Booya! all full up. well, almost. The wife and I decided to fill it to just above the return outlet. That way our five year old can still touch bottom. Weird thing is, once its full, the small amount of leakage stopped. Must be the down pressure. Still waiting to pull the trigger on membership/test kit. Soon, Jedi, soon.... for now, I'm just hitting it with FC in the evening. we're not using it much, and i'm out there everyday with my rednecked vaccum and pool net. Our water costs $5.50 per 1000 gal. The wife was glad to hear it was only $40 to fill/clean it. I 'fixed' my skimmer to, i have the floater. Its now level and free floating (sic). works like a champ.
Future plans:
sidewall skimmer
solar heating
side shelves for about a third around the pool.
secure covering
sand filter (found one for $100, i just havta go 120 miles roundtrip to get it.)
still looking for an answer about my waist strap being loose. But it's holding fine as it is.