Just livin' the aquatic dream...
We had a simple, 20K, in-ground, vinyl liner pool built about 17 years ago and the stuff has fascinated me ever since. After the first couple of years or so of being a pool newb and frequenting pool stores, I ran across another online forum and have been dumping bleach, borax and occasionally ascorbic acid (iron stains) in the pool (with excellent results) ever since. I spend far more time reading, researching and tinkering with pool-related items than I actually spend *in* the pool. Up until Fall 2012, all pool equipment was original, as installed. Alas, the heat exchanger on our 1998 Purex-Triton Minimax 200K btu heater sprang a leak at the end of last season so I'll be putting in a new RayPak 266K btu heater this spring. I'm guessing heaters have come a long way in the last 16 or so years.
After being a software engineer for 22 years at a large, international corporation, life thew me a curveball in 2010 when our local corporate site was shut down and the jobs/work sent overseas. After much thought (and quickly ruling out relocating to St. Paul, MN or Rochester, NY), I decided to pursue something completely different as a vocation, something that would hold hold my interest each and every day...so last summer (08/2012) I managed to secure a position with a pool service, maintenance and management company in the area. I've looked forward to getting up and going to work every day since. I spent the balance of last season as a 'valet', cleaning and maintaining pools in the area and then closing pools when the season drew to a close. For the last 5 months I've been servicing and maintaining an indoor aquatics therapy center with a 60K pool/spa and three 10K gallon therapy tubs. In addition I became a Red Cross certified lifeguard and have been working in that capacity at the center as well. If somebody woulda told me 5 years ago that I'd be doing this, I would have laughed at them. Hopefully the weather cooperates and we'll be getting back to the genuine 'pool stuff' in a few weeks when pool preparation/opening season begins; I've heard it's quite a grind but am really looking forward to it! The things I've learned already from our Sr. Service Technicians is absolutely amazing and every day is a new adventure.
Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it! I generally check TFP at every opportunity as there is always something new to learn, especially from everyone here who has real-world experience with such a wide variety of things. And getting 'vocationally' involved with the aquatics industry affords me the opportunity to do something I truly enjoy, which essentially makes it not a 'job' at all. Best decision I've made in the last 10 years...my wife always says it's not fair because most "...people don't like their job but you love yours!"
Who'd a figured when I decided "Yeah, lets have a pool built... that sounds cool" that it would turn into this? Life sure has some interesting twists and turns...
We had a simple, 20K, in-ground, vinyl liner pool built about 17 years ago and the stuff has fascinated me ever since. After the first couple of years or so of being a pool newb and frequenting pool stores, I ran across another online forum and have been dumping bleach, borax and occasionally ascorbic acid (iron stains) in the pool (with excellent results) ever since. I spend far more time reading, researching and tinkering with pool-related items than I actually spend *in* the pool. Up until Fall 2012, all pool equipment was original, as installed. Alas, the heat exchanger on our 1998 Purex-Triton Minimax 200K btu heater sprang a leak at the end of last season so I'll be putting in a new RayPak 266K btu heater this spring. I'm guessing heaters have come a long way in the last 16 or so years.
After being a software engineer for 22 years at a large, international corporation, life thew me a curveball in 2010 when our local corporate site was shut down and the jobs/work sent overseas. After much thought (and quickly ruling out relocating to St. Paul, MN or Rochester, NY), I decided to pursue something completely different as a vocation, something that would hold hold my interest each and every day...so last summer (08/2012) I managed to secure a position with a pool service, maintenance and management company in the area. I've looked forward to getting up and going to work every day since. I spent the balance of last season as a 'valet', cleaning and maintaining pools in the area and then closing pools when the season drew to a close. For the last 5 months I've been servicing and maintaining an indoor aquatics therapy center with a 60K pool/spa and three 10K gallon therapy tubs. In addition I became a Red Cross certified lifeguard and have been working in that capacity at the center as well. If somebody woulda told me 5 years ago that I'd be doing this, I would have laughed at them. Hopefully the weather cooperates and we'll be getting back to the genuine 'pool stuff' in a few weeks when pool preparation/opening season begins; I've heard it's quite a grind but am really looking forward to it! The things I've learned already from our Sr. Service Technicians is absolutely amazing and every day is a new adventure.
Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it! I generally check TFP at every opportunity as there is always something new to learn, especially from everyone here who has real-world experience with such a wide variety of things. And getting 'vocationally' involved with the aquatics industry affords me the opportunity to do something I truly enjoy, which essentially makes it not a 'job' at all. Best decision I've made in the last 10 years...my wife always says it's not fair because most "...people don't like their job but you love yours!"
Who'd a figured when I decided "Yeah, lets have a pool built... that sounds cool" that it would turn into this? Life sure has some interesting twists and turns...
