<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0" xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" xmlns:geo="http://www.w3.org/2003/01/geo/wgs84_pos#">
    <channel>
        <title>Ace and His &quot;Little&quot; Swimming Pool Project - Ace&#039;s Blog - ACEYOU&apos;s Blog - Bakotopia</title>
        <link>http://www.bakotopia.com/home/Blog/ACEYOU/26814</link>
        <description>(This is a long post, so, skip it unless you feel like torturing yourself.)
OK - these things seem to happen to me a lot, so, I should have seen this coming...
But...
NEVER&amp;nbsp;seeing these things coming ALSO happens to me a lot!
I have this 12 yr old, L-shaped swimming pool. For the last 2 years, I&#039;ve grown increasingly annoyed at 3 little worn out spots on the bottom - penny to half dollar sized spots where the white paint has worn thru to the brown gunite.
So, having had enough, I figure I&#039;m gonna get some touch up paint and fix it. Make it look real pretty again. SImple enough plan, right?
But wait - I have to drain the pool to do it first. OK - thats understandable - but the rental for the drain pump and hose costs $75. Hmmmm - ok, I can understand that. So, next, I go to the swimming pool supplies store for some paint. I figure all I need is a little bit, maybe a pint, just for some touch-up.
&amp;quot;Sorry sir, the smallest can we have is 1 gallon.&amp;quot;
Hmmmm - well, ok, I need the paint, and all the other stores say the same thing, so, I say ok and ask for a gallon of white pool paint.
&amp;quot;That will be $78 plus tax.&amp;quot;
WTF!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Seventy-eight frigging dollars!!! For a GALLON???????
Oh man - this is starting to get me mad. But what am I gonna do? So&amp;nbsp;I get out the plastic and shell out some more bucks. Then I pick up some rollers, some brushes, etc.
I drop the pump into the pool and start pumping. I go into the house and start watching the news. Miles Musio comes on and says, &amp;quot;Ladies and Gentleman, we are going to have unusually warm weather for Bakersfield the next few days for this time of year. Expect temperatures approaching 100 degrees or more!&amp;quot;
Crap - talk about bad timing. But, I already paid for the pump, so what am I gonna do?
8 hours or so later I stop the pump. Haven&#039;t drained the whole pool - just 1/2 of the &amp;quot; L &amp;quot; - to expose the shallow end where the bare spots are. So then I acid etch the spots, rinse, clean it with TSP, rinse again, then go wait another couple hours for everything to dry out.
Meanwhile, it gets hotter and hotter and I&#039;m thinking, &amp;quot;Man, that water would sure have been nice - maybe I should&#039;ve just waited another few months?&amp;quot;
Now, my teenage daughter enters the picture. My teenage daughter, who thinks she&#039;s 25, who suddenly knows everything, the one who never tells me anything until 5 minutes before it&#039;s supposed to happen. The one who hasn&#039;t used the pool at all in over 2 years because suddenly it had become &amp;quot;uncool&amp;quot; for her to get a suntan or go swimming.
She goes, &amp;quot;Daddy, my friends are coming over to go swimming today, is that ok?&amp;quot;
Geezuz, wtf - where did this come from? So I tell her no, I&#039;ve drained the pool, I can&#039;t fill it for a couple of days, she goes ballistic, starts calling me every bad name in the book, tells me I&#039;ve ruined her life and she hates me, etc. , etc.&amp;nbsp; I think you parents get the picture.
So, finally, after all this and a couple more hours pass, I decide to start painting. I get out a brush and fill in the 3 bare spots. I look at it - then say, well, I can still see the brush marks, I better use a roller. So I get a roller, and roll out an area somewhat bigger than the original bare spots. Then I notice a few other areas where the old paint looks thin and is about to show through, so I roll over those spots too.
This goes on for another 45 minutes or so. Meanwhile, I&#039;m crouching in the middle of this white concrete box of a pool, going blind from all the reflected white light, with the midday heat bouncing off the walls and cooking me like a hamburger on a grill.&amp;nbsp; I get done, stand up, sweat dripping off of me, and look around at what I&#039;ve done.
Hmmmm - my bare spots are covered, but now I have two rather large, irregularly shaped areas of bright white, with various white streak marks, sitting in the middle of some older, faded white paint.
&amp;quot;Man, this is gonna look like crap when I fill the pool! This is gonna look worse than the bare spots!&amp;quot;
So, I decide I&#039;m gonna have to paint the whole pool. But wait, I can&#039;t - I already returned the pump, and half the pool still has water in it.
Hmmmm - so I decide I&#039;ll just paint the shallow end. I spend a couple of hours doing that. I tape off the point where the deeper end of the pool starts, so, even if you can see the different shade of white, it will look like I&#039;m marking off the deep end. Smart right? So I wait 4 hours for the 1st coat to dry, then I apply a second coat. I just barely have enough to finish. I let it cure overnight. I failed to notice the small print on the can that said I was supposed to dilute the first coat with 10% water before applying the 2nd coat. Oh well, I managed to get it done ok I thought.
The next day, I go out to check on it - looks great. I start walking on it on my bare feet. I start walking down the slope, and I slip and almost fall on my ass! WTF - the paint dried to a slippery finish! Someone is gonna slip on my pool steps and sue my ass!!!!, what am I gonna do?
So I go to Home Depot - they sell me some gritty material to mix with my paint. But, I hardly have any left!!!! All that is left in the can is some wet spots on the inside of the can. So, I add some water, start scraping the sides, shaking the can, stirring, I seem to get a not too watery albeit small volume of paint. I mix in the powdered grit, and go back into the pool furnace to finish the job. I have just enough to cover the steps and the worst part of the slope.&amp;nbsp;But now I gotta wait another 48 hours curing time before I can fill the pool - that pushes me to Sunday.
My kid comes up and says - &amp;quot;Is the pool done yet - we want to go swimming today?&amp;quot; I tell her no, it&#039;s gonna be another 2 days, she explodes. The neighbors start peering over the fence to see what&#039;s going on. My dog starts barking. I&#039;m biting my tongue and trying to avoid saying anything I&#039;ll regret.
Next time, forget the paint - I&#039;m just gonna tell folks I planned for those spots to be there - for character.</description>
        <itunes:summary>(This is a long post, so, skip it unless you feel like torturing yourself.)
OK - these things seem to happen to me a lot, so, I should have seen this coming...
But...
NEVER&amp;nbsp;seeing these things coming ALSO happens to me a lot!
I have this 12 yr old, L-shaped swimming pool. For the last 2 years, I&#039;ve grown increasingly annoyed at 3 little worn out spots on the bottom - penny to half dollar sized spots where the white paint has worn thru to the brown gunite.
So, having had enough, I figure I&#039;m gonna get some touch up paint and fix it. Make it look real pretty again. SImple enough plan, right?
But wait - I have to drain the pool to do it first. OK - thats understandable - but the rental for the drain pump and hose costs $75. Hmmmm - ok, I can understand that. So, next, I go to the swimming pool supplies store for some paint. I figure all I need is a little bit, maybe a pint, just for some touch-up.
&amp;quot;Sorry sir, the smallest can we have is 1 gallon.&amp;quot;
Hmmmm - well, ok, I need the paint, and all the other stores say the same thing, so, I say ok and ask for a gallon of white pool paint.
&amp;quot;That will be $78 plus tax.&amp;quot;
WTF!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Seventy-eight frigging dollars!!! For a GALLON???????
Oh man - this is starting to get me mad. But what am I gonna do? So&amp;nbsp;I get out the plastic and shell out some more bucks. Then I pick up some rollers, some brushes, etc.
I drop the pump into the pool and start pumping. I go into the house and start watching the news. Miles Musio comes on and says, &amp;quot;Ladies and Gentleman, we are going to have unusually warm weather for Bakersfield the next few days for this time of year. Expect temperatures approaching 100 degrees or more!&amp;quot;
Crap - talk about bad timing. But, I already paid for the pump, so what am I gonna do?
8 hours or so later I stop the pump. Haven&#039;t drained the whole pool - just 1/2 of the &amp;quot; L &amp;quot; - to expose the shallow end where the bare spots are. So then I acid etch the spots, rinse, clean it with TSP, rinse again, then go wait another couple hours for everything to dry out.
Meanwhile, it gets hotter and hotter and I&#039;m thinking, &amp;quot;Man, that water would sure have been nice - maybe I should&#039;ve just waited another few months?&amp;quot;
Now, my teenage daughter enters the picture. My teenage daughter, who thinks she&#039;s 25, who suddenly knows everything, the one who never tells me anything until 5 minutes before it&#039;s supposed to happen. The one who hasn&#039;t used the pool at all in over 2 years because suddenly it had become &amp;quot;uncool&amp;quot; for her to get a suntan or go swimming.
She goes, &amp;quot;Daddy, my friends are coming over to go swimming today, is that ok?&amp;quot;
Geezuz, wtf - where did this come from? So I tell her no, I&#039;ve drained the pool, I can&#039;t fill it for a couple of days, she goes ballistic, starts calling me every bad name in the book, tells me I&#039;ve ruined her life and she hates me, etc. , etc.&amp;nbsp; I think you parents get the picture.
So, finally, after all this and a couple more hours pass, I decide to start painting. I get out a brush and fill in the 3 bare spots. I look at it - then say, well, I can still see the brush marks, I better use a roller. So I get a roller, and roll out an area somewhat bigger than the original bare spots. Then I notice a few other areas where the old paint looks thin and is about to show through, so I roll over those spots too.
This goes on for another 45 minutes or so. Meanwhile, I&#039;m crouching in the middle of this white concrete box of a pool, going blind from all the reflected white light, with the midday heat bouncing off the walls and cooking me like a hamburger on a grill.&amp;nbsp; I get done, stand up, sweat dripping off of me, and look around at what I&#039;ve done.
Hmmmm - my bare spots are covered, but now I have two rather large, irregularly shaped areas of bright white, with various white streak marks, sitting in the middle of some older, faded white paint.
&amp;quot;Man, this is gonna look like crap when I fill the pool! This is gonna look worse than the bare spots!&amp;quot;
So, I decide I&#039;m gonna have to paint the whole pool. But wait, I can&#039;t - I already returned the pump, and half the pool still has water in it.
Hmmmm - so I decide I&#039;ll just paint the shallow end. I spend a couple of hours doing that. I tape off the point where the deeper end of the pool starts, so, even if you can see the different shade of white, it will look like I&#039;m marking off the deep end. Smart right? So I wait 4 hours for the 1st coat to dry, then I apply a second coat. I just barely have enough to finish. I let it cure overnight. I failed to notice the small print on the can that said I was supposed to dilute the first coat with 10% water before applying the 2nd coat. Oh well, I managed to get it done ok I thought.
The next day, I go out to check on it - looks great. I start walking on it on my bare feet. I start walking down the slope, and I slip and almost fall on my ass! WTF - the paint dried to a slippery finish! Someone is gonna slip on my pool steps and sue my ass!!!!, what am I gonna do?
So I go to Home Depot - they sell me some gritty material to mix with my paint. But, I hardly have any left!!!! All that is left in the can is some wet spots on the inside of the can. So, I add some water, start scraping the sides, shaking the can, stirring, I seem to get a not too watery albeit small volume of paint. I mix in the powdered grit, and go back into the pool furnace to finish the job. I have just enough to cover the steps and the worst part of the slope.&amp;nbsp;But now I gotta wait another 48 hours curing time before I can fill the pool - that pushes me to Sunday.
My kid comes up and says - &amp;quot;Is the pool done yet - we want to go swimming today?&amp;quot; I tell her no, it&#039;s gonna be another 2 days, she explodes. The neighbors start peering over the fence to see what&#039;s going on. My dog starts barking. I&#039;m biting my tongue and trying to avoid saying anything I&#039;ll regret.
Next time, forget the paint - I&#039;m just gonna tell folks I planned for those spots to be there - for character.</itunes:summary>
        <language>en-us</language>

                
                    <item>
                <title>May 17,  2008 at 01:05 PM : OMG too funny. A small...</title>
                <description>&lt;p&gt;OMG too funny. A small project gone wrong. I love it. (sorry for laughing) but the visual you gave was just too funny. INCLUDING the dramatic teenager. ha.&lt;/p&gt;</description>
                <link>http://www.bakotopia.com/home/Blog/ACEYOU/26814/#c_239615</link>
                <guid>http://www.bakotopia.com/home/Blog/ACEYOU/26814/#c_239615</guid>
                <itunes:summary>&lt;p&gt;OMG too funny. A small project gone wrong. I love it. (sorry for laughing) but the visual you gave was just too funny. INCLUDING the dramatic teenager. ha.&lt;/p&gt;</itunes:summary>     
            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>May 17,  2008 at 04:05 PM : I don&#039;t want to...</title>
                <description>&lt;p&gt;I don&#039;t want to laugh at your expense, but that was &lt;b&gt;hysterical&lt;/b&gt;!! And suspensful. Nice storytelling ;D&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;My parents are currently having a big pool put in, and I think they said it should be done in about 2-3 weeks... perfect timing with this heat.&amp;nbsp;I can&#039;t wait to go use it!&lt;/p&gt;</description>
                <link>http://www.bakotopia.com/home/Blog/ACEYOU/26814/#c_239651</link>
                <guid>http://www.bakotopia.com/home/Blog/ACEYOU/26814/#c_239651</guid>
                <itunes:summary>&lt;p&gt;I don&#039;t want to laugh at your expense, but that was &lt;b&gt;hysterical&lt;/b&gt;!! And suspensful. Nice storytelling ;D&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;My parents are currently having a big pool put in, and I think they said it should be done in about 2-3 weeks... perfect timing with this heat.&amp;nbsp;I can&#039;t wait to go use it!&lt;/p&gt;</itunes:summary>     
            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>May 17,  2008 at 08:05 PM : Well, now that you...</title>
                <description>&lt;p&gt;Well, now that you have it all done, how does it look?&amp;nbsp; did the grit stick?&amp;nbsp; Thanks for the good read, this really made me chuckle inside, especially the teenager throwing a hissy!&amp;nbsp; How I remember those days with my own daughter.&amp;nbsp; LOL.. We used to have huge fights over hair spray of all things...&lt;/p&gt;</description>
                <link>http://www.bakotopia.com/home/Blog/ACEYOU/26814/#c_239701</link>
                <guid>http://www.bakotopia.com/home/Blog/ACEYOU/26814/#c_239701</guid>
                <itunes:summary>&lt;p&gt;Well, now that you have it all done, how does it look?&amp;nbsp; did the grit stick?&amp;nbsp; Thanks for the good read, this really made me chuckle inside, especially the teenager throwing a hissy!&amp;nbsp; How I remember those days with my own daughter.&amp;nbsp; LOL.. We used to have huge fights over hair spray of all things...&lt;/p&gt;</itunes:summary>     
            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>May 18,  2008 at 12:05 AM : I think I would have...</title>
                <description>&lt;p&gt;I think I would have just painted the &amp;quot;tiny spot&amp;quot; But if I don&#039;t know a product I will read it carefully, why? Well lets say I&amp;nbsp; have had a few of those experinces.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I find making my kid&amp;nbsp; work on something he will use would later would help your situation too ;) Tends to take the &amp;quot;fight&amp;quot; out of em&lt;/p&gt;</description>
                <link>http://www.bakotopia.com/home/Blog/ACEYOU/26814/#c_239738</link>
                <guid>http://www.bakotopia.com/home/Blog/ACEYOU/26814/#c_239738</guid>
                <itunes:summary>&lt;p&gt;I think I would have just painted the &amp;quot;tiny spot&amp;quot; But if I don&#039;t know a product I will read it carefully, why? Well lets say I&amp;nbsp; have had a few of those experinces.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I find making my kid&amp;nbsp; work on something he will use would later would help your situation too ;) Tends to take the &amp;quot;fight&amp;quot; out of em&lt;/p&gt;</itunes:summary>     
            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>May 19,  2008 at 11:05 AM : &amp;nbsp;Looks like...</title>
                <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #000080&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Verdana&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: larger&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;Looks like Murphy decided to pay you a visit and stay through the weekend. I agree with Joe: I woulda handed my kid a roler and say &amp;quot;Git to it&amp;quot;. Of course, Hearing the grumbling and under-the-breath curses might be worse in the long run. Good thing I never had any of my own.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #000080&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Verdana&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: larger&quot;&gt;When can we come over for a swim?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
                <link>http://www.bakotopia.com/home/Blog/ACEYOU/26814/#c_240235</link>
                <guid>http://www.bakotopia.com/home/Blog/ACEYOU/26814/#c_240235</guid>
                <itunes:summary>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #000080&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Verdana&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: larger&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;Looks like Murphy decided to pay you a visit and stay through the weekend. I agree with Joe: I woulda handed my kid a roler and say &amp;quot;Git to it&amp;quot;. Of course, Hearing the grumbling and under-the-breath curses might be worse in the long run. Good thing I never had any of my own.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #000080&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: Verdana&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: larger&quot;&gt;When can we come over for a swim?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</itunes:summary>     
            </item>
            </channel>
</rss>