Okay, here's my confession:  I had the plate out of an upright resting
flat on a couple of sawhorses.  I wanted to take the plate off the
sawhorses and put it on the floor in a vertical position.  While I held
the plate up at one end, I had my wife remove the sawhorse from under
that end, then I lowered my end of the plate to the floor.

Just as I reached bottom, the remaining sawhorse decided to go for a
run, and the plate started heading south fast.  My wife (who is blind)
grabbed the falling end and was able to hang onto it for a couple of
seconds until I got there and we got control of it.

If she hadn't moved so quickly and supported it, it would have hit the
concrete floor from a height of 3 feet, and surely would have been
badly cracked and ruined.  I guess we might have lost a toe or two, as
well.  I sure felt like a doofus, but very lucky!

Larry Lobel
Virtuoso Piano Service
Petaluma, CA