Welcome to Chapter 3 of the Pool Renovation Blog, or what I've been referring to as That Stupid Thing I Have to Write.  It’s gotten so I can’t laze around the house anymore without stressing about it, though to my credit I haven't let that actually force me up off the couch.  And so here I am the day before our opening, sucking down coffee and waiting for caffeinated inspiration.  Though I have to say some of these people who patronize Starbucks don’t even appear to actually like coffee.  I was behind a guy this morning at the fixin’s bar who was doing his damnedest to turn that cup of coffee into a piece of cake.  First he poured out half of it.  Blech, who needs all that coffee in their coffee?  Then he proceeded to add about 20 packs of Splenda and a quart of milk.  I honestly expected him to pull an egg, two cups of flour and a whisk out of his pocket.  Dude, it’s coffee.  It isn’t supposed to taste THAT good.  The rest of us are here because it’s a drug and it’s legal.  Try the Baskin Robbins down the street.

For those of you who were banking on renovation delays at the pool, a confidence that led you to reach for just one more armload of onion rings, secure in the knowledge that there’s still time to start that flaxseed-and-milkshake diet you read about – the one that scoured 80 pounds from Oprah’s hips and thighs – it’s panic time.  THE POOL IS READY!  Eight months, lots of digging and several knife fights between board members later and the place looks fantastic.  New concrete decking.  Freshly-laid sod.  Glistening pool surface.  It all looks pretty sweet.  If the water weren’t cold enough to kill a narwhal I might even think about getting in.

Now, let’s all be realistic.  This project was mostly about fixing the infrastructure, not a phrase that gets anyone too excited.  So don’t expect any lush waterfalls or a wave machine.  It’s still just a neighborhood pool, not a resort spa.  I’d hate to inflate your expectations only to have them burst the moment you walk in the gate, the same old rectangular pool and the same old dull suburbanites sagging into the same old chairs.  We didn’t transform the place.  But it does look really, really good and best of all the pool now actually holds water rather than merely slowing its journey into local streams at the rate of 5000 gallons a day.  Nope, it isn’t a sexy project but one that was essential and, in the end, a great success.  We think you’ll be happy when you see it.

Enjoy the pictures and the increasingly strained narration.  Better yet, come to the pool this weekend and check out the results for yourself.