Backyard Oasis

So, our house (yes, the one that my relatives don't know about) has a pool.

I have never lived in a house with a pool.  I have lived in a couple apartments with pools.  One summer in college my BFF and lived in this townhouse right off campus.  Our apartment was right in back of the pool.  It was pretty sweet.  The guys next door though, hated us.  They had these two iguanas.  They would kind of take over the whole pool and let the iguanas swim around.  But, they hated us. HATED.

The last year at FSU, I lived in a complex, where the shared pool was at the building next door.  So, I didn't use it as much.  One night, we were hanging out in the apartment drinking with a friend.  The FP and the friend walked to the store to get more beer.  I think there was a tropical storm or something, but they walked because we were drunk.  On the way back, I don't know if they both jumped in the pool or what, but I seem to recall that the friend pooped in the pool.  Needless to say, I never went in that pool again.

And then our first apartment in New Orleans (Metairie)  had a pool.  We used it a lot.  Since then, no pool.  I love the beach, and I love pools.  We used to go to Palm Springs, a couple hours away, mainly to lay by the pool all day long.  We always went to the same hotel.  It was a nice big pool, and it was usually pretty quiet, unlike some of those boutique hotels with the music blaring by the pool and the people who dress at the pool like it's a fashion show.

Anyway, I know nothing about pool maintenance.  I just remember seeing our family friends take pool water and swish it around in test tubes and put chemicals in the pool and clean it.

So, I started reading forums on the internet a little when we were in San Diego looking at houses online.  A lot of people were of the hole in the ground that you throw money into consensus.  Others were like, it's easy - just check the level, get an automatic vacuum, it's so worth it!

Anyway, we have a pool.  We have owned a pool for four days now.  And we have not been in it.  Really.  We fantasized about going to the house on the first day and just jumping in.  But, it's dirty.  It's got a creepy crawly vacuum that's been in it all week, and it doesn't work.  I'm not sure why we haven't bothered to take it out.  Like it's going to start working all of a sudden!

So, the first couple days, we had no time to think about the pool  Finally, yesterday, we had time to buy chlorine and test strips.  So, the levels were all off - except for the water hardness.  So, we had to shock the pool.  So, it got chlorinated, but everything else was still fucked up.  So, today I had to go back to the store and buy more chemicals.  I dumped them in, and a few hours later, it seemed to be evened out. So, hopefully the chemistry will still be okay tomorrow, and then we can clean the damn thing and finally use it!

Ridiculous.  Something will probably happen though, to prevent us from actually using it.  That's how some things seem to be going.