Thursday, June 24, 2010

Wednesday -- Not a Beach Day!

Yesterday started off so promising! I found a really good airfare for my nephew's October wedding in Chicago. I also managed to snag a Southwest awards ticket for a trip back to Kansas a little later this summer. So I was feeling pretty good!

After my morning walk, bike ride, and swim, I headed to Kohl's to buy some beach towels on sale. I found the beach towels, but decided to take a look around at what else was on sale. Big mistake. I tried on some clothes in a dressing room and then stopped at the jewelry counter to look at earrings. A little bit of mindless wandering. Mindless being the key word. Long story short -- I managed to lose my expensive prescription sunglasses. I think I laid them on the jewelry counter when I tried on a pair of earrings. I walked a few steps to look at the silly baubles in the mirror and when I returned, no sunglasses! What the heck! I searched through the store for at least an hour retracing my steps, checking the lost and found, asking clerks around the store, and even going through all the dressing rooms. Gone! A clerk said someone probably snatched them thinking they were designer glasses, but actually, they're just cheap Kirkland Costco frames with very expensive prescription lenses. Ugh!

So, that was the start of my bad day. I realized soon after there's no way to replace them before I leave for Isla next Tuesday since it takes at least a week to order and get them. Fortunately, I found my older pair with the progressive lenses, so I will be able to see on my trip!

My luck continued down the same path. Later in the afternoon, the doorbell rang and it was the pool man. Some of the fittings on the pool have been leaking and Craig had no success over the weekend trying to fix the problem, so he called the experts to take a look. I was expecting Mr. Fixit to slap some caulk or an O-ring on and hand me a bill for $100 labor. But it wasn't my lucky day.

Shortly after he went in the backyard, there was a knock knock at the back door. Who's there? Pool man. The salt cell, a very expensive piece of equipment, is cracked and leaking. Of course it is! We tried to get it replaced last year when it was under warranty, but they insisted it was fine. Now that the warranty has expired, it's a goner. Cha ching, cha ching, cha ching! Not only that, our poolbuilder no longer distributes that particular brand of salt cell, so if we can't find it elsewhere, we'll have to start over with a completely new system. Where's that hair standing on end emoticon when I need it!

I guess some days are diamonds, and some days are definitely NOT! Later today, I'll head to Costco with my older prescription sunglasses to have them adjusted and tightened up.

Forget the Calgon! I am so ready for Isla to take me away! Ommmmmmmmm.




7 comments:

Chrissy y Keith said...

Salt cells are tricky. Owning a pool company we never suggest them. Good technology/idea, but lousy manufacturing. We are constantly fixing them or removing them. In the mean time, just clorinate the pool.

Life's a Beach! said...

Good suggestion Chrissy. I keep some shock on hand, and I've used it a couple of times in the past month. At this point, we'll probably just pay the piper and get a replacement. Ugh! If only I knew then what I know now! We were complete greenhorns when we arrived in AZ, bought the house, and built the pool.

MD in Texas said...

Your day sounds like our week!

First the a/c drain clogged up - had to fix it to make sure the house doesn't flood. Then the salt sensor in the pool quit working so Mark had to replace that.

But, the good news is that we are leaving TOMORROW for Isla instead of Saturday! I am so so ready!

I want that fish pictured in your last post from Mocambos!

See you soon!!

Ann said...

Let the countdown begin! I know you will relax & have a great time--sorry about the glasses--I need to get new ones, but am putting it off for now--mine are pretty expensive! Closest I'm getting to the beach anytime soon is Cape Cod again next week!

Life's a Beach! said...

MD, feel free to copy and print that photo! Seriously! Leaving tomorrow! That is SO exciting. I'll probably see you around. I'll be the one with my rear planted in the beach lounger over on the Ixchel I side. HA! I think Mocambo may be the ticket for my first night dinner. I hope Roberto (the cute friendly waiter) is still there!

Ann, I wouldn't mind Cape Cod! I love New England beaches. And those glasses unfortunately were expensive due to the lenses, so I guess I'll make do for awhile. Maybe I can strap the disposed salt cell around my head and see through that!

MD in Texas said...

I will look for that planted rear! :-)

We will be doing the very same thing once we get the new spa installed! Hopefully that won't take all week, but you never know in Mexico.

Ok, back to packing......

Life's a Beach! said...

MD, just look for a slightly older version of my photo. I think the sunglasses may be the same after yesterday! Hopefully, installing the new spa won't be a complete vacation eater!

Chrissy, we're now looking at cutting our losses and converting back to chlorine. We can do that for a fraction of the cost of the entire new salt system we were facing. Then if we don't like chlorine, we can convert it back and pour more money down that hole! Thanks for your note! It made us look at other options.