person in
the world and I don't know about you, but it is slippery in your socking
feet, downright dangerous.  On holes in socks, I try to be as careful as I
can, as that is why I only purchase black socks.  I never have to worry
about matching them in the drawer, I just dump-em-in. The other thing is
maybe some of you did a lot of barefooting when you were younger.  I
didn't.  I hardly ever go barefoot at home even in the bedroom.  Another
thing is that I find it painful to try to depress the pedals to use them or
test them out.  This doesn't even approach the problem of removing an
action and keybed on the slippery floor.
	I asked one of my (Asian) used to be Oriental, clients what was the
objection to Oriental and why Asian was preferred.  She really didn't have
a good answer in my opinion for that.  I do not use "Oriental" in a
derogatory manner but I can't really tell the difference between Korean,
Japanese, or Chinese.  Is that bad?  To me Asian should refer to the
continent and the countries that make it up including India, Pakistan and ,
others.  Supposedly one of the complaints other countries have is that on
American maps, North America is in the center and the rest of the world is
equally divided right and left.  I can understand that some.  But then I
asked one of these people how the maps looked in their country and they
informed me that their continent was in the middle and the rest of the
world equally on each side.  If that is true, so what.
On benches, one of the first things I do is feel down and see if the bottom
is secure on what I am sitting on.  I do this for a couple of reasons.  I
have a side business of bench repair and building and have found that much
of the rigidity of the bench comes from a secure bottom.  When it is loose
it puts all the pressure on the leg glue joints and corner brackets. 
Tomorrow I am taking my second new piano bench bottom replacement back to
the client.   I  install a new plywood bottom that I glue, brad, and screw
in place.  I guarantee it for the length of my life.  I have gotten quite
good at this repair and can do it in just about 30 minutes.  I charge $ 75
for it and can do it in just about 30 minutes in the shop.  That makes $150
extra this week above tuning and it adds up over a period of time and gives
me play time with my tools and wood along with making a stronger bench and
usable again for music storage.  If other parts of the bench are broken, it
just adds up the total to repair.  To me this is just as good as installing
Damp-Chasers money wise and I enjoy the work.  Any other thoughts on the
socking feet slippery problem?  Sorry to have rambled.
James Grebe
R.P.T. of the P.T.G. from St. Louis, MO. USA, Earth
Piano Service and Piano Periperals
Creator of Hardwood PLTR's and Custom Piano Benches
pianoman@inlink.com         If I wake up in the morning, it WILL be a great
day! minute in the shop