Early Morning in Chicago Area

It was just before dawn when I set out this morning. Glittering snow flakes were slowly floating down from the cobalt colored sky and a sliver of peach hued sky was beginning to emerge along the horizon as I eagerly started my car down the highway. Armed with my book bag and a steaming mug of black coffee, I was off to Chicago.


Yesterday evening Ms. Fiore called with sensational news: "Your bass is ready." You can imagine that I was incredibly surprised by the news, especially since I was expecting to be without my bass until sometime in February. Ms. Fiore explained that as she was examining my bass she discovered the best of best possible scenarios- the split did not go all the way through the face. The weird weather ealier this winter caused the sound post to slip out of place, which created unbalanced stress on the face and started to force open the seam. In other good news, the crafty luthier who made my bass had already placed a few well placed, but discrete cleats for reinforcement. It was not necessary to remove the top of the bass to fix the split. Ms. Fiore was able to fix the bass with a superb adhesive, strategically placed clamps, and a refitted sound post. Magnificent! Not only did the repair take considerably less time than initially predicted, it cost several hundered dollars less. Doublely magnificent!

The bass is healthy again!

I was back on campus by 10:30, and was only 30 minutes late to class- not bad for morning rush hour in the Windy City. Yesterday I informed the professor why I may be running late for his class. Sensing my excitement he empathetically told me to "go get your baby. Do not rush to get back for class, and, for heavens sake, drive defensively- it's the morning rush hour. Who knows who has not had enough coffee before getting on the road." Seriously- I love this professor. I am tickled to be reunited with my bass, and had to resist the urge to miss the rest of class to get reaquainted.

Merry Writings!