Hurricane Prepping And Pool Closing

We’ve gotten all the Hurricane Florence supplies that we’re going to have here at the Big House. The MIL has her Four Lokos along with things that end in “A-Rita”. Chigs has her peanut butter and “fancy waters”. And we all have beer. The only thing that I don’t have is a generator. But I suppose that I can do without television for a few days. And maybe I need to make a stop at the liquor store.

The broads in the house were concerned about having water. Since we’re on the county water supply, we’ll probably not lose water. We may not be able to take a hot shower, but we’ll have plenty to drink. But SOMEONE insisted that we have some bottled water on hand. I figured a case would appease the goddess of the house, but there was none to be had a Food Lion, Wal-Mart Neighborhood, or at Lowes Foods. Tractor Supply had some, but I blew it off. I’d be SHOCKED if we lost water.

I scored some batteries at Tractor Supply because the goddess boldly proclaimed, “WE DON’T HAVE ANY FLASHLIGHTS THAT WORK!”

I picked up a big ol’ 6 Volt and some Ds for the flashlights. I don’t see what the big deal is… It’s like the snow events to me. Being without power for a few days is nothing new to me. No, I don’t like it. But it does allow for some good decompression.

I have my money bag Monopoly token ready to go at a moments notice. If the power goes out, we could be having a neighborhood game, I don’t know. I certainly hope that it happens. I’m ready for a throwdown.

I might even try to talk everyone into a game of HeroClix. I know that Matt, Sam, and I would enjoy a good game. Chigs hasn’t played in years, but I’m sure that it would come back to her.

We managed to close the pool yesterday. That is a load off my plate. Because the forecast was calling for rain every, damn, day. But it didn’t rain Monday like they said it would over the weekend. We spent the day watching the Xfinity and Monster Energy Cup races that were postponed.

Chigs and I discussed just waiting until Florence poured her load all over us, but I saw a window and jumped on it. I was on it like a Spider monkey. But I didn’t want any of that rain to screw the pool up to where it was costly to fix before closing.

Last year, there was a tropical depression that delayed the pool closing. But it didn’t screw up the water too much.

So, on Tuesday, I took a sample to Carter Pool Company on 150 and she gave me the instructions on how to close that joker. I had the shock, but I needed to buy some Algaecide and came away only 19 bucks lighter in the bank account. I was surprised since my testing strips have been giving me some wacky readings. I did forget them in the heat and sunlight for a couple of days so, that may have messed them up.

I started the process on Tuesday night by mixing up the shock with water and broadcasting in the pool. Well first, I broadcast in the algaecide… That was the first step to take. Then the shock came into play.

I started the closing process at 7 yesterday morning. I cleaned the skimmers and fished out all the frogs except for the one pretending to be Jacques Cousteau diving and swimming along the bottom. It took me a few minutes to fish that little joker out of there. I ran “Sharkey” the TigerShark robotic cleaner to make sure the bottom was as clean as it could be. I fished out the leaves… Ugh, that’s been a problem since that cooler snap last month. And then Jim, Bait, Bobbie, and the MIL helped me put the cover on it.

Our numbers weren’t the most ideal in the pool covering event, but we managed to get it done just before Randy arrived. I wish, just for once, we could close it on a Saturday when we can have some serious help covering it up. But every year some stinking tropical storm or hurricane comes rolling in and delays it or rushes it.

I had originally planned to close it last Saturday on the 8th, but my wife booked a pool party for one of her besties with all her work buds. Who am I to deny scantily clad hotties from getting in our pool and drinking alcohol to the delight of the eyes for myself and Bait?

Back to the closing, ahem…

When we were filling up the water bags, it began to rain. Bait and I kept on filling those bags in the rain. I knew from the lack of clouds that it wasn’t going to rain very long, but I got soaked and peeled off my shirt to show off my manly gut and coin slot in back. And for those that do not know, water bags are used to keep the pool cover in place during the winter.

We had it covered by 2:30 that afternoon. And what a sweet sound it is when that pump is off. You can almost hear the power bill decreasing.

So now all I have to do is gather up all the pool furniture and the rest of the decorations for winter storage before Hurricane Florence rolls into our fair ‘hood.

I hope that everyone has a safe weekend with Flo in town.