Posted by Wade on April 05, 2003 at 12:29:06:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Brook-Mays posted by Rick Denney on April 03, 2003 at 12:11:26:
Regarding your tag line:
"who never underestimates the effects of late-70's double-digit inflation"
President Ford mailed me a really nifty "WIN" button. Remember "WIN"? It was the "Just Say No" campaign of the mid-seventies. (Just beleive that it will happen and inflation will go away . . . ) I wore it everywhere in the 5th grade, which made me feel that I was doing my part to Whip Inflation Now. (rolling eyes . . . )
Actually, as stated so eloquently by Archie Bunker:
"He's doing a pretty good job for a guy nobody voted for."
Things have only improved in the tuba world since that time. There are more orchestral positions now then there were in the Ford and Carter years (more ICSOM and ROPA orchestras by fully one third according to an AFM document that I read a few years ago). Our solo rep has grown in size and improved in quality. And the instrument itself has undergone significant improvements in sound, intonation, and ergonomics. And we can now drive to several locations in the U.S. to play-test lots of new and used instruments side-by-side. And in REAL dollars, the gas to get there now costs less per gallon than back in the days after the OPEC crisis.
Only problem? Too many degreed tubists looking for work!
Hey - remember the "Freedom Train "?
Wade