Fred? You okay? Did the PB hear your thoughts about him and offer to put you out of his misery? Trying to be funny but really do care if you are okay or not.
Continuation of an odyssey
- Thread starter Rattus Suffocatus
- Start date
- Jun 5, 2019
- 1,713
- Pool Size
- 14000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool Universal40
Well, it's something else fairly major that has been festering for a year and a half. I am starting to debate if I will stay in Tucson or not though long term (I feel like we really don't fit in), but I do need to at least get my 2nd oldest boy through his senior year this year. The move here at high school age traumatized my four kids enough as it is especially coming from really good Midwestern schools. Hopefully I will be able to figure out a permanent solution to all of this though.
The pool is just another thing that has taken forever here. I bought a bunch of closeout pool toys at Walmart tonight so that cheered me up quite a bit though..
it might be polar bear club, but it will be with a cool tube and a water gun...
The pool is just another thing that has taken forever here. I bought a bunch of closeout pool toys at Walmart tonight so that cheered me up quite a bit though..
it might be polar bear club, but it will be with a cool tube and a water gun...
Okay so it is "life decisions" but no one is hurt or ill. "Life decisions" sure do weigh on a mind for sure. Moving is hard on everyone but kids do seem to take it the hardest I hope you can find what you are looking for. Listen to your heart and see what your dreams are trying to tell you. Some times they know what needs to be done but are hard to hear or understand. 
I hope you can find what you are looking for. Listen to your heart and see what your dreams are trying to tell you. Some times they know what needs to be done but are hard to hear or understand. 
- Nov 12, 2017
- 12,636
- Pool Size
- 12300
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Late to the party... I only read the first and last few posts. But I have great sympathy for the moving issue...
Did you fill the pool yet? Your first couple posts indicated there was some differing opinions about the size of your pool. Knowing the actual volume will help you in the future with pool care and chemical additions. It's simple enough to figure it out, but now's the time:
Just before you/they start the fill, find and record your water meter (out by the street somewhere). Keep an eye on the fill until it reaches the desired water level (usually about halfway up your skimmer). Then go record your water meter again. The difference between those two numbers will be your pool's water volume!
If you're compulsive about it, you can increase accuracy by minimizing water use while the pool is filling, especially irrigation. Turn off your sprinkler system, minimize showers and toilet flushes, take a break from laundry and dishwashing, etc. Though even if you do those things (and later subtract a few hundred gallons or so), the water level result will be fairly close, much closer than any math you might try to do on that curvy shape you've got...
Did you fill the pool yet? Your first couple posts indicated there was some differing opinions about the size of your pool. Knowing the actual volume will help you in the future with pool care and chemical additions. It's simple enough to figure it out, but now's the time:
Just before you/they start the fill, find and record your water meter (out by the street somewhere). Keep an eye on the fill until it reaches the desired water level (usually about halfway up your skimmer). Then go record your water meter again. The difference between those two numbers will be your pool's water volume!
If you're compulsive about it, you can increase accuracy by minimizing water use while the pool is filling, especially irrigation. Turn off your sprinkler system, minimize showers and toilet flushes, take a break from laundry and dishwashing, etc. Though even if you do those things (and later subtract a few hundred gallons or so), the water level result will be fairly close, much closer than any math you might try to do on that curvy shape you've got...
- Jun 5, 2019
- 1,713
- Pool Size
- 14000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool Universal40
Yeah, that is why I was asking about volume and was concerned with it at the beginning. But I did careful calculations from the drawings and I would put money on 15k plus or minus 1k at this point. I will turn off the irrigation and read the meter when we fill. Don't you worry! I'm an a picky engineer. In the latter half of my career I became a test engineer. Your plane does not crash on my watch!
You would think that I would be about done by now considering we decided to build the pool in March and signed a contract at the beginning of May, wouldn't you? (the middle of August was the original estimate) However, there is a warp in space time that is very real here. (Is it from H Ross Perot's "giant sucking sound?" Maybe!) It's called "Tucson time". (Español: "Mañana"). It's not just the pool. It's with everything. It's bizarre too, the people here aren't lazy... Honestly they are doing very high quality work with the pool. It seems to be with everything. And I am getting nasty about it lately which isn't helping because I am beyond losing patience. I wish I could say more about the "Groundhog Day" like situation with the school district but they would probably sue me if I said any more. I am not really on speaking terms with them at present. And yes I am in "the #2 district". But that alone, if I would have known, I would have stayed and made a lot less money in the Midwest... The pool was started late because that situation had to be resolved first. It was resolved until about a month after classes started at a new school this new school year... I am done venting now.
The pool has plumbing, shotcrete shell, bonding to the pump and empty conduit to the light niche, the waterline tile is done as well. The pavers are in my front yard. I am risking HOA letters (like I care anyway) by parking a car in front of the pavers so it will slow someone down in case they do try to steal them. It's been a problem in this area before.
But seeing how every step is about ten calendar days apart and, what? that's about half done it will likely be October before we fill. Unless the pace changes we will be lucky if that is the case.
Here are pictures from today attempting to show where we are at. I need to experiment with public Google Photos links for videos... It might be easier to document this stuff that way anyway.
Honestly at this point getting the pavers in and closing the trench would make me as happy as I was that I averted disaster by 26 hours on the dig by just making it with the shotcrete before 2.1 inches of rain hit in 20 minutes the next day... If I could get out of the dustpit mode and clean the first floor of the house up and the back yard.. I am sure that would keep me busy enough to stay out of trouble until I have to maintain the water...
At least I can say that I mastered the portable spa water. I have it very stable now and if I can scale it up to the Halloween pool, I should indeed be Trouble Free...
Yes all but a quarter inch of that was from the twenty minute rain last Saturday.
You would think that I would be about done by now considering we decided to build the pool in March and signed a contract at the beginning of May, wouldn't you? (the middle of August was the original estimate) However, there is a warp in space time that is very real here. (Is it from H Ross Perot's "giant sucking sound?" Maybe!) It's called "Tucson time". (Español: "Mañana"). It's not just the pool. It's with everything. It's bizarre too, the people here aren't lazy... Honestly they are doing very high quality work with the pool. It seems to be with everything. And I am getting nasty about it lately which isn't helping because I am beyond losing patience. I wish I could say more about the "Groundhog Day" like situation with the school district but they would probably sue me if I said any more. I am not really on speaking terms with them at present. And yes I am in "the #2 district". But that alone, if I would have known, I would have stayed and made a lot less money in the Midwest... The pool was started late because that situation had to be resolved first. It was resolved until about a month after classes started at a new school this new school year... I am done venting now.
The pool has plumbing, shotcrete shell, bonding to the pump and empty conduit to the light niche, the waterline tile is done as well. The pavers are in my front yard. I am risking HOA letters (like I care anyway) by parking a car in front of the pavers so it will slow someone down in case they do try to steal them. It's been a problem in this area before.
But seeing how every step is about ten calendar days apart and, what? that's about half done it will likely be October before we fill. Unless the pace changes we will be lucky if that is the case.
Here are pictures from today attempting to show where we are at. I need to experiment with public Google Photos links for videos... It might be easier to document this stuff that way anyway.
Honestly at this point getting the pavers in and closing the trench would make me as happy as I was that I averted disaster by 26 hours on the dig by just making it with the shotcrete before 2.1 inches of rain hit in 20 minutes the next day... If I could get out of the dustpit mode and clean the first floor of the house up and the back yard.. I am sure that would keep me busy enough to stay out of trouble until I have to maintain the water...
At least I can say that I mastered the portable spa water. I have it very stable now and if I can scale it up to the Halloween pool, I should indeed be Trouble Free...
Yes all but a quarter inch of that was from the twenty minute rain last Saturday.
Fred I so hear you! Being able to clean and KEEP clean the house will go a long way in helping your state of mind.
Sounds like there is a LOT going on in your life outside of the pool. Leave the pool to your wife and deal with the other stuff as needed. It makes me sad some of the stuff has to do with a school being "bad" I work SO hard in my class to make life good for my kids and their parents that I just don't understand why all teachers do not the same thing!!! gurrrrrrrrrrr
Sounds like there is a LOT going on in your life outside of the pool. Leave the pool to your wife and deal with the other stuff as needed. It makes me sad some of the stuff has to do with a school being "bad"
I work SO hard in my class to make life good for my kids and their parents that I just don't understand why all teachers do not the same thing!!! gurrrrrrrrrrr
Fred,
That tile is so awesome that if I didn't have better sense, I would grab my chisel and hammer and go to work on my pool just to have that same type/style of tile.
VERY NICE!!!
That tile is so awesome that if I didn't have better sense, I would grab my chisel and hammer and go to work on my pool just to have that same type/style of tile.
VERY NICE!!!
Oh nae nae, it’s not just Tucson, it’s AZ in its entirety!! This is the “Hurry up and wait” state.
- Jun 5, 2019
- 1,713
- Pool Size
- 14000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool Universal40
Yeah. The tile turned out nice. I was worried about it. It was a bit of a risk going with green, but I think it will be okay. heck, everything else is brown here anyway, so the blue pools never really made sense to me anyway in Arizona! Don't get me wrong.. YOUR blue pool is awesome! it's odd but when you go back to some place with grass and trees it's "florescent". Blue works there.
It's hard to describe the schools here. It's not just lack of funding.. Its a completely different attitude than Iowa was. Schools there were excellent. It might be boring otherwise but they deserved their state quarter.
And the dust here. It's almost too much to keep up with even when everything is in order... When you have an open ditch, you clean up after it's sealed.
But it is beautiful here. The sunsets here are unsurpassed by anywhere else I have ever been. The state flag.... Actually happens rarely..
It's not hurry up and wait here. It's wait and hurry up...
it's odd but when you go back to some place with grass and trees it's "florescent". Blue works there.It's hard to describe the schools here. It's not just lack of funding.. Its a completely different attitude than Iowa was. Schools there were excellent. It might be boring otherwise but they deserved their state quarter.
And the dust here. It's almost too much to keep up with even when everything is in order... When you have an open ditch, you clean up after it's sealed.
But it is beautiful here. The sunsets here are unsurpassed by anywhere else I have ever been. The state flag.... Actually happens rarely..
It's not hurry up and wait here. It's wait and hurry up...
Fred
Yep, I do like my tile but I like yours a whole lot more.
If I could do it over again, I would select colors that more closely match the landscaping (rock, palm trees and cacti)
No comment on the schools really except that I agree. We have lived all over and found AZ schools without a doubt the worst. I think I know most of the contributing factors but this is not the place for me to share my opinions on such matters I guess.
The dust situation will get better for you once you and everyone in your neighborhood gets the landscaping going (trees, decorative rock, grass etc) unless you live on the edge of the desert. In that case, I have no answers.
I think there are more advantages here than disadvantages for me anyway. But I will admit that I still feel that North Carolina was awesome, but I just like the weather here a bit more.
Longer swim season lol.....
Take care down there and hang in there. It will get better once all those holes in your back yard are filled in with either dirt or water.
r.
Yep, I do like my tile but I like yours a whole lot more.
If I could do it over again, I would select colors that more closely match the landscaping (rock, palm trees and cacti
)No comment on the schools really except that I agree. We have lived all over and found AZ schools without a doubt the worst. I think I know most of the contributing factors but this is not the place for me to share my opinions on such matters I guess.
The dust situation will get better for you once you and everyone in your neighborhood gets the landscaping going (trees, decorative rock, grass etc) unless you live on the edge of the desert. In that case, I have no answers.
I think there are more advantages here than disadvantages for me anyway. But I will admit that I still feel that North Carolina was awesome, but I just like the weather here a bit more.
Longer swim season lol.....
Take care down there and hang in there. It will get better once all those holes in your back yard are filled in with either dirt or water.
r.
- Jun 5, 2019
- 1,713
- Pool Size
- 14000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool Universal40
So this is pool story related, (it is!), but I promise it will be the last....
So I was about to go through the last state of denial last night--I was Really close to nirvana-- and accept the school thing (which is going to be resolved by homeschooling again.. I just didn't want to do that in High School, but community college is an okay start anyway-- not going to HS will force that-- the situation is not fixable by staying in the district schools)... and... I get a Facebook message from one of my neighbors asking why do I own their house? Now that's actually the second one I got, but the first one was someone questioning from one of those fraudulent mailings you get...and at that time I looked and all seemed okay.
But no.. this one was from someone who was trying to list their house and pulled the tax records. It looks like instead of the county giving me my 768 sqft of my backyard needed for the pool with the quit claim deed from "the biggest builder" that Pima County recorded it as me owning 285 parcels in my subdivision. Yeah, my tax bill is now probably $630,000 a year which is more than the cost of living calculator indicated it would be when I came here by a small margin.
So yeah, there are 350 million people in the US and not a single other one is going to have to take a day of vacation this week and hang out at the recorder's office to ask "nicely" to give back 283 of the parcels (most with homes on it) back to the neighbors. So is it Tucson? I'm still convinced that it is, honestly.
Now the good side of all of this is there was a emergency meeting of the HOA last night in my kitchen and I was voted the HOA president... And thankfully I didn't feel comfortable filing the paperwork to combine the lots until later (after I checked on the first transaction) or I might have to go and resubdivide the entire area again now....
But yeah.. I don't think I can handle this if it rapidly doesn't start to get less stupid. Even four more years to get the older boys through college is going to be tough. I have to stay through the end of the season next year no matter what.. so I'm still going to have the pool for at least one season.
So I was about to go through the last state of denial last night--I was Really close to nirvana-- and accept the school thing (which is going to be resolved by homeschooling again.. I just didn't want to do that in High School, but community college is an okay start anyway-- not going to HS will force that-- the situation is not fixable by staying in the district schools)... and... I get a Facebook message from one of my neighbors asking why do I own their house? Now that's actually the second one I got, but the first one was someone questioning from one of those fraudulent mailings you get...and at that time I looked and all seemed okay.
But no.. this one was from someone who was trying to list their house and pulled the tax records. It looks like instead of the county giving me my 768 sqft of my backyard needed for the pool with the quit claim deed from "the biggest builder" that Pima County recorded it as me owning 285 parcels in my subdivision. Yeah, my tax bill is now probably $630,000 a year which is more than the cost of living calculator indicated it would be when I came here by a small margin.
So yeah, there are 350 million people in the US and not a single other one is going to have to take a day of vacation this week and hang out at the recorder's office to ask "nicely" to give back 283 of the parcels (most with homes on it) back to the neighbors. So is it Tucson? I'm still convinced that it is, honestly.
Now the good side of all of this is there was a emergency meeting of the HOA last night in my kitchen and I was voted the HOA president...
And thankfully I didn't feel comfortable filing the paperwork to combine the lots until later (after I checked on the first transaction) or I might have to go and resubdivide the entire area again now....But yeah.. I don't think I can handle this if it rapidly doesn't start to get less stupid. Even four more years to get the older boys through college is going to be tough. I have to stay through the end of the season next year no matter what.. so I'm still going to have the pool for at least one season.
I would say you’re sittin pretty good right now Fred. Play your cards right and you can have your neighbors bringing you beers on call!!
Wow, unbelievable. Never heard of anything quite like that before. What a "goat rope'.So this is pool story related, (it is!), but I promise it will be the last....
So I was about to go through the last state of denial last night--I was Really close to nirvana-- and accept the school thing (which is going to be resolved by homeschooling again.. I just didn't want to do that in High School, but community college is an okay start anyway-- not going to HS will force that-- the situation is not fixable by staying in the district schools)... and... I get a Facebook message from one of my neighbors asking why do I own their house? Now that's actually the second one I got, but the first one was someone questioning from one of those fraudulent mailings you get...and at that time I looked and all seemed okay.
But no.. this one was from someone who was trying to list their house and pulled the tax records. It looks like instead of the county giving me my 768 sqft of my backyard needed for the pool with the quit claim deed from "the biggest builder" that Pima County recorded it as me owning 285 parcels in my subdivision. Yeah, my tax bill is now probably $630,000 a year which is more than the cost of living calculator indicated it would be when I came here by a small margin.
So yeah, there are 350 million people in the US and not a single other one is going to have to take a day of vacation this week and hang out at the recorder's office to ask "nicely" to give back 283 of the parcels (most with homes on it) back to the neighbors. So is it Tucson? I'm still convinced that it is, honestly.
Now the good side of all of this is there was a emergency meeting of the HOA last night in my kitchen and I was voted the HOA president...
But yeah.. I don't think I can handle this if it rapidly doesn't start to get less stupid. Even four more years to get the older boys through college is going to be tough. I have to stay through the end of the season next year no matter what.. so I'm still going to have the pool for at least one season.
mguzzy
Gold Supporter
OK.. this is PERFECT! All your challenges are now with in an arms reach of solving. You now own 285 parcels! You incorporate and declare the new town of "Rattus Suffocatus" Petition the state for matching educational funds and set up your own school district... Declare your HOA is independent and ceded from the previous HOA... Declare yourself an Indian Nation, because they found bones when excavating your pool and erect a casino. Require as a rule of law that all homes have pools and all pools must follow TFP. QED
- Jun 5, 2019
- 1,713
- Pool Size
- 14000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool Universal40
Yeah.. well I wasted my otherwise gourmet lunch time to get to the bottom of it. Unfortunately, my reign as the overlord of the HOA was very short. The county had it correct all the time. Where the misinformation happened was in the Tucson MLS. Apparently their computers couldn't handle that "quit claim" and their computer told every real estate agent here and in the three adjacent states I was a land baron desperate to get rid of three or four houses in the neighborhood. We got many calls and cards from agents recently, but it never dawned on me that people going to list their houses would have a problem doing so, because they pull that same data! So I'm trying to figure out who to contact about that since it's been going on in one form or another for a couple of months. (I asked my buyer's agent in an email from when I bought the house... we will see.) We have had spam mail with wrong names and addresses in our area with property related stuff (lawyers fishing for lawsuits against the builder, etc.)... well... since we moved in, so except for agents calling us trying to get us to relist the neighbor up the street's house with them recently, we didn't think much of it. We blocked several of them on our cell phones, to be honest.
Seriously, I never has stuff happen like this to me until I moved here. Maybe it's just bad karma or something... I normally really have my stuff together.
The good news for the week I suppose is that the PB told us that they will start decking Thursday or Friday, (another check) keeping up the week and a half between every step mantra... What's good about it is that I know that completion will be into October now for sure. I am putting ordering the TF-100 on hold for about two more weeks.... but I will. I have that discount code now!
Seriously, I never has stuff happen like this to me until I moved here. Maybe it's just bad karma or something... I normally really have my stuff together.
The good news for the week I suppose is that the PB told us that they will start decking Thursday or Friday, (another check) keeping up the week and a half between every step mantra... What's good about it is that I know that completion will be into October now for sure. I am putting ordering the TF-100 on hold for about two more weeks.... but I will. I have that discount code now!
Thanks for the support AND all of the stories! Please keep them coming! You can't make that stuff up 
- Jun 5, 2019
- 1,713
- Pool Size
- 14000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool Universal40
Yeah, I am kinda having fun with it so far!Thanks for the support AND all of the stories! Please keep them coming! You can't make that stuff up
- Jun 5, 2019
- 1,713
- Pool Size
- 14000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool Universal40
So is the Hayward ColorLogic 4.0 bulb I bought as bad as the reviews say it is? I am starting to think buying the least amount of pool you can and then upgrading it yourself might be the best idea for a new build. I didn't get a warm fuzzy about my light choice from the reviews.... Maybe I should trade it back in for a halogen light and get a replacement module?