Whenever a stressful situation presents itself (like yesterday for instance), I usually try to figure out exactly why and which emotions kicked in. Then try and put myself in the shoes of the other person. What if the clarinets really do suck? To find out involves more than just playing scales. I grabbed another instructor and set him loose on it. I don't want to know whether it works or not. It works. We've determined that. Look at it with a critical eye and ear and tell me what else might possibly be wrong with it. He found a pad that was slightly inconsistent. I adjusted it. OK, what else? The ultimate test; one-on-one with the electronic tuner. Now we see an entirely different picture. These things aren't in tune with themselves or anything else. Some notes a bit sharp - some a bit flat. Different notes on different clarinets. There's a very popular band instrument maker (who shall go un-named, but they're Japanese and starts with a 'Y' and they also make motorcycles) who sell thousands of band instruments not much better than this. But the one the lady brought back yesterday was particularly poor in intonation. So what do I do with all these things? Lemonade... I tell folks exactly what I just told you. I'll still sell them if somebody wants one. But why? I've got some really nice clarinets for just a couple hundred more that don't have these issues...

The mariachi stuff came in. Accordians, cuatros, bajo sextos, etcetera that I mentioned a couple weeks ago. Now the guitarron is about the same size and shape as a cello. You already know where I'm going with this, don't you? What a beatiful instrument. Too bad it arrived with two 15 inch cracks along the backside. Can't blame the people who packed it. It was packed like a coffin. Six inches of bubble wrap head to toe. Then put in an over-sized box filled with styronuts. And the piece de resistance - a plywood frame encompassing the thing inside the box. Still it took a bruising. Darn. Was hoping to show it off at the street fair Saturday. Oh well - I've got the most interesting window on the street already.