Wednesday 6 March 2013

A Minor Truck Ding And A Swimming Pool Closure

Our Tuesday started off with a “crunch” that left a fairly good sized ding in the passenger side panel of our truck.  It happened while Paulette was inching her way out of our parking spot between the 5’er and the tall Oleander hedge.  Unbeknownst to her, I must have left a basement door unlatched and it had swung right up against the truck.  Luckily, when Paulette heard the crunch she hit the brakes thus avoiding any additional damage.

A crease in the side where the basement door was wedgedIMG_1100

That was a smart move because if she had continued to drive even a few more inches I think the basement door might have been torn right off or severely damaged.  Paulette came in sheepishly to tell me the “basement door is wedged tight against the truck and it won’t move”!  Uh-oh!  I went out and slowly backed the truck up to release the basement door and then got out to inspect the damage.

The door was open when Paulette inched forward to drive outIMG_1101

I was really surprised when I saw the size of the dent in the truck but extremely relieved when I looked and saw the 5’ers basement door appeared to be perfectly o.k. with not even a scratch.  I opened and closed the door with the q about a dozen times and it worked just fine.  I checked the door’s alignment and all the screws holding it in place and everything was tight and secure.  That was really good news as I was more concerned about this than the truck.

The basement door is solid – not a scratch and no damage at allIMG_1102

When I looked at how I had backed the truck in the night before, it was probably the first time in all the years we’ve been here that I’ve been close enough to allow the basement door to reach the truck.  That, combined with my not securely latching the door, obviously left an opening for our old friend Mr. Murphy.  He certainly made sure that “if something can go wrong, it will”.  So, look out my desert friends, Mr. Murphy is back in town and just waiting for you!

No swimming yesterday – the pool was being emptiedIMG_1105

Once the truck was free to go, Paulette was off to pick up Sandy to continue on to some quilt shop somewhere.  A little fender-bender first thing in the morning is never enough to keep a die-hard quilter down.  While Paulette was off, I decided to do something useful and empty all the holding tanks.  By this time it was getting on mid-morning so after my jobs were done I hopped on our bike to ride up to the pool for a swim and drown my sorrows!

Something went wrong with the chemicals in the poolIMG_1106

When I got to the pool I saw a big sign saying “Pool Closed All Day For Repairs”.  What?  Did Paulette drive our truck into the pool??  When I walked into the swimming pool compound I was relieved to see that the pool was in the process of being emptied.  Apparently, something had gone wrong with the water so the only remedy was to empty, refill and add the right measure of chemicals.  The pool is expected to be open again on Wednesday morning.

The pool water was pumped out to the golf course driving rangeIMG_1107

Where do thousands of gallons of pool water get dumped?  Out onto the golf course driving range!  I suppose this might outrage some rabid environmentalists because of the alleged deadly chemicals in the water, but heck, I swim in that stuff every day, have done for years and it hasn’t hurt me, right?  I’m still totally normal, right?

At least both of the spas were still workingIMG_1109

The only good news of yesterday’s morning was that the hot tubs weren’t affected in any way.  They were still in operation so I was able to sit back in the hot swirling water, soak up the sunshine and tell myself that once the dings in the truck are repaired, when we get home, it will be as good as new.  To heck with Mr. Murphy!!

Have a great Wednesday, and thanks again for listening!

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