Ok, the pool is out to get me. It must be. It’s trying to drive me insane. I came home Sunday evening from a weekend trip and was just minding my own business when suddenly the cable box went out. I know, I know. I said the pool is out to get me. Wait for it.
So I call tech support and they “troubleshoot” for 20 minutes and then tell me the box is bad. Wow. The guy was like The Amazing Crescan telling me that if it’s plugged in and nothing happens that the box is bad. Ha.
Anyway, the cable box is kaput and just about that time my wife comes in and informs me that the little thingy that runs around the bottom of the pool sucking up leaves won’t move. So, I go out to investigate and find that the main pump is not on. I reach over and flip the switch only to be greeted by a humming noise coming out the pump motor. It’s dead.
For those of you who don’t know, a pool pump is actually two separate pieces of equipment: a pump, which pushed water through the filter and circulates it in the pool; and a pump motor, which is the electrical device that is connected to the pump. It spins the impeller in the pump which moves the water. Simple, right?
Well, at this point I don’t know if the motor is locked up, or if the pump is locked up preventing the motor from spinning. So I decide to remove the motor from the pump and turn it on. If it spins then I know the pump is bad. If it doesn’t spin then I know the motor is bad and the pump is probably ok.
I immediately find a flaw in my plan. If you’ll refer to an article I wrote last week called “stuff”, you’ll see that my tools grew legs and left my garage on Wednesday last. So there I stood, staring at the motor trying to “will” it off the pump. It didn’t work, so I resigned myself to defeat for the moment and went to bed. That battle was lost, but the war was not over.
I didn't work on the problem on Monday. I had a final exam that night for the college class I took on the Old Testament. It was a lot of information so I put pump motors and dead cable boxes and stolen tools out of my mind and studied all day.
After finishing the test that evening I went to Sears for new tools. This of course was the best part of my week. I’m convinced that if everyone on the planet bought new tools we wouldn’t have wars. But, to make a long story semi-short, the motor was bad, but I broke the pump trying to get it off of the motor. Oy. So I ended up buying a whole new pump/motor assembly and installed it last night. I also took my dead cable box to the cable TV place and they gave me a brand new box that was an upgrade from my other box. So the week didn't turn out so bad, I got a new pump/motor for the pool, new tools and an upgraded cable box. Oh, and I got a 92 on my final exam, giving me an "A" for the class.
That brings the score to: Me-6, Pool-0. I emerge once again the victor. Until next time...
“God, thanks for the gifts of patience and mechanical inclination! And forgive the pool its transgressions as I contemplate transgressing against it. Thanks for helping me through my college class too. The Old Testament is truly a testament to your love for this world. Thanks for writing such a cool book. Amen.”
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