There have been a few ups and downs in recent days:
- We finished the refurb part of our project pianos and now we are putting them back together to see if the damn things will actually work. This will give me a huge sense of accomplishment if Amanda and I have actually managed to work with all 3,000+ parts, replace or repair, then reassemble them and the thing will actually sound like a musical instrument again. And of course there's making it work and then there's making it sweet. That's what will really turn my crank. When I think back to the first week of September, I can honestly hardly believe what we have learned and accomplished in so short a period of time. I suppose it may not seem like much to an outsider but we have literally bled to make this thing work and been immersed in detail to a level I have never been before. I feel really great about it and I can hardly wait until we get our grand pianos next term.
- I got an 85% on my freaking physics mid-term exam! Who's your daddy? This is really good because it takes a lot of pressure off the final exam which is in just a couple of weeks. I started off just wanting to pass the damn course but now I'd like to make a decent accounting of myself. Next term I have chosen something like Introduction to Jazz. Many of the other students in the class have music degrees and so are exempt from taking an elective next term. Bitches.
- Some asshole crashed into my parked car on Saturday and smashed in the rear driver's side door. Luckily I just changed to a zero deductible policy but it's just such a nuisance. On the upside I was out at a nice American Thanksgiving dinner. Still full.
- Today Don let us loose on the faculty pianos to tune them. So far we have only been working on a bunch of pianos that are specifically set aside for the piano tech students, but today we worked on the practice pianos the music students use. This is kind of a big deal because it tells me that even before the first term is done, Don is running out of stuff for us to do to our pianos. Actually he let the 'golden boy motherfuckers' (as I have affectionately nicknamed the top students in the class) tune the faculty pianos last week, and so this week he let the kind of middle of the pack tuners, of which I am one, have a go at them. It's petty, but I was so fucking relieved not to be in the last group, like being the kid who doesn't get picked at recess or something. We never really grow up do we? Anyway, I was so determined to do well, and while I did leave the piano in a much better state than I found it, my tuning actually sucked. Putrid. I was so disappointed. I said a bad word. I've been frustrated in recent days because I seem to have plateaued in my development, just as Don warned us we would, and I keep getting stuck at this one point in the process and I am going out of my mind trying to get through it. Still there was a feeling of accomplishment in a kind of milestone-y way, because I didn't just practice today. I worked. And even though it was literally a torment at times I still loved it. You really go into a kind of state where you block out everything else, including possibly someone playing violin or saxophone in the neighbouring practice room, and totally focus on a single task. Bend the fucking piano to your will. I have reflected on it at length. Right now it takes me about two hours to tune the entire piano; when was the last time you had two uninterrupted hours to focus on accomplishing a single task? I have a whole new perspective on work.
