Well, the pool is "done" but we still can't use it. It has A.D.D., which in this case stands for Another Damn Delay. So, what has happened since my last blog - well, a comedy of errors for one thing. The fencing team (clearly not olympic quality) managed to install the handrails on the wheelchair ramp too high, which means they'll flunk inspection. The restrooms are not yet completed, so the health department will not allow an occupancy permit by Sarasota county. The lights in the bathrooms are on a "motion sensitivity" switch of some sort, which turns them on and off when somebody enters or leaves the room - which would work with the old fashioned bulbs, but we installed "energy saving" bulbs which apparently don't work with the switch installed. Oh, and the diaper changing stations have arrived but yet to be installed. Some neighbors are already complaining about the lights shining into their windows - the old pool lights are so far in the distant history that folks forgot what it was like, so complaints are fresh again. The solution will be lower wattage bulbs, which I believe falls under Plan D (for dimmer, not dumber).The gas line was finally found (it had been disabled two years ago), and today there are plumbers at the site making an effort to hook it up to the pool heater. The water temperature is currently very cold - but the water has at least been "balanced" as to its chemical balance. Maybe, just maybe, in three or four days (provided the heater gets hooked up and works to warm the pool) we'll be able to sneak over and swim, but of course that would be unofficial swimming.
The picture notes that the old siding has been removed and new siding is still awaiting installation, and this project has taken on a two steps forward, one step back, track. Our pool committee leader now sends out emails talking not of "Plan B" but is moving past Plan C, D, and perhaps E might be the ticket. Grading has been accomplished (note dirt against wall in photo) and a second dumpster is on site, already half filled with debris. The project keeps growing, so perhaps another "assessment" will come down the pike, as we tear out another wooden ramp and replace with concrete so that wheel chairs which get to the pool deck on the ramp seen, will be able to get up an additional ramp to the yet unfinished restrooms.
A lot of this has to do with our wonderful Federal government rules, which forced us to replace the old pool with one which conforms to current codes - in 1988 when this pool building and pool were constructed, there were no requirements for things like diaper changing stations - and 23 years ago we might have had residents with children. Now our diapers all are Depends, and our new wheel chair ramp needs the rails to be installed at the correct height. We had to demolish and remove the old pool, but the project then required that not only the new pool, but the old pool building be brought up to current code. Oh well, just another exercise in "just add money" in addition to "just add water".
New "completion date" is said to be by month end. We'll believe that when we see it.
UPDATE: Ten days have passed, and nothing more accomplished - these must be the "horse latitudes" of tropical stillness. The gas line is in, but after four years of exposure the elements, the ignition system on the pool heater corroded and a new "platinum plug" has to be found and installed. As I leave for my cruise, I wonder will I come back to progress or more A.D.D.
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