six euphoniums/baritones, nine tubas, one middle school

[bloke]

I need to get this middle school's instrument repair order done tout de suite, as (insanely) this school's school year starts on August 3rd.

Further, there's a college (a fairly large repair order, and all their instruments are finished) in the same direction, and their band camp starts around that same time. Thirdly, yet another middle school (same county as the ones I'm working on now, same start time, and also in the same direction) has instruments to hand to me (they have more spares and aren't in as urgent the need to get their repairs back by the first day of school)...
...but all three of those institutions are within 20 to 30 minutes of each other and all in the same direction, so I need to take care of all three of those errands soon, and on one trip.

Beginning yesterday and through tonight, I got all six of the middle school's baritones and euphoniums repaired - along with three of their nine tubas (one of which is a stainless nickel plated Willson-made Caravelle ), so I have six more tubas of theirs to repair, and I'll be done and ready to make that three-school odyssey. (I usually try to take out most of the dents in school instruments, and not just put them in so-called "play condition", but - well - I'm fast, and I've taught myself how to do most of this stuff sitting down.)

Also, I have another university's instruments all repaired (an even larger order - more than double the size of the college's order) and probably tomorrow I've got a pretty good size order of brand new instruments (two new tubas, two new euphoniums, and a new alto sax) arriving by common carrier - instruments that a private school is buying from us, and that private school is in the same direction as that university.

There are two more middle schools to do after these that are mentioned above, but they don't seem quite as urgent, though I will have one of theirs done by the beginning of school, because their school doesn't start till the second week of August. The other one has tons of spares. I'm sure more schools will call us, and some of these same schools will tear stuff right back up that we fixed up nicely and send urgent texts

It's a lot of hustling, but it beats working for The Man.

[Schlitzz]

And a partridge in a pear tree……

[bloke]

Last year, this stuff never stopped and ran all the way through late spring right into the regular / predictable summer repairs.

(I picked up a whole bunch of new schools by word of mouth, and they all handed me piles of instruments that other music stores had told them were unrepairable, which I repaired throughout the school year.

One middle school (about an hour and 45 minutes away) ended up with three no-dents Texas-era Conn 20K short-action sousaphones (previously trashed), about five 3/4 size tubas which were previously not usable (previously trashed - one with a torn bell that I silver brazed back together), and a bunch of other stuff... and they were sort of typical. That same school system's high school ended up with a bunch of baritone saxophones, sousaphones, and tubas that HAD BEEN collecting dust on the shelf due to being all torn up.