Gordy Forcier wrote of his troubles with water in the shop in the 3/30/97 MMD.  Does misery love company or what; (not).  THIS is the year that I convert my garage to a shop and get 15 years of piano repair and restora- tion out of the upstairs, *and* save my marriage; funny how my wife does not share my passion for my work.

At any rate, prior to insulating and remodeling I too have to address the problem of the Spring runoff.  It'll be bad enough fighting to find room to work around 2 players, a square grand, a Victorian upright with a bird-cage action, a run-of-the-mill old upright and 2 pump organs, the lawn tractor....

I plan to lower the height of the patio between the house and the garage by removing the gravel that I hauled in years ago, then cement it in with re-rod.  This should allow the snow blower to do a better job and prevent the frost buildup in the ground in that area.

I'll also clear the snow off the roof more timely and blow a path around the other three sides of the building, after I slope the ground as needed.  Up here in NE MN it's not uncommon to get about 100 inches of snow each winter, but I'm convinced that with better maintenance and design the problem will be solved.

As an aside -- public thanks to John Tuttle for providing a listing of player techs at no charge at his web site (a very informative site by the way).  See MMD 970330.

Roy Ulrich