World-Class Junk of Susans muses (rambling) back

[pianoman]

Hi Ken, my young friend,
	I wear black low cut tennis type shoes.  Do your "rubbers" go on this type
of shoe also.
I think a lot of things people do are somewhat silly, like who in their
right mind would pay for a white carpet to walk on.  IT IS ALMOST AS SILLY
AS GETTING WHITE TENNIS SHOES WHEN WE KNOW THE FIRST THING THEY ARE GOING
TO DO IS GET DIRTY LOOKING.
Sorry bout the caps.  It is like getting a heavy grand piano, not having
caster cups, and wondering why you can't get the dampers to raise high
enough to sustain.  Did I get a plug in there?
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!

----------
> From: Kenneth W. Burton <kwburton@calcna.ab.ca>
> To: pianotech@ptg.org
> Subject: Re: World-Class Junk of Susans muses (rambling)
> Date: Thursday, July 09, 1998 6:35 AM
> 
> 
> 	James,
> 
> 	Hello again, old friend.
> 	We have lots of trouble in Canada with people demanding that we
> remove our shoes in their home. Because I stand to tune everything, even
> grands, I am greatly concerned about this practice. In a conversation
with
> an Asian lady, I asked if this request came from a religious conviction.
> She said it was only to protect the cleanliness of the carpets. What they
> don't realize is that bare feet on carpets damage them worse than shoes
> do.
> 	Some of our techs here in Calgary carry slippers, others just
> leave their shoes at the door and go in their socks, as you do. There are
> docks available which have some rubberized patterns on the sole, though I
> have never heard of any of our people using them.
> 	My solution is a bit costly but it works well. I found some toe
> rubbers which I can step into and I wear them winter, summer, rain or
> shine. They cost me about $25 and they last more than a year. My wife
> thinks I look crazy, although you have to look closely to see that I am
> wearing them but they do the trick. When the lady of the house sees my
> rubbers sitting at the door, they know that I care about keeping their
> carpets clean. I think this is part of the reason why my clientele have
> stayed with me so well.
> 
> 	Ken Burton "Doctor Piano" Calgary Alberta
> 
> On Wed, 8 Jul 1998, pianoman wrote:
> 
> > 
> > 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
> > 
> >