I Can't Be Trusted

When I was little, my uncle and aunty had a pool. As they lived next door, this was extremely convenient and many's the summer afternoon we would hear "Kids! Out!" as the twilight deepened. I never once gave a thought to the time and money it takes to maintain such a magnificent plaything.

When I became a pool owner a few years ago, I was extremely naive. I had no idea just how much time, effort and dollars go into making sure that lovely water stays crystal clear and swimmable!

Most of the time I casually leave the pool stuff up to hubby, but with him being away I have had to assume a few duties. Turns out I can't even manage to keep the damn thing full.

No rain for a while and few hot days has resulted in some evaporation. I glanced out the window one afternoon one week and noted the water level was down but still above where it should be. Then on Sunday morning when the pump came on I happened to be out at the washing line and suddenly a loud, strange sucking noise started eminating from the skimmer box...

It was sucking air, because the water was well below the required line! Frantically I chucked the hose in the pool and then had to figure out how to turn off the new pump!

I left it going an hour then turned it off when I had to go out. When I got home in the afternoon, I decided to put it back on again for a while to bump up the water to where it should have been.

And promptly forgot to set myself a timer.  It wasn't until I was preparing for bed later in the evening that I realised I could hear something... the hose!

I bolted out the back, heart in my mouth... and it was about an inch below the edge. Thank god I hadn't overflowed it!

However, it was now TOO full, and one good rainstorm could result in disaster. So this morning I had to LET OUT water.

And you can bet your boots I remembered to set a timer for that.

Do you have a pool? Does it stress you out as much as mine does?