Making Waves

Jim has been in Texas since January 1st. The contractor that began his 7-to-10-day job at our house down there on November 30 is still hard at work. Jim reports that our new staircase is coming along beautifully, albeit slowly. It is a good thing the carpenter is not charging us by the hour!

Our in-ground pool in Houston has been the biggest money pit that we have encountered with our southern real estate purchase so far. The first problem we discovered was that the automatic timer on the pool filter was broken. The timer is important for us because we want the pump to go on and off even when we are not in town. Next, we noticed that the light in the hot tub did not work. Then, the "Polaris," our motorized pool vacuum, needed its hose shortened. After a few more issues and repairs on the filter, we were certain that our pool was finally in great shape. That is, until Jim found a leak in an underground pipe that was actually causing our brick-paver patio to sink. We have a wonderful pool guy, Greg, who feels sorry for us each time we uncover a new obstacle. In fact, he spoke with our realtor and also encouraged us to contact the people who sold us the house because, in his opinion, these issues all existed before we bought the place. (Not to mention a little saline vs. chlorine matter . . . ) Jim, with Greg's assistance, is currently working on getting the sellers to pitch in some money towards our pool debt, and things are looking promising for some reimbursement. It is frustrating that we have had to spend thousands of dollars on a pool into which we have never even dipped our toes! The temperatures have warmed up significantly in Houston this week, and those of us with northern blood think it is fine weather for swimming! Upper 70s in January - woohoo! Hope to try out the new and improved pool soon.