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I don't have a pool but I have a friend who does. She describes it as being a pickpocket. It deprives her of her sleep because she has to backwash it before she walks the dog and leaves for work in the morning and another backwash after the dog's evening walk. It constantly needs chemicals added and alkaline testing. The filter has to be on constantly. In fact she says she thinks of money when she hears the whir of the filter's motor. Perhaps the reason the pool seems so costly to her is because just she and the dog live there - and the dog is not bringing in that second income.

My kids and I decided to go to a small campground nearby that has a swimming pool that you can pay to play at for the day. Most pools aren't open until Memorial Day so we were excited. It was nice and sunny. It's about a 15 mile drive and halfway there the sky got black and the clouds opened up to a major pour down. We went back home and an hour later when it stopped raining we went back and had a nice afternoon at the pool. We were the only people there.

We used to drive up into the mountains to a state park to swim in the lake there on hot days during the summer. It was really great because we could take our 2 dogs and let them swim in a special section reserved for folks with their dogs. They have since done away with that area. So a few years back we built an addition onto our house for a swim spa where there is a jet at one end that produces a current to swim in place in. We have found that we do not use the spa as much as we thought we would, but we do use it more than we used to drive all the way up to that park. So I guess it was worth it. It certainly is nice to be able to jump into the pool anytime we get hot.