No new blog today, just reposting one that I wrote in May/2000. Yeap, that long ago, really. A lot of people have read this before but it is one of my favorites so here goes...
"The Next Time You Are Having A Bad Day"
This is dedicated to all of the people in my life that occasionally have 'one of those days'. Next time you are, read this and maybe it will cheer you up or at least remind you that you are not alone!
Anxious to initiate the feel of summer, I decided to put up my new pool today. Now keep in mind that the pool has been in the back of my car for three weeks since it made it's way out of Wal-Mart so there was a sense of urgency! I could not begin to put it up though until I got the new tank on my well (so I could fill it), and well, the well got fixed on Tuesday, I am off today and just had to get this pool done!
It is not a big pool, 12 foot around and three feet deep and it says assembles in 10 minutes.. Yeah, it is raining outside, but I figure the pool is going to get wet anyway, so what the heck?
So I am outside in the rain, struggling to put up this easy to assemble pool. It has a part on the top that needs to be inflated. Appearing to be more than I could blow up with my own lungs, I needed an air compressor. My van has one built into it, so I go get the van and drive it into the back yard. It's working pretty well, and about 30 minutes later the top of the (assembles in 10 minutes) pool is inflated.
Next step, start filling the pool with water and chemicals. (That was about 3 hours ago, and it is still filling) I get the pump connected, and I am thinking that my work here is almost done and I should start getting ready to call it a day. It is still raining outside and I decide that I need to get the van moved from the back yard. What do you think happened??? I put it into reverse, the tires spun and now it is buried in the mud. I said a few profanities, got some boards to put under the tires and tried again. Van sinks further, then stalls. At this moment I discover that leaving it running for 30 minutes to inflate the pool, has drained it of fuel. So it is buried in the mud and out of gas. I say a few more profanities.
I then go get our brand new gas can, and walk across the street for gas (where most likely people had been watching this fiasco and laughing at me already). I got a couple of gallons of gas, walked home and tried to transfer can of gas into tank of van. It was then I noticed that the brand new never before used gas can, has a vent on it that needed to be opened before the gas would flow properly. Armed with a carpenter knife, I sawed through the plastic vent, and attempt the gasoline transfer.
Now I have the gas can in one hand, the knife (which incidentally is not retractable) in the other, and no hands free to unscrew the gas cap from the van. Without paying much attention I put the knife in my front pants pocket. So, as I am pouring gas into the van, (and all over my hands) all of a sudden a sharp pain stabs me in the upper leg. Realizing the knife in my pocket was now slicing my thigh open, I jerk the gas can out of the van, and hurl it down to nurse my wound.
Now I am not sure which part of what happened next is worse... the fact that as I was checking out the gash in my leg I remembered that my hands were covered with gasoline... or the fact that when I jerked the can away from the van, the gas that slung out of it went directly into.... the pool.
After a few more profanities, I came to the conclusion that my van will stay in my back yard until such time as I turn the pump on to this pool, and it ignites the gasoline skimming the three hours worth of water I pumped into it, where by blowing the van, the pool and most of my back yard out of the town limits of Albion.
I am off to take a nice hot shower. Hope you are having a better day today than I am!
May 2000.
--------------------
So, now it's January 2011 and I am vividly remembering this day so many years ago, and also the fun we ended up having with this pool! I still have this mini van, though I have not driven it since 2004, except around the yard. I can't stand the the thought of parting with it- someday, I want to drive it again, for real! Oh, and let's see, winter of 2009 I bought another pool- much, much bigger and intended to set it up at my current house last summer. Never quite got it accomplished as too many things needed to be done prior to the actual installation of the thing that I couldn't do alone. Oh well, at least the new pool is in my basement and not still in the back of my current car. Maybe this summer.... :)
No comments:
Post a Comment