Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with pool

Form of Wallowing Garbage Scow!

winna — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:49:41 -0800

Yet another swimming exercise and etiquette question. I wanted to start swimming because I was tired of doing an hour a day on the elliptical machine. I have read Total Immersion, read the Masters Swimming site, and all the relevant previous questions.

With that said, I have some questions. The first is I'd like to know what etiquette should I be observing at the pool? I go later at night so I have my own lane, I have my hair in a cap, and I shower before going in. What are things that would be obvious to a swimmer that I wouldn't know? For example, last night was the first time I went. I didn't have a watch, so the only way I knew it was time to leave was when someone who worked there told me the pool was closing. Was that a terrible breach of protocol, or does it not matter that much if I get out when they tell me to?

I have glasses, but I bought goggles. The problem is that I have truly terrible vision, and without my glasses I can't see anything at all. If I don't wear my goggles, can I wear my glasses in the pool, or would that look too goofy until I get an water-resistant watch?

Then there's the odd fact that I was prepared to be exhausted after a few minutes and a single lap, as everyone had told me I would. However I swam laps, only pausing for about twenty seconds at either end, for forty-five minutes without a break. My arms are a little sore this morning, but that's all. I can't swim very well and I'm extremely slow, but I can manage to do a shoddy imitation of a crawl or a backstroke and an awkward breaststroke. I have been going to the gym for years, but I thought the conventional wisdom was that swimming exhausted non-swimmers. Is it possible that I am swimming incorrectly enough that I'm not making enough effort for it to count as exercise?

And finally, I am having enormous trouble figuring out how to swim, and I'm trying to remember how to do it correctly. Other than doing my breaststroke, which I try to manage so as not to disrupt other lanes, am I bothering other swimmers with my ineptitude? Is the pool sort of like the weight room, in that at a certain level of incompetence no one notices or cares? For some reason I'm hypersensitive about looking ridiculous in the water. Is there any reason to think that other swimmers care at all about how badly I swim? I am enormously, hideously fat, so I am already used to a certain level of bizarre side glances when I work out, but something about the near-nudity of swimming makes the thought of people critiquing my swimming and person far worse.

Filter for Flickr feeds

foggy out there now — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:10:19 -0800

How would I filter out a single user's images from a Flickr pool's feed? There's a Flickr pool for my community, and it's great. But there's a particular contributor who dominates the pool with self-portraits. I'd like to filter this person out of the RSS feed if possible.

I'm not a member of the pool, nor would I suggest this contributor be removed from the pool. I just don't want to see this user's work in my feed reader every day.

I'm subscribing to the feed via Google Reader if that makes any difference.

What are the best earplugs for swimming?

Sevenupcan — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 05:58:28 -0800

What are the best ear plugs for swimming? As a child I always had really bad ear infections. So much that it put me off swimming for a while as I would always get water in my ears and it would really hurt! I soon discovered that wearing a swimming cap was the best solution. A fair few years have passed now and I am a little less bothered by water getting in my ears but still find it painful at times.

Now I'd like to find a really good pair of earplugs. I always used to find the wax ones let water in after a while and often get dirt on them. But then again some silicon ones felt uncomfortable because it felt like they were digging into my ear canal.

When it comes to earplugs for swimming is there one universal name or brand that springs to mind?

Any good job ideas for quadriplegics?

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 21:38:30 -0800

I am a 52 year old quadriplegic (C-4,C-5 incomplete) former oil and gas senior executive. Until recently, I've been able to both support my family and afford the post-Cobra health insurance premiums available through our Texas High Risk Pool. I'll will soon be overtaken by the myriad of expenses now beginning to snowball. Does anyone know of any legitimate stay-at-home jobs for people like me? While I can leave home occasionally for meetings, etc., realistically I need to find something (computer-based, in all likelihood) to do from my home. I would like to supplement my income by a minimum of $25,000/year.

Sheerr Pool lane distances

ootsocsid — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 11:55:02 -0800

How long is each segment of Sheerr Pool at the University of Pennsylvania? I've been swimming at Sheerr Pool at Penn for the last few weeks, and I'm a little confused about the distances. The pool is a 50-meter pool with a bulkhead in the middle separating each lane into two shorter lanes of a little less than half that distance. The pool website describes the pool as a "50 meter competitive pool with bulkhead for separate aquatic activity spaces, including a 25 yard instructional pool with ramp and stair entrance."

So one side is probably 25 yards, but what about the other? They can't both be 25 yards, because the bulkhead is only a few feet wide, but it would have to be about 4.7 yards wide to make up the distance between 50 meters and 50 yards. So is one side 25 yards and the other 25 meters? If so, which is which?

(I asked the lifeguard today, but he didn't know).

How to keep a pool clean?

jeather — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 08:56:46 -0800

My parents just put in a pool, and what with the rain washing dirt and worms in and the trees shedding, it takes hours and hours of skimming and vacuuming work a week. What's the best solution here? The pool is salt water, concrete, 15'x40', 3'5" deep to 6' deep. It has built in stairs and a seat, neither of which ever get dirty. The dirt mainly collects near the edges. The two options under consideration are a pool robot and a bubble cover. It is right next to a number of flower beds and under several trees.

The pool robot has to need no installation and be easily removable when people are swimming. It would be nice if it skimmed as well but this is not crucial. The pool is quite distant from a power outlet, though of course we can use an extension cord, but this means it would run through the entire back yard, so it would need to be even more removable. The robot should be able to clean the bottom of the pool in 10-12 hours. All things being equal, we don't want to pay more for faster cleaning.

Would the (less expensive) bubble cover alone keep enough dirt out of the pool that we won't be spending an hour or more a day vacuuming? (We may get the bubble cover anyways for use in early fall.) What is the best robot for our needs? The robot needs to clean up dirt, the occasional worm, and all the helicopter seeds. (The current vacuum is fine with dirt and worms but fails badly on helicopters, but mostly it just takes forever.)

Having someone come in and maintain the pool is not an option. The trees and flower beds cannot be changed.

Pool Filter... filter. "Incomplete" prime?

rocketpup — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:57:09 -0800

Replaced Jandy CJ200 cartridge filter with new Jandy SFTM22 sand filter. Pump pot no longer fills completely with water. Possible reasons? Contractor malfeasance? This weekend my Jandy CJ200 shot its top half many tens of feet into the air for unknown reasons. We had just cleaned the cartridge like many times before and had restarted it. The pressure release valve was definitely open.

Whatever the reason for this event, we simply decided to buy and have installed a new 22" sand filter, the Jandy SFTM22, which is apparently a renamed Hayward due to some recent corporate acquisitions.

Our pool service installed the new filter and left, but the pump never primed, and we couldn't get it to do so using the normal methods. Note that we have a Jandy JHPU1.0 1 HP pump.

So we got the pool service out again today and they managed to improve the situation somewhat, so that the water level is higher in the pot, and completely covering the inlet pipe. They say they did this by sealing some leaks, but that to fix it completely they need to replace the diffuser. We did backwash the filter, but it is brand new and the water was perfectly clear. There is no pressure release valve on this filter, not that I know if it needs one. It is currently operating at 23 PSI, and has been since it was installed. No idea if that is normal since it is brand new.

Note that the pot filled just fine when the CJ200 was in operation.

So I have a few questions:
1) Can the pump/filter just be operated this way as long as the water completely covers the inlet pipe?
2) Could this be considered a normal consequence of switching to a new filter? Maybe the new filter is easier to pass water through?
3) Could excess pressure in the system damage the diffuser without noticeably damaging anything else except for the old filter?
4) Could this have been caused by the contractor during installation?

Thanks for any help!

Triple Sow Cow into a Watermelon?

clearly — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:37:11 -0800

What is the best/most awesome technique to make the biggest splash from a 1m diving board? I took a job as a lifeguard this summer, and rather than spend my downtime in the office, I'd like to hone my ability to make a crowd pleasing splash off of the diving board.

I'm pretty proficient off of a diving board, so really any technique limited by the 1m board is welcome.

Malta, but not without a way to cool off, baby!

lottie — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 22:30:54 -0800

Malta (perhaps Gozo) holiday tips - can you recommend a great holiday home with a fenced pool? Our family and some friends are hoping to converge on Malta from different parts of the world next year for a holiday, and would like a recommendation for a holiday home that you may have enjoyed or heard great things about. Ability to sleep about six in simple accomodations is ideal, and it must be self contained. But most importantly of all, it must have a securely fenced pool so that we can feel relaxed with young children in the house. I'm imagining a farmhouse, cottage, or holiday house. We just want to cook great meals, cycle around and swim.

Thanks for any ideas you may have.

Water Aerobics Instructional Videos?

alist — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:35:44 -0800

I recently moved to Phoenix and am lucky enough to have a swimming pool in my backyard. It's perfect for water aerobics but not so much for swimming, as one end of the pool is much shallower than the other. I'm looking for good instructional water aerobics videos. Any suggestions? I haven't found much on the web so I'm ok with buying something if it's highly recommended.

Name of an older movie, few details

faintly macabre — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:42:17 -0800

Wondering the title of a movie --- it's been bothering me for years, but I never had the resources to find it.. I'm hoping my fellow mefites can assist me in figuring out the name of this movie. Here's what I recall--- Young Asian kid travels from his home to the U.S. He convinces the lady he's staying with to go on a hunger strike protesting her house/land being taken away. I remember a scene in the movie where the kid meditates at the bottom of the pool at his school, and the teacher thinks he drowned. I don't remember any actors from the movie, or when it came out. All I know is it came out prior to 2000 and after 1980.

I know these are horrible details. I'm sorry.

Where can I swim in Denver?

foooooogasm — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:54:21 -0800

Where can I swim in Denver? A 50-meter (Olympic) pool is a must.

Indoor or outdoor, but indoor would probably be better considering how cold it is in autumn, winter, spring.

Membership preferred, unless there's a public facility that isn't overrun with crowds.

I'd love a place where I can reserve a lane (me only, no sharing) for 30- or 60-minute swim. I'm even willing to pay a lot for a low-traffic, more exclusive location.

I like to swim at night, so late hours would great.

No children would be fantastic!

Close to downtown?

What are your favorite toys for the lake or pool side?

wrnealis — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:51:12 -0800

Lake toys! What are your favorite toys for the lake or pool side? Going to be spending some time at the lake house this summer and I'm looking for some toys that adults and kids would enjoy. We have dock with 13' off the end. Also have an upper deck that we can jump off of.

I was looking at some inflatable or fiberglass slides, maybe an air bag to launch the kids in the air. Water guns and rafts, whatever.

What toys do you keep coming back to?

How can I make a perpetual iceberg in the shallow end of my friend's swimming pool for the summer?

Sully — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 12:10:22 -0800

How can I make a perpetual iceberg in the shallow end of my friend's swimming pool for the summer? I have a friend who likes to indulge my artistic conceits. Last summer he let me carve this round bush he has in his backyard into the shape of a cat's head. It didn't turn out so good, but he let me do it anyway.

This year, I suggested to him that we create a perpetual iceberg in the shallow end of his swimming pool. Ideally, it would stay icy on the hottest summer days. It doesn't have to all be made out of ice. It would be nice if it just looked that way.

I've been thinking about hockey rinks, and how they lay out pipes in concrete then run freon through them. I don't want to have to start mixing concrete to create this faux-iceberg, but I can't think of anything else.

I wonder if anyone out there can suggest a way to make this happen? We think it would be crazy hilarious. We do understand that there is a risk that we might make the pool too cool to actually swim in. My friend doesn't mind having parties just to have people over to just admire the thing.

Engineering-wise, how could we do this? We thought about actually carting in hunks of ice and carving them into an iceberg, like the way they have ice sculptures at some weddings, but the trick would be to keep it unmelted and still roughly iceberg-shaped through the summer, despite exposure to the sun.

Ultimately, this might be one of those insane ideas that you have when you're having a drink with a buddy that should never come to fruition, but I thought I'd ask the hive-mind all the same.

Thanks.

How can A and B be connected if there's nothing to connect them?

pokeedog — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 17:58:21 -0800

When our pool equipment runs, it triggers the sound of a leaky pipe in a wall adjacent to our hot water heater. By triggering the valve on the hot water heater when the water to the house is off, I can stop the noise. How can I fix this? This is a very odd situation. So here's the detail:
1. House is slab foundation.
2. Pool equipment is outside kind of far from the hot water heater. No house plumbing connects to the pool equipment. The only common link between the pool equipment and rest of the house workings I can find is electricity, via a fuse box.
3. When the pool equipment goes on, it triggers the sound of a leaky pipe in the wall where the hot water heater is adjacent to. Minimal water appears on the floor after several hours on the hot water heater side of the wall, but no other water indicates any kind of leak.
4. If you turn off the water to the house at the street, the sound in the wall stops.
5. If you fiddle with the pressure release valve on the hot water heater while the water to the house is off, you stop the noise in the wall. Pool equipment must be off.
6. If you fiddle with the pressure release valve on the hot water heater while the water to the house is on, the noise doesn't stop.

We've had a plumber out, it's driving us a little crazy. These two things just don't seem connected. Am I grasping at straws? What other things should I check? It seems to coincidental to me, since the water system of the house isn't connected to the pool equipment.

Where can I get my pool cue retipped in Boston?

swerve — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 11:53:57 -0800

Where can I get my pool cue retipped in Boston? I need a new tip put on my cue. When I played in tournaments, I either retipped it myself (with a borrowed Willard's tipper) or had it done by a pro with a lathe. I am not comfortable dropping it off at Boston Billiards or similar. I'm looking for someone who knows what he (or she) is doing. I'm in the city but can travel into the burbs if necessary. Thanks!

Shooting Pool in Lake Havasu City, Vegas

SlyBevel — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:22:00 -0800

I want to shoot some pool in Lake Havasu City, AZ, and in Vegas. But I'd like to go to the nicest place possible, in both locales. Recommendations? I'm going on a trip in Feb. that'll take me through Las Vegas (twice) to Lake Havasu City, AZ.

I love to shoot pool. But I hate hanging around in smoky, run-down bars. (Yes, I know that Vegas is smoky, but is there a nice place with lots of nice tables, at least?)

Are there well-maintained pool joints in either city that I can have a nice meal in and shoot a few racks?

(And would anyone be interested in a meetup built around this idea?)

Dead bird in stagnant pool -- health hazard?

spiderskull — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 14:11:29 -0800

This morning we found a dead bird in our pool -- unfortunately, this pool is half-empty and has been unfiltered and stagnant for a month. Considering that birds carry diseases, do we need to completely empty out the pool or will chlorine be enough to fend off any potential health hazards? About a month ago, my folks had to fix the pool light, so they emptied the water down to about half its regular capacity. Since it's winter and no one's swimming, they left it down there without new chlorine or the filter running.

This morning, we found a dead bird floating around and removed it. But it may have been there for about a day or two.

Since it's a 40,000 gallon pool, I'm wondering if chlorine shock and acid treatment will be enough to sanitize the remaining ~20,000 gallons, or if it's best to empty it out completely to avoid any avian-borne diseases. The former saves water, the latter is a health precaution at the expense of wasted water.

Thanks!

What is the diameter and taper of the butt section of a pool cue?

BeaverTerror — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 09:28:29 -0800

What is the diameter and taper of the butt section of a pool cue? I'm detailing a custom pool cue stand at work and I need to know the correct width of the slot in the stand such that the cue will be suspended as pictured here:

http://mocoloco.com/archives/o8o_pt2_cue_stand_nov_04.jpg

Thanks.

Will our drained pool survive a NE winter?

thankyoumuchly — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 12:45:40 -0800

Will an empty in-ground plaster pool survive a winter in the North East US or does it need to be filled/winterized/etc.? We drained our 30,000 gallon, in-ground plaster pool this summer to paint it and ended up never painting or refilling it with water because of money issues. The pool is about 30 years old.

To provide a little history (and the source of our concern due to this being the first year we are not following this pattern), every winter in the past, the pool has been filled about 75% of the way with water (to ensure the water level was below the pool filter jet/pipes), and winterized using chemicals from a pool store, then covered with a non-water tight cover (it's basically a tarp weighed down on the sides with sand bags). This worked fine in the past and the pool has been in good shape the following summers.

Now that the North Eastern US winter is arriving (sub-freezing temperatures at night, a few feet of snow expected over the coming months, etc.) we are worried that the lack of water in the pool might hurt it (cracking, the pool itself "rising" due to the lack of water in it weighing it down? (if this is even possible)).

This year we have blown out the pool filter jet/pipes to ensure no water remained in them and prevent a freezeing/cracking problem. We also removed the pool pump (normal procedure) and blew any remaining water out of those pipes as well.

Our Ask For You: Now our concern is the pool itself. Does anyone out there in the MeFi hive mind know if the pool will survive the winter without any water in it?

Please be blunt, we would much rather spend the money to fill the pool and winterize it with chemicals than loose the pool due to a crack (which would cost more to repair than filling it).

Thank you muchly!

Please help me identify this architect

drea — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 02:37:14 -0800

My dad wants to know the name of an architect he saw on television. Details are fuzzy except that he wears an eyepatch and that he designed a house overlooking the California coast. The house seems very intriguing to me, hence this AskMe question. The house itself seems to have a swimming pool under and/or around it. The front door is connected to the living room by a bridge surrounded by the pool. Sorry I can't be more specific but I hope you can offer any leads -- a link to photographs of the house would also be ideal. Many thanks.

Family-friendly pool near Boston / Metrowest?

bondcliff — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 08:49:44 -0800

Where’s a good place in the Boston or (preferably) Metrowest area to take my six year old son to shoot some pool? He’s six and pool is his current obsession. We don’t have our own table, nor will we be getting one, so I’d like to find a place to take him. At six years old by “shoot some pool” I mean “fool around with the balls for an hour.”

I’d prefer a family-friendly place not filled with seedy pool hustlers and guys with neck tattoos*. A place with lots of tables where we don’t have to wait very long. A couple of old-school pinball machines would be a bonus. Does someplace like that exists? I know six isn’t exactly the target demographic for pool halls.

I believe Mr. Billiards in Framingham is now closed. I’ve never been to Jillians but I’d prefer something without too much sensory overload. Fun & Games in Framingham hasn’t had pool since the 1980s and is a depressingly bad arcade now to boot.

*not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Help setting up an office pool

jestonb — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 11:27:55 -0800

I would like to start on office pool on a number of questions, like "How long until our boss quits?", "Who will be the next President?" and other questions. Can anyone think of a free on-line tool to set this up?

Cleaning scale from pool tile

TungstenChef — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:51:14 -0800

How can I best clean hard water scale from pool tile? We have a pool with ceramic tile at the waterline that is getting badly covered with hard water scale. How can we remove the stuff most efficiently? This page says that you can use muriatic acid in a spray bottle to help clean it, but I don't want to be spraying undiluted acid at basically eye level! What dilution can you use to loosen the stuff, and do you want to let it set or scrub immediately? Also, what tool is best to use for scrubbing? That link mentioned a putty knife, in other places I've seen a pumice stone recommended. Any other tips would be very helpful.

Put some English on it while not at English?

moitz — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:56:17 -0800

Ok, Chicago mefites...what are your suggestions for bars near Wicker Park/Bucktown/Logan Square that have a reasonably chill atmosphere, accessible pool tables, and reasonable drink prices? It's been a while since my girlfriend and I have been out on a Friday night. So this Friday, I'm looking for somewhere we can go to shoot a few games of pool (she's good, I'm not), have a few (or more) drinks, and generally have a good time until odd hours of the night.

I live up Logan Square way so I'm looking for something down the general Milwaukee Ave corridor. Any and all suggestions welcome. I've done the looking on citysearch, Metromix, Google Local, etc. but I'm really looking for a bar with pool tables, not the other way around.