Love both stories. One time while working in a home alone with two of these birds talking incessantly the whole time I was there, in the same room of course, I soon learned what went on in that household when the owners were at home alone with these birds.... At first, they were driving me NUTS with their constant blathering about absolutely nothing intelligent whatsoever. It did not take very long though, before I was laughing my fool head off. Those two birds could swear almost as good as a sailor! They had me laughing so hard listening to their constant swearing that I could barely tune there for a little bit. I had tears streaming down my face. It was like one was feeding off from the other one. A true comedy act. I noted however, that there was one or two words missing in their vocabulary. I felt compelled to teach them what they were missing out on but, I didn't dare... Never killed one though... Wanted too! Jer -----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Dempsey Jr., Paul E Sent: Monday, March 01, 2010 4:13 PM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] Tuning with birds I had this happen a couple of years ago, posted it to the list, but it's worth re-telling. feathered onlookers Dempsey Jr., Paul E dempsey at marshall.edu Mon Feb 11 13:12:48 MST 2008 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- I have serviced Betty Ann's lovely Steinway L for many years. Just as you enter her home you see a rather large aviary with several parrots, cockatoos, cockatiels....you get the picture. Every time I had been there the birds were in the enclosure. They occasionally will screech, whistle, etc. the usual bird talk, but never much of a bother. Until..... As fate would have it, one day I came to tune and Betty Ann greeted me at the door and then disappeared to the other end of the house. I noticed that the aviary was open and vacant. I thought little about that and began work. The great room where the piano is located has high vaulted ceilings, ledges, exposed beams, a highly polished parquet floor. I began tuning, thankful that Betty Ann was in the other end of the house (she's a talker ;-). I was about half way through the tuning when suddenly, from behind me; there was the sound of a screeching B-52 coming straight at my head. Startled, I did a duck and cover- both hands and arms flying up to cover my head. My tuning hammer was still clutched tightly in my hand and SMACK!!! One of the birds had zoomed down from the rafters making this God awful sound, arriving at my head the same time as the tuning hammer in my hand. POW- there the bird went.. spiraling across the polished floor a good 10-15 feet and then just laid there ON IT'S BACK! I thought " O MY GOD, I KILLED BETTY ANN'S BIRD". About then Betty Ann sings out from the other end of the house " Paul, is the bird bothering you?" I blurted back " Not any more" Fortunately, the bird flopped back to its feet, squawking for all it's worth and flew back up to its perch in the ceiling. It never came back down and it never shut its beak the entire rest of my visit. Paul E. Dempsey, RPT Piano Technician Sr. Marshall University Huntington, WV 304-696-5418 304-617-1149 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- Previous message: Soundboard repair question Next message: Jacks for Wood-Brooks 90 degree action Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- More information about the Pianotech mailing list Paul E. Dempsey, RPT Piano Technician Sr. Marshall University Huntington, WV 304-696-5418 304-617-1149
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