This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment I brought home a very expensive free piano late last night. This is an = old piano that my step father had acquired decades ago in Texas and then = transported to California. Eventually this piano found it's way to a = garage about one mile from the central California coast where it rested = on it's side on a cold concrete floor for the better part of 13 years. In an effort to "clean out the garage" I was offered to take the piano = home at no cost to me. I was planning the trip for Christmas anyway so = the timing was right. The specimen in question is a 1930s-ish Wurlitzer = baby grand. The piano had already been bought and resold who knows how = many times, ultimately passing through a dealer somewhere in it's = history who painted across the agraffs in attempt to make it look = better. As I recalled from when it was last on it's feet the pins were = fairly loose. But what the heck, it's not costing me anything right? = Bring it home, some minimal patch work, make a couple thousand dollars = selling it to someone who's looking for some furniture. Well.... First I would need a trailer. I called U-Haul and arranged a one-way = rental. One problem: The trailer wasn't there. "No problem", I was = told. Two were due in and should arrive shortly. They didn't. Several = calls later and it was still not there. Then finally one came in... = with a bad tire. Long story short, I didn't get a trailer till the next = morning. I arrived at the garage where the piano was stored only to = discover a mountain of junk in front of it. You would have never known = there was a piano behind it all. After digging it out the piano was = absolutely covered with dirt and grime. It's only protection from the = floor was an old piece of 3/8" plywood, (the lid had been removed). I = put two legs and the lyre on it to set it up temporarily in order to get = a skid board under it. One of the lyre screws was stripped out so I had = to improvise. Then I discovered that the piano was too tall to fit in = the trailer on a skid board. It had to be pushed in without a skid on = plywood. Hard work, but done. I loaded a few other pieces of furniture = I intended to take home, strapped it all down tightly, and closed the = doors. Sunday morning the weather was REAL bad. It had rained all night and = the roads where very wet. The main obstacle between California the = Nevada desert is Tehachapi pass, a huge mountain that I would have to = tow the trailer up and over. After a rather uneventful couple hundred = miles I approached the grade. We climbed.... and climbed... and = climbed. Slowly the rain turned to snow... wet and slushy snow. = Visibility deteriorated. Suddenly I felt something was very wrong. I = couldn't steer straight and suddenly got that "disaster" feeling when I = realized the truck was hydroplaning on the icy road. I quickly let up = on the gas and took a deep breath when I felt the tires grip the road = again. I crawled up the grade keeping it at about 40 MPH in an effort = to try to stay in control. It took a full hour at that speed to reach = the top. Fortunately the laws of meteorology stood firm as the weather = immediately cleared and dried out on the wayward side of the mountain. = No further events other than exhaustion and by late evening I made it = home. I called Alan Meyer and this morning we pushed, pulled, and = strained the thing off the trailer and into my garage. Upon closer examination this thing will require a LOT of work to turn it = back into a piano again. The stings and multiple other metallic = surfaces are rusted badly from the salt air. It will undoubtedly need a = new pin block. The finish is a beyond repair and will require complete = stripping. Fortunately the soundboard and bridges look pretty good so = long as it survives the drying out process in the Las Vegas environment. = Okay fine, it didn't cost anything did it? I mean it was free and all = wasn't it? Rob Goodale, RPT Las Vegas, NV ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/e9/35/25/f8/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
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