interesting thing happened at my mom's funeral

[Riverkilt]

You might also get some ideas from watching the movie Gardens of Stone, or reading the novel (Nicholas Proffitt).

A noble thing and should be well paid.

Don't be surprised if some folks want to tip you after. Be gracious and accept. THEY want to.

Ron

[LordKiltClad]

I draw a parallel to your dilemma everyday at work. The architectural firm I work for does 85% church work. Almost all our clients have the mindset (because they are a church and considered non-profit) that our services should come cheap if not free.

And really they are getting a little bit of a discount.
On a standard commercial building project an architect can make upwards of 8-9% of the total building construction cost. For churches we're down in the 6-7% range. Now while 1% point may not seem like a lot, but we deal with $50 million dollar church buildings, and 1% is $500,000 dollars. That's a lot to me.

Point being well put by others. You're providing a professional service, I would expect to pay for a professional service. No difference in services by you whether it's a funeral or not.

[Kiltedfirepiper]

It's a casket, not a coffin. Good job though, concerning your newfound source of enjoyment/moolah.

.

thanks for the encouragement on my piping
but for the other part...

per wikipedia when I looked up coffin AND casket......the same thing came up for both......

Any box used to bury the dead in is a coffin. Use of the word "casket" in this sense is a North American euphemism, introduced by the undertaker's trade; a "casket" properly so called is in fact a box for jewellery. [1] Some Americans draw a distinction between "coffins" and "caskets"; for these people, a coffin is a tapered hexagonal or octagonal(also considered to be anthropodial in shape) box used for a burial. A rectangular burial box with a split lid used for viewing the deceased is called a "casket" as seen in the picture above.



as you can tell I'm not one of those people.....
so basically it boils down to the same thing as calling potato's "spuds"
was it really necessary to comment.... or rather correct me in my terminology
when it means the same thing? and everyone understood what I was saying?

I see people correcting spelling, and use of punctuation and what have you, and I'm sure the person that typed out the incorrect what ever felt REAL good being called out for something minor like a miss spelled word ( like getting called in front of a class in 4th grade so the teacher can show the students how bad you #*$&%ed up on a paper) I KNOW its a pet peve for some folks....trust me I know, cause every time you bring something up thats your appology for bringing it up!

hell thats why I chose the tag line I have!!! so when I type someting out at 0300 and I send it everyone will know that every now and then I wont spell something right, or miss a punctuation!
I'm not applying for a job here ....I'm talking to my friends! if I had friends correcting my grammar all the time .....I probably wouldnt be friends with them for very long because who wants to be treated that way?

how often would people post on this site if they new they were going to get graded on what they posted?
I understand that good spelling, grammar, punctuation are important, but in a relaxed atmosphere the saying should be " come as you are" right?
I'd hate to have to proof read, and spell check everything I posted, it would make it time consuming, and make responding no fun at all

is it REALLY THAT important?!?!?!?

getting off the soapbox now


and for rants like this is why I have the OTHER tag line!

KFP

[Kiltedfirepiper]

oh and I totallly forgot to mention, the service went great, I played after the color guard did the flag folding, and the VFW did their thing, as the VFW marched out I played AG and going home.. as I played the second part of going home I started walking away slowly, causeing a fade out for the tune.

everyone I talked to couldn't figure out how I got the bagpipes to fade out..... I just looked at them dead pan and said " I walked that way for about 200 feet" I got a big hug from the widow and she thanked me over and over again for being available to be apart of the service.

I hate to say this but going to other funerals has been kind of helpful to me as far as my Mom is concerned......I feel mostly its because I get to help other people in their time of need.... I dont know.....but I do feel better than I have in the last few days after being a part of 2 other services. reguardless if I would have gotten paid or not

KFP

[RK-REX]

Good going Scott!! Sounds like you found a niche and you get to help folks out as well.

[highlander_Daz]

I play at a lot of events and nearly always charge, it reassures the client they are getting a "proper" piper and secondly as a semi pro musiscian you owe it to yourself to recieve some from of reward, also you will have other pipers on your back if you undercharge. Pipeing is a noble art, In Scotland the piper was and is respected as an educated man, my advice to you is carry on charge reasonable rates, if you feel the need to donate a percentage to charity then do so, If the clients are a community group I waive my fee or donate my fee to a cancer hospital nearby, its up to you.

my only advice is that you always look immaculate, always be early. and always have your drones in tune,

this is my secret weapon

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Korg-CA-40-Chr...QQcmdZViewItem

[thescot]

KFP--good show!

I got a little misty thinking of you pacing off and the skirl of the pipes fading in the distance as the last strains of "Going Home" were played. Man, that's a nice touch, and it's one that the family will always remember.

And always remember, the funeral is for the family, not the deceased. He or she doesn't need anything anymore; it's the folks left behind who need that kind of comfort, and having the flag and pipes is a fitting tribute to a soldier/sailor/marine who has gone to that country from whose borne no traveler returns.

Thanks for your post.

[morrison]

I GOOGLED funeral and lots of others terms. This was a couple of the ideas that came back out for me to look at.

This idea will likely lead to netting nearly ANY requestor a BUGLER for a funeral,
www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1679199/posts

This is most informative,
www.uwyo.edu/armyrotc/cadetresources/infolibrary/fm225/CH9.PDF

This is rather helpful,
www.usps.org/national/om/pdfs/opsman08.pdf

[Kiltedfirepiper]

Vinnie laid out the prices for us to the Funeral Director, its on par with the pipe band here in town. he told me that the PM said to him when he was asked to perform a while back that he (the PM) didn't mind as long as Vinnie didnt undercut the band and make them lose gigs.
as my tune knowledge grows, and as I get better outfits ( Ie. the full kit for a regimental piper) I will charge more due to what I wear and the fact they will have more tunes to select from.

I have shown up an hour early to each gig so I can talk with the family, and find out what they require of me. the funeral directors I worked with just wanted me to be there....no real direction as to what is played, and when.

I also talk to the pastor/priest/ vicar what ever to see what he has in mind.

right now I have two kilts.
I wear my black rabbit fur sporran a white long sleeve shirt, tie and a black balmoral.

the... I guess it would be the No. 1 kit will cost about 2800 when its all said and done. and I also want to get a daywear ( argyle) jacket for other times.
its going to take a while but this feels right and I want to do/ look my best

I just cant believe that a pipers plaid costs as much as a kilt!

KFP

[SnakeEyes]

thanks for the encouragement on my piping
but for the other part...

per wikipedia when I looked up coffin AND casket......the same thing came up for both......

Any box used to bury the dead in is a coffin. Use of the word "casket" in this sense is a North American euphemism, introduced by the undertaker's trade; a "casket" properly so called is in fact a box for jewellery. [1] Some Americans draw a distinction between "coffins" and "caskets"; for these people, a coffin is a tapered hexagonal or octagonal(also considered to be anthropodial in shape) box used for a burial. A rectangular burial box with a split lid used for viewing the deceased is called a "casket" as seen in the picture above.



as you can tell I'm not one of those people.....
so basically it boils down to the same thing as calling potato's "spuds"
was it really necessary to comment.... or rather correct me in my terminology
when it means the same thing? and everyone understood what I was saying?

I see people correcting spelling, and use of punctuation and what have you, and I'm sure the person that typed out the incorrect what ever felt REAL good being called out for something minor like a miss spelled word ( like getting called in front of a class in 4th grade so the teacher can show the students how bad you #*$&%ed up on a paper) I KNOW its a pet peve for some folks....trust me I know, cause every time you bring something up thats your appology for bringing it up!

hell thats why I chose the tag line I have!!! so when I type someting out at 0300 and I send it everyone will know that every now and then I wont spell something right, or miss a punctuation!
I'm not applying for a job here ....I'm talking to my friends! if I had friends correcting my grammar all the time .....I probably wouldnt be friends with them for very long because who wants to be treated that way?

how often would people post on this site if they new they were going to get graded on what they posted?
I understand that good spelling, grammar, punctuation are important, but in a relaxed atmosphere the saying should be " come as you are" right?
I'd hate to have to proof read, and spell check everything I posted, it would make it time consuming, and make responding no fun at all

is it REALLY THAT important?!?!?!?

getting off the soapbox now


and for rants like this is why I have the OTHER tag line!

KFP

I was only correcting you because that's the industry I work in, and we prefer that people call them by the proper term, and that's all I was saying. I'm sure that if someone used the wrong word to describe something you're passionate about you'd be upset. Maybe I didn't need to correct you, but if that's the case then you had no reason to get on my case. I'm sorry I corrected you infront of god and everybody, and I'm sorry that it upset you. Now that's the last you're going to hear from me on this.