[pianotech] FW: FW: Why schedules sometimes go pfffft. - update

[Ken & Pat Gerler]

OK, more stories.  Years ago, I had scheduled a tuning. The two sisters lived in adjacent houses. The younger (67? had purchased the piano for the older sister (80?).  When I arrived, I noticed the ambulance was there. Seems the older sister became so excited about having her piano tuned she had a heart attack and died.  The younger sister said go ahead and tune the piano!!!

Ken Gerler 
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Denise Rachel 
  To: pianotech at ptg.org 
  Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 1:31 PM
  Subject: Re: [pianotech] FW: FW: Why schedules sometimes go pfffft. - update


  I arrived to tune a piano and noticed more than the normal amount of cars around.  The extended family and a hospice caregiver were in the sitting room.   The wife and mother, wanting proof that life would go on without her, requested that I tune her piano as planned.  I never knew who finished first . . . .


  Denise



  On Feb 2, 2010, at 2:08 PM, Delwin D Fandrich wrote:




    Delwin D Fandrich
    Piano Design & Fabrication
    620 South Tower Avenue
    Centralia, Washington 98531 USA
    del at fandrichpiano.com
    ddfandrich at gmail.com
    Phone  360.736.7563

    From: Delwin D Fandrich [mailto:del at fandrichpiano.com] 
    Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 9:41 AM
    To: 'pianotech at ptg.org'
    Subject: RE: [pianotech] FW: Why schedules sometimes go pfffft. - update

    I had driven some 300 miles to replace all of the tri-chord agrafes on a Steinway B that had no end of string buzzes. I had driven down to tune the piano and diagnose whatever might be causing the problem several months earlier. This was during the 1970s and badly machined agrafes were only part of this piano’s problems. But on my first trip down I had not gone prepared to restring the tenor section of the piano. Now it was time to fix everything.

    I arrived the day before the husband’s funeral! Family members were sitting around in dark clothing and somber expressions. The wife was clearly confused and distraught. And I was thinking, “Why didn’t somebody let me know—I’d never have imposed myself on the family under these conditions.” I apologized for my intrusion, extended my condolences and prepared to cancel my hotel reservation and head back north. Turned out they all wanted me to proceed. Even after explaining how disruptive my work was going to be they would accommodate.

    Seems it was the husband who had bought the piano as a surprise for his wife. She’d been talking about always wanting to learn to play the piano and he figured it was about time. Though he had been virtually tone deaf with no appreciation of music at all he had been more upset than she over the sound of the piano and its action problems and during one of their last conversations together he made her promise that she would get the piano fixed and keep on playing. So it turned out that family really wanted the piano finished before the funeral ended and he was ultimately buried.

    So, with the family as accommodating as possible, I made it with a couple of hours to spare and everybody was as grateful as they could be under the circumstances. Sometimes the schedule goes on….

    ddf

    Delwin D Fandrich
    Piano Design & Fabrication
    620 South Tower Avenue
    Centralia, Washington 98531 USA
    del at fandrichpiano.com
    ddfandrich at gmail.com
    Phone  360.736.7563

    From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Terry Farrell
    Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 4:03 AM
    To: pianotech at ptg.org
    Subject: Re: [pianotech] FW: Why schedules sometimes go pfffft. - update

    A while back I went to an appointment, knocked at the door and a woman with red eyes and tears running down her face opened the door. She said her husband had a heart attack and the ambulance rushed him to the hospital, but she knew we had an appointment and she didn't want me to arrive and find no one home - so she stayed home and waited for me.

    Needless to say, I didn't tune her piano and told her to go to the hospital instead. Gee, my schedule that day got goofed up - I'll take that over her day any day!

    Terry Farrell

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