Where da pixies at?

Where da pixies at?
Originally uploaded by d_j_critchley

After months of waiting, and were not talking a few months here, we gave up waiting for the pool pixies to turn up. Maybe we should have put a saucer of milk for them, or maybe not as when they came over a year ago they left cigarette ends and beer bottles lying around - I kid you not.
Seriously, the pool pump started playing up last September and, despite numerous emails and phone calls, the Landlord didn't get round to replacing it until around March this year. Ah, but he didn't actually install the pump and then sort out all the leaks until June. The landlord then asked us to drain the pool so he could reattach the liner where it had come away from the edge, no problems we thought ...
Unfortunately there was a little water under the liner and because the landlord still hadn't turned up, despite yet more phone calls and emails, almost two months later there was a lot of water behind the liner and duck and algae infested water in the pool.
Today we got the blessing of the Embassy to deal with the situation as it is West Nile Virus season and the mozzies were loving the stagnant water.
We went to Home Depot and bought a submersible pump, extension cord and hose. We then drained the scummy water on top of the liner and then underneath. After a bit of a struggle we reattached the liner, started filling the pool and brushed off the dried on dirt. We'll keep you posted on the progress.

Update from Helen

Dave has been very good at keeping the blog up-to-date. After working at my computer all day the last thing I want to do is type some more, so I've been a bit pants about adding to the blog. On Sunday I managed to spill some water on my laptop and have had to send it to Sony in San Diego to get the motherboard repaired (~$700 eek!) so I'm a bit restricted as to what I can do work-wise; though Dave had kindly let me use his laptop during the day. Anyway, I thought I'd take the opportunity to make a quick note on what I've been up to and why Dave has been left home alone so often.

This year is really busy with lots of conferences and fieldtrips; some of them part of work (i.e. I'm being paid) and others are for fun or general professional development (and fun & travel). In June I went to Salt Lake City for the International Conference on Educational Development (ICED). This was great, some excellent sessions and lots of UK colleagues / friends to chat / drink with. The conference was held at the University of Utah which is right at the edge of the old lake, so it was only a 5 minute run to get up into the hills. Although it was very hot it was also quite dry (not as humid as the East coast) so really pleasant for running. The 5000ft altitude meant that I walked (albeit briskly) the up bits but had great fun running down the trails. I also hired a mountain bike for a day but the trails were a bit technical for me so again I mostly walked! Had the conference dinner up at Park City ski resort, there was still snow there (more like icy slush) - my photos are downloaded to my laptop so I can't post any at the moment - and we drove past the slopes where I broke my wrist; ahhhh fond memories.

I then flew from Salt Lake City up to Toronto, Canada to meet more colleagues / friends and go to the 2nd International Threshold Concepts conference in Kingston. Alison and I drove from Toronto and stayed in an excellent B&B called the Royal Albert. Kingston was a great town with some lovely vegetarian cafes and lots of hiking/outdoorsy type shops. Had a busy few days and the conference was really good, we had lots of interest in the Geoscience sessions that I organised. Alison and I spent a couple of days in Toronto and travelled down to Niagara Falls -why is it that humans excel in taking an awesome natural wonder and turning it into a cheesy tourist attraction. The falls were amazing, the hotels and casinos were nasty.

After a couple of weeks at home I'm off again next week to participate in a teacher-training field trip hosted by the Duke University Marine Lab in Beaufort, North Carolina. I've been promised white beaches and dolphins so it should be good!

That's about it for now. I'm enjoying the hot weather and doing lots of running and cycling (though have avoided Dave's penchant for heat exhaustion). Hopefully the pool will be sorted in the next few days so I can exercise my upper-body too (and lie around on an inflatable and drink cocktails). Off to California in mid-July with Dave, then lots of fun in August when Judy, Paul and Amy visit, hurray!