[pianotech] NY Times article on pianos (OT)

[David Lawson]

Hi Terry,

Any messages you get with a font too small or hard to read can be rectified by clicking on the "forward" or "reply" button, then highlight the text that is hard to read and you can change the font & size to whatever you like (see below!) 
Hope this helps.

Regards,

Alastair
David Lawson's Pianos
Australia
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Terry Farrell 
  To: pianotech at ptg.org 
  Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2012 7:18 PM
  Subject: Re: [pianotech] NY Times article on pianos (OT)


  Susan - I don't know if I am the only one who receives your posts in the tiny courier font or not, but it is very difficult to read. It is tiny and looks like you were running out of ink on your ribbon. Is it possible for you to use a larger, more readable font? I've always enjoyed your posts, but I have to admit that I tend to not read them now because the font used is so difficult to read. Or is it on my end?  :-)


  Terry Farrell


  On Jul 30, 2012, at 11:02 PM, Susan Kline wrote:


    Hi, Bill 

    We can agree to disagree about that. Certainly there's plenty of blame to go around. 

    The predatory lending, and the draconian bankruptcy bill which saddles young people with debt 
    for their natural lives, and the vicious collection practices (pressuring kids to 
    pay their loans before their rent, their utilities, their food, or their medicine) 
    seem to be to be far from blameless. And the way they've set up loans so if graduates 
    can't make payments, the principal just mounts up and up -- doubling, tripling -- 
    "I owe my soul to the company store" comes to mind. 

    It all seems very similar to the mortgages banks sold to people who obviously would 
    default. They privatize the profit while socializing the risk. 

    I'm done with politics, here. Suffice to say that no one newly graduated with 
    a six-figure debt will be able to study piano tuning, or live on a beginning 
    tuner's earnings. And that has been going on for decades already. No wonder 
    routine work isn't getting done.

    It reminds me of places where the cost of real estate and rent gets so high 
    that the service people (gardeners, window cleaners, day care people, etc.) can't 
    afford to live within commuting distance. 

    It all feels like endgame to me. If things can't get any more expensive 
    and complicated and impractical, in the end they will come crashing down. 

    Best to keep a wary eye on the basics in our lives -- where does our food, 
    electricity, fuel, etc. come from, and will it keep coming? Is the division of 
    labor which we've become totally dependent on really going to go on 
    forever? Anyone feel like investing in some nice high-paying Spanish 
    bonds? 25% unemployment in Spain these days. What are they all going to 
    do? 

    Thumpe's right -- gardening is good. Not because it is financially profitable 
    right now, but because the food is better than store-bought, and growing it 
    teaches people how to do it successfully, and how to use the produce and 
    plant the right amounts at the right times. Someday they might really need this 
    skill. Plus some plants like fruit trees and berry bushes and nut trees 
    need time to grow. 

    Best, 
    Susan

    Bill Fritz wrote: 
      Susan, while I'd agree that this world is indeed changing...

      However, I would respectfully suggest that Wall Street is not at fault for the massive Student Loan mess... it is the US Govt, the Colleges, & the Professors who encouraged students to take on too much debt at too young an age.  I'll also fault the parents, though the students are by law allowed to make their own decisions, and indeed do so too willingly.

      Easy loan money from the USGovt encourages students to step up to more expensive colleges, and only encourages the Colleges & the Professors to raise their rates.

      The law of supply & demand... except in this case, Wall Street had nothing to do w/ it.

      Best Regards...   Bill Fritz, St Louis


            From: Susan Kline <skline at peak.org> 
            To: pianotech at ptg.org 
            Subject: Re: [pianotech] NY Times article on pianos 
            Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2012 14:28:37 -0700 

      What I see is one more way in which this country has paid for letting 
      Wall Street put most of the young and educated into indentured servitude 
      via student loans.

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