nothing spectacular today, but...

[bloke]

TWO schools, today, suddenly EACH needed ONE MORE craptastic sousaphone made into "good" sousaphones (again: TODAY) for their band camps...so two fairly friggin "major" sousaphone repair jobs, back-to-back...
Without financially gouging either school, I charged a total of $615 to repair the two instruments, and (with Mrs. bloke acting as an on-again/off-again tool/supplies keeper-tracker-of and a custom-angles-for-soldering human vice) I got them repaired in about three hours (because I had to get cleaned up and leave to pick-up/deliver OTHER repairs at the end of those three hours.

bloke "I can hustle, when I must, and those two sousaphones (also: with most of their dents removed as a 'courtesy') will stay repaired as long as would any brand-new one...but - even after epic doses of strong coffee - now that it's 6:30 P.M., I believe I'll lay down for just a few minutesssszzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"

[Three Valves]

My shop rate is only $80/hr.

I could have repaired them both in ten hours in two days.

I’m going to my Old Cooterville FB page and tell them how that ‘slicker ripped them off!!