Zen and the Art of Pool Maintenance

I remember when I was in college the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was a big deal. Everyone was reading it and getting something out of it. So, I happened to have a logic and philosophy course so I signed up to read it. I hate to say it, but I got nothing out of it.

I know why now. I'm not a tinkerer. I'm just not. I like actionable things. I don't like to diagnose. Can I be a tinkerer? Sure. When I was an RTO in the Army I had to be a tinkerer. I hated being an RTO. I was ecstatic when that chore got passed on to someone else. My neighbor Filip was a tinkerer. He could sit out in his driveway for hours working on one bolt in his truck and have a great time doing it. Not me. I'd go batty. 

BUT, I have found a degree of Zen in pool maintenance lately. 

When I first got into pool maintenance a good friend tried to steer me in the right direction. Chemicals are the easy part she would say. Or "pshaw, pool maintenance is nothing." Did I listen to her? No. Not a bit. And for the first year I tried to do it myself and failed miserably. 

For the past 4 years I've had someone else do the pool if only because I was distracted by the doctoral studies. Well, with the wifey's job in jeopardy and with doctoral stuff winding down, I was pulled back into action. I was asked to save the family money by doing pool maintenance myself. 

It's only been three months, but boy do I enjoy it. 

Each weekend I go put on my pool cargo shorts (yep, got some just for the pool), and my sandals and pool cleaning shirt, and I go out, flip on some tunes, and get everything ready to go.

I know it's going to take me almost an hour, so I take that full hour and enjoy it. I brush the sides, like brushing teeth. I use the net. I check the gutters and the filters. I take my time an vacuum the bottom. Most of this is done twice a week, some is just once a week, but I find now I really enjoy it. 

• I can see the results immediately. 
• So far it hasn't gone too fast too far downhill, so I'm seeing the results I want. 
• I take the water to the store down the way and I get to chat with the kid behind the counter, so that's fun. 
• And I even got to replace a capacitor the other day, as well as the overflow valve. So I've saved easily a few hundred dollars. 

Fun stuff. Zen all around!