I’ve been trying to close my pool for what feels like forever.
Seriously. It’s been on my to-do list since September, and here we are in November. Everything’s winterized and disconnected. All that’s left is one simple job.
All I’ve got to do?
Put the fucking cover on.
“So Papa,” you may ask, “Why are we here?”
The cable and winch finally gave up. To be fair, they’re about twenty-five years old, so I suppose I shouldn’t be shocked.
After a quick trip to Club Piscine and a small coronary over the price of a new cover (without the cable), I figured, Fuck it. I’ll just replace the cable and winch.
The other day, a good buddy reminded me of “this amazing site you could search and order anything on.” So I ordered a cable winch kit off that site, and finally got around to tackling the job.
Except, of course, I couldn’t get the old cable out of the cover. No matter how much I wrestled with that tarp, the cable just bunches it up and I get nowhere.
I know! The cabana HAS to have something…
You know how there’s always that one thing you refuse to throw away because you’re convinced it’ll come in handy someday?
For example, last year Mrs. Sandemano was going to throw out these perfectly good flowerpots.
I rescued them.
(By rescued, I mean I stacked them in the cabana, out of sight. Problem solved.)
And if you know me, you guessed right. A year later, they’re sitting in the same spot.
Flashback: Meanwhile, in a Guinness Glass…
Back in August, I paid $2.99 for a big-ass bunch of mint, knowing full well I wasn’t going to use most of it.
So while I was throwing most of it away, I thought, Fuck that. Why keep buying mint when I could just grow the stuff? I’d already paid for it. What did I have to lose?
So I stuck some in a Guinness glass on my kitchen windowsill to see what would happen.
Whenever I happened to see it, I’d change its water and go about the business of forgetting its existence.
Despite all my hard work, little roots eventually started appearing. And before I knew it, the root system had gone crazy.
Holy shit. It actually worked.
But I forgot to think about what I’d do if it did.
Back to Reality and Time to Get My Hands Dirty
So…now I had these beautiful rescue pots.
I told you I’d need that shit someday.
The pots were still full of last year’s dirt, so I dumped it into my garlic bed and grabbed some unused potting mix I’d stashed downstairs last year.
I had to trim one of the mint stems because it was way too long, but otherwise, getting everything planted was pretty straightforward.
After watering, the soil settled, so I topped it up with the leftover mix.
Turns out I needed that shit too.
Mission Accomplished!
Two mint plants, two flowerpots I knew I’d eventually find a use for, and one more project I can pretend was on today’s to-do list.
The Squirrel Report
The Squirrels: +1
Papa Sandemano: +1
Achievement unlocked: Found a use for that shit.
Oh, and One Last Thing…
Take a look at this photo of my freshly potted mint.
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