The Pool Man

Many people who read this have been my Facebook friends for awhile and because of that they know that every summer the pool is a source of aggravation for me and comic relief for my friends.   This summer is shaping up to be like the summers prior.  Mr. Fix It, AKA Frederick,  seems to lack a lot of motivation this year and is moving at turtle speed.
The pool saga truly started about a month ago when Fred realized that the harsh winter had caused some damage to the pump and skimmer.   The extreme cold cracked the skimmer,  I suspect that was due to improper closing by Mr. Fix It but we're just going to leave that alone for now.  The skimmer and part of the pump needed to be replaced so Mr. Fix It spent hours over the course of weeks searching all over the internet for the correct parts.  Instead of jusr ordering them he wrote down part numbers and said he was going to check local pool stores.  I suggested that it might be a smarter use of time if he simply called the two pool stores nearest us and see if they carried what we needed.  Since efficency isn't really one of his strengths he scoffed at my suggestion.  He decided to wait until 4:00PM last Sunday and head out to the pool stores .  Shockingly when he arrived at one store they were closed because he didn't bother to check the hours.  When he arrived at the other they didn't even sell the brand of pool and pump that we own so naturally they couldn't help with parts.  So basically that was a complete waste of time that could have all been avoided if he had simply made a phone call but I'm not one to say "I told you so!"  Ok so maybe I am but he wouldn't listen anyway.  The next logical step would be to just ignore the pool while the temperature soared to near 90° last week.   That plan of action didn't really work for me so on Monday I drove him to the pool store myself and refused to leave until he went inside and purchased the things we needed.  He complied and we now had the $300 worth of parts to fix the pool.  Hooray!  I was thinking he could get right to work because he assured me that both pieces where easy to install.   Wishful thinking.  He waited until Tuesday afternoon at 3:00 in the afternoon to get started.  That is exactly 2.5 hours before he needed to leave for work and that time needed to include a shower.  Needless to say not much got accomplished that day because as I suspected neither piece was "easy to install".  I gently reminded him that rain was forecasted for the weekend so he needed to get the cover off before it filled back up with water.  Wednesday  afternoon was a little more productive and Mr. Fix It actually got the pump back in working order (This is still unproven however because it hasn't been turned on yet.  I'm just trying to be positive.)  Thursday came a and I was excited because I thought that finally the cover was coming off.  NOPE!   I was wrong.  He milled about outside near the pool for a bit but nothing seemed to be happening.   Again, I gently reminded him that they were pretty good at forecasting the weather these days and it was supposed to rain this weekend.  My words of warning were once again completely ignored and as predicted it rained on Friday,  Saturday,  and again today!  So now I have a swimming pool that is full of water that has a fully functional pump and filter, and still has a cover on it.  A cover that is now full of standing water AGAIN and cannot be removed until it's drained of its contents.   I can't be certain but I'm sure draining the cover will likely take another week of Mr. Fix It's time.  The pool may be open by June 1st.  MAY BE.  .  . Let's see how next week goes.