A plea

[Richard Brekne]

Actually, I never considered cats a problem, and certainly have never experience washing
cat pee off my knees, or anywhere else, from having to work on the floor. At least not in
a home I would continue past the entre'. As for the cat with the stuck foot. I bet thats
the last time the cat jumps up into the piano. An old trick for keeping cats from jumping
up on counters is to place a lot of forks on it. Couple times is all it takes. And if you
do have a particular stubborn cat... try a sheet of tack paper with thumbtacks stuck all
over it. One time is usually enough for the cat ... grin.

Cats are curious..but they are not stupid.

Carol Beigel wrote:

> I don't think it's a good idea to give anyone the picture that cats and
> pianos mix. This is the time of year when many people working in the piano
> business are especially overtired, oversheduled, working their last nerves,
> and could care less if they ever saw another piano or customer, so this
> little story, although it seemed hillarious at the time, might not sound so
> funny if you are a cat person.
>
>   I was working for a large piano retailer and business was gangbusters
> during this holiday season.  People of all descriptions were buying pianos -
> I swear some of them thought they were stereo systems with strings!  Anyway
> this lady had just taken delivery of a baby grand piano, and the movers had
> just left.  Suddenly she hears her cat squalling because its foot is caught
> in the bass strings!  She calls the customer service department and our
> receptionist just lost it!  She was laughing so hard trying to page a
> technician.  You could hear this cat in the background over the speaker
> phone, and the lady was in such a panic.  The whole service department was
> in stitches while this poor woman was hysterical - and the cat kept howling
> in the background!  Finally, someone had the presence of mind to tell her to
> get a wooden spoon and pry the strings apart to get her cat's foot from
> between the strings.
>
> I doubt you will get many positive responses from piano technicians about
> pictures of kittys on pianos.  Many  of us have the experience of removing
> cat pee from the knees of our pants due to working on pedal lyres on carpets
> in kitty homes.  And the list goes on....
>
> Carol Beigel
>

--
Richard Brekne
RPT, N.P.T.F.
Bergen, Norway