Lounging by the slippery pool

It's been a sweltering run of hot weather that has drawn condo-villers to cool off in the pool that was newly painted last month. Thing is the condo board for whatever reason - saving money springs to mind - decided to change the pool company servicing the pool. Not such a smart move. This is the same company that took forever to show up to re-paint the pool interior, which resulted in a late opening. As if this wasn't bad enough, the company used a paint that left the surface slippery. Think of walking on wet tiles and you get the idea. Now the pool is filled and the slippery situation was brought to the attention of the condo administration, who in turn responded by adding large black mats at the bottom of the pool in the shallow end and all along the wall. Looks kind of - well - dumb-ish. Thing is, the rest of the pool surface is still slippery and one can only hope that they won't line the entire pool with black mats. Anything is possible...

Some kids visiting the pool unaware of the pool rules one assumes, and who inadvertantly brought water toys in the pool, were quickly advised by an administrator that this was a no-no. Their protective grandmother who happened to be watching nearby, took personal umbrage and proceeded to express her unhappiness loudly and vociferously to the administrator in no uncertain terms.

"What kind of pool is this?" she yelled out so that everyone could hear, going on a rant for a good five minutes. "Children have to play! This isn't a jail!" In the end it didn't do any good and they played with those syrofoam noodles for the remainder of their stay in the pool. I think it bothered the grandmother more than it did the kids.

There are only three round tables with umbrellas, located in primo locations. The thing to do now especially given the strong summer sun is to arrive early at the pool, plop towels and other pool-related accessories on the table and chairs to reserve the spot early as in 1:00 p.m., before people start arriving. So far no one has challenged the reserve-ists as to their practice but we'll see if anyone says anything before the season ends. It's not really fair.

As always the pool temperature is a hot topic in the true sense of the word. Some people prefer the water temp on the cooler side at 79(!)F while others want it kept at 83F. Given the air temperature, which has been hovering at 9oF, the pool water has been a constant 84F. Everyone has an opinion ranging from, "too warm - it's like taking a bath!" to "perfect temperature!" I tend to fall into the latter category.

Nothing like lounging on a noodle while listening to the speed boats race by on the river and to people quibble about the water temperature. Life is good.