This question causes more puzzlement than my favorite question, “Do you walk to work or carry your lunch?”

Did I mention I work in a pool store? I have already lost count of how many customers have asked me, “Do the bubbles go up or down?” If you have a pool you may already know that I’m talking about a solar cover. And you may also know that the bubbles go down.

It’s natural that there would be confusion on the subject, and I don’t recall seeing anywhere on the box where it mentions which way to put the cover.

Another question we get a lot is how to keep the bloody solar cover on the pool??? It is always blowing off or ending up all piled up at one side of the pool. The blowing off issue is taken care of by trimming the solar cover so that it fits flat on the water and does not curve up the sides of the pool. That way the wind won’t get under it and lift it. The other issue is usually because the return jet needs to be turned so that it shoots the water down toward the bottom of the pool and not, as you may have had it, near the surface to swirl the water toward the skimmer.

A solar cover can make a big difference in the water temperature of your pool and will also help to keep it clean, but there are a bunch of drawbacks as well.

1. A solar cover can be a pain in the neck to put on and off. Because of this, people are sometimes tempted to fold the cover over a little and swim alongside the cover. This can be very dangerous as the cover will have a tendency to float over you as you swim.

2. Leaving the solar cover on the pool will prevent the water from “breathing”. The vapors from the pool chemicals are not able to gas-off unless you leave the pool uncovered for at least some of the time.

3. If you don’t have a solar reel and your gameplan is to pull the solar cover off the pool and leave it in a pile on the lawn, you will notice two things when you go to put it back on the pool. First you have a big dead spot on the lawn where the solar cover cooked your grass. Second, all manner of little bugs and bits of lawn clippings are stuck to the cover and will make an incredible mess of your pool if you put it on that way.

4. If you have a lot of chemicals in your pool water or not much calcium, then those dandy “bubbles down” get brittle, fall off, and drop all over the bottom of your pool. Great!

5. And this is the big one. It still sticks in my mind, the story one woman told me, teary-eyed, about how her dog had jumped onto the solar cover apparently thinking it was solid. In his panic, he tangled himself in the cover and although she jumped in after him, she was not able to save her dear companion. What really gets me though is the thought, “What if she had gotten tangled in the cover as well?”

We sell a lot of solar covers in the course of a pool season. Do I like them? Not really. I think I’d rather deal with cold water than the hassle of a solar cover. Just my opinion.

Solar Sun Rings

We do have a new product that I am liking quite a lot called Solar Sun Rings. They are inflatable five foot frisbee-like things that have little magnets to chain them together. They float on the surface of your pool and provide the heating of a solar cover while still having gaps where the circles don’t touch so that the pool still breathes. You can put enough on to cover the surface of your pool, or add just a few for a little boost to the heating. They look nice in the pool, you can take them out one at a time and stack them, and if you get lazy and decide to swim with them in the pool they are not likely to harm you. Cost? More than a solar cover, but they don’t need a reel, so really, not so much considering the benefits.

If you have a pool (or a spa) and you use or would like to use a solar cover, Please! give the Solar Sun Rings a look!

As I have said before, I’m not much for text messaging. 

Typing on the phone keys is so much slower and more labor-intense!  The only text messages I have gotten lately were pictures from Dana in the middle of the night.  So, as I was sitting, making beads and watching Babylon 5, I didn’t immediately recognize the little tootle-y noise my phone made.  I would have thought it was something Ivanova had done if it weren’t for the fact that my phone screen lit up.  I put down my work and went over to the phone for a look.

Senior Prom '07

It was from Dana.  He said “Mom I’ve been thinking you’re a good mom and I love you.”  I told him he is a good son and I love him too.  Then I asked him what brought that on?  I was wondering if he was feeling down or just having one of his revelations.  Dana is known for having insights come to him and he writes great stories about them.  I know that while he does have quite a lot of fun at his training, it is certainly not all fun and games.  The nature of his career choice is quite stressful anyway, and air traffic control is known to be a very stressful job.  But no, he was just talking to his friends and apparently they were comparing notes on how they were raised.  He wanted to let me know that he loved me and appreciated the things I had taught him about life.

It has always been my hope, that although things may not have been ideal in their childhood, at least my sons would learn from the experience and become stronger for it.  I wanted them to be competent and independent.  It seems I got my wish!

I see so many kids, the same ages as my sons, who don’t have any motivation to improve themselves or to learn new things, who don’t seem like they have a future to look forward to…   I used to say that the more I see of other people’s kids, the better mine look!  But I don’t have to compare my sons to anyone else’s to know what good kids they are!