"The Lone Ranger and Tonto are camping in the desert, set up their tent, and are asleep. Some hours later, The Lone Ranger wakes his faithful friend."Tonto, look up and tell me what you see."
Tonto replies, "Me see millions of stars."
"What does that tell you?" asks The Lone Ranger.
Tonto ponders for a minute. "Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo. Time wise, it appears to be approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, it's evident the Lord is all powerful and we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What it tell you, Kemo Sabi?"
"Tonto, you dummy, someone has stolen our tent!"
Just like Tonto, sometimes I miss the obvious! The answer is right in front of me and I miss it because it's just too easy!
Case in point: We have 2 pool pumps that siphon the water off the cover when it rains. Since it's been pouring all week the pump is critical to keep the water from getting too heavy on the cover.
Brent noticed the pump wasn't working, did a little troubleshooting, had no success, and brought out the back-up pump. The alternate pump wasn't working either! Talk about an odd coincidence. What are the chances that both pumps would break down on the same day?
Well, it seemed unlikely but we've had worse luck with appliances, so we just figured we were unlucky! Bad Pool Pump Karma at the Knudsens!
So, Brent enlisted my help with the rising water problem. I fiddled with the pumps, tightened this and that, tripped the GFI electrical switch, and I struck out. I started heaving gallons of rainwater off the slowly sinking inverted pool cover with a bucket. This didn't solve the pump mystery but alleviated some build up and bought us some time.
Then, I ordered a new pump for overnight delivery. And just for good measure I mentioned to our pool guy, Andy, that he might want to check the pumps, just in case Brent and I overlooked anything.
Well, it didn't take Andy long to determine our problem. When both pumps seemed kaput, Andy's brain (unlike my astute mind) told him that this made no sense. So, no higher education Andy checks the hose and ta-da, leaves are clogged inside and the water is getting stuck at that point!
Andy gets the leaves out and the water comes gushing through! Crisis averted! While Brent and I focused on the technical pump mechanism, Andy simply double checked the hose and immediately solved the problem!
Well, there are plenty of messages I can glean from our pool pump experience. One obvious lesson is to always make sure I haven't missed an obvious solution to a problem!
