Swimming In Your Jacket And Tie Before Work

                             By Kelly Ford

          Do you ever have one of those things happen where you must simply
          laugh?   This morning  was one  such day  for me.    Some Blind-X
          subscribers may recall  that I asked about testing  of pool water
          several months ago.  I asked back then because a home I purchased
          last fall has an in-ground pool.   The pool has been an excellent
          source of enjoyment over the summer but this morning was more for
          laughter  than  marine  recreation.   I  have  an  automatic pool
          cleaner  that  does a  lot of  the  vacuuming of  the pool.   The
          machine  itself  is a  Polaris  380  and  for anyone  wanting  an
          automatic pool cleaner I highly  recommend this product.  Polaris
          is running a  special until the end  of this month where  you can
          get a $125 rebate when trading in several other pool cleaners and
          sweeps.   The  final purchase  price of  my 380  was  $344, after
          rebate,  from a  place called  Specialty Pool  Products  at (800)
          983-pool.   This was much  lower than I  found at any  local pool
          stores.   If  your  pool  doesn't already  have  a three  quarter
          booster pump installed for  some sort of cleaner the  cost may be
          much higher,  especially getting the  pump installed.   I digress
          from my  main point though.   The only bad thing  about automatic
          pool cleaners is  that they can on  occasion get stuck on  things
          like pool steps and such.   Typically I can tell when my  polaris
          gets stuck  by  sticking my  arm  into the  pool  near where  the
          Polaris connects to  the filter system and feeling  that the hose
          is not moving properly.  Further, as the Polaris climbs the walls
          and  such you  can hear  it  pop out  of the  water  at different
          locations around the pool.   When the Polaris gets stuck  it is a
          simple matter to give  a quick tug on  the hose to get it  moving
          again.  Well this morning I  was having a repair tech come  fix a
          problem with  my pool's  heater and  wanted to  give  the pool  a
          cleaning before he arrived.   I started the pool cleaning process
          and then got ready for work.  It so happened that I had to give a
          presentation today so  was dressed up extra for the presentation.
          Well after getting ready for work,  I went back to the pool  area
          and could hear that the Polaris was stuck on a step.  Not wanting
          to go sticking my arm down a couple  feet into the water I hit on
          the grand plan to use a long pole that I use for manual vacuuming
          of the pool to free the machine.  Unfortunately where the machine
          was stuck was too far to reach from any of the edges of the pool.
          So I figured  that I could simply drag the pole through the water
          near the connection  of the hose to  the filter until I  caught a
          bit of the hose on the pole.  A grand plan until I forgot that my
          pool sides have a bit of a curve  to them.  That second step sure
          was a  wet one  as I took  an unplanned swim  in jacket  and tie.
          There's nothing quite like the feeling of climbing out of a  pool
          soggy  shoes  and  all  feeling  the water  drip  from  all  your
          clothing.   Oh well,  as I said  sometimes you have  to laugh and
          then of course shower and dress again too.