Living in the screw forest: Day 3!

Today I broke five more springs. I think my instructor is on the verge of beating my ass. (I'm only seventy-five percent joking.) Whatever the case, it seems that me, pliers, small bits of pointy metal, and enough force to bend a spoon in half (a good one) do not work well together.

Though I have to say, my throughput rate is about ninety-five percent no-breaks! Springs, springs, and more springs! 

Today I finished seven flutes and a piccolo. You can see their head joints here. 

Flute head joints! (Not all of them!)

These come out through a process that involves a metal rod and lots of force. 

In fact, most of the things that we do here in the shop require a scary amount of force. In order to dislodge whatever it is that won't move, I have to put in pretty much my entire body strength. And the terrible thing about that is that if the strength is misguided and hits a vital point (on you or the instrument) there will be hell to pay. 

Here's the little spot where I took a nap after getting to the shop twenty minutes early. Not long enough for me!

My cat nap spot!

And here's what I was talking about when I spoke of a "forest of screws." 

Look at all those screws!

It really looks like a forest, no? 

It's pretty nice here in Wisconsin right now. To the locals, it's baking out there, but to a Louisiana resident who has experienced true weather misery, this is perfect! God only knows what I'm going to do when the temperature drops below -40 (forty below!) 

I was skeptical when Ed told me that most of the people working or training here were band director drop-outs. But, true to his word, every student (and my current instructor) wanted to be band directors before they came here. 

One of my coworkers was a band director for five years, and he's only twenty-eight! Apparently, his workload was so much (he was doing the job of three people) that he had a nervous breakdown and made some seventh graders cry. 

As he said, "if I am going to make kids cry, maybe I'm not suited for being a band director." 

Though, it appears that he was very good at his job. All five years his middle school band made top marks in their competitions. And this was in Texas! (In Texas, it's about five times as competitive as pretty much anywhere else when it comes to band.) 

Today I got off early. I'm looking forward to the weekend!