Never Give up

This past weekend was a three-day holiday weekend in the USA. I had several house projects that I wanted to complete. Needless to say, all were not completed even with all good intentions.

I would like to illustrate one of the projects that was performed and why I usually have someone else do house projects versus me.

We have a pool. One of the projects was to fix an automated pool cleaner (looks like a robot that goes along the bottom of the pool and acts like a vacuum cleaner). Anyway, it took three days to finally resolve this and several times, I was ready to give up and call the "pool guy" and let him fix it.

Here is what happened:

1. One of the wheels had broken off the device last week.

2. I examined the device and appears to me that it cannot be fixed, so I go to the nearest pool store which is a 30 minute drive away.

3. I show up and talk to the store owner who says that I should be able to be fix the machine as there is a wheel part they sell (oh, and its EASY to fix). This is going to save lots of money . . . versus buying a whole new system. He asks which model version that I have . . . well, there are about four different versions. So, I said, it sure does look like this particular one.

[Lesson One: Be prepared. Always be prepared and don't guess if you really don't know]

4. I buy the part, drive home, begin to fix the machine and yes, I come to the conclusion that I got the wrong model number.

5. Well, from learning of lesson one, I bring the entire machine with me back to the pool store.

6. "Hi Steve" states the pool store owner (yes, I need to visit the pool store often, pools need lots of maintenance). I told him that I bought the wrong version, and am carrying this machine (he says, well I can see that), let's take a look. He refunded me the wrong part I purchased.

7. He opens up the machine and says, "this machine is ancient, we can rebuild it or you can buy a new one". I am all for rebuilding things but in this case I do not want to worry about this for a long time so go with the new one.

[Lesson Two: Sometimes when you think you have a inexpensive solution, you probably need to check again]

8. I bring the new fancy model home and begin to plug the device into the wall of the pool.

[Lesson three: Oh, yeh, just call me, Mr FIXIT . . . or . . . don't count the chickens until they are hatched]

9. Oops, I need to take out a piece in the wall that went with the old device. I tried every tool in my tool chest to remove that damn piece to no avail.

[Lesson Four: Always focus on a total solution, i.e., make sure you have everything you need to implement the solution.]

10. So, to save gas, especially at these prices, I called the pool store owner this time and explained my problem, he said that he had a small tool that helps remove that piece from the wall. WooHoo, this problem will be resolved (it’s not me)

[Lesson Five: When you are overconfident, something will happen to bring you back to reality]

11. I drive back to the store, buy the $2.99 tool (it is just a plastic tool that fits into wall piece which allows you to get some leverage for removing it.)

12. I get into the pool, place the new tool into the wall piece and try to unscrew it, SNAP, there goes the new tool, broken in half.

[Lesson Six: Going Slowly is sometimes better than using brute force, you know Aesop's fable, the one about the Wind and the Sun]

13. It appears that the previous owner of our house glued the old piece into the wall. I am thinking seriously of giving up at this point!

14. I call the pool store owner (who jokingly says, “Steve, I might have to start charging you a consulting fee”, gee thanks, yes, this might be a ID Ten T error (yes, spell that out).

[Lesson Seven: The locally-owned stores have the best customer service]

15. The pool store owner says “Steve, you are just going to have to chip it out”. Uh, you mean with a hammer and screwdriver? "Yes"

16. Well, you must realize that the wall unit is about two feet below the surface of the water . . . so I need to hammer a screwdriver under water . . . yes, water has something called resistance.

17. After a few hours, I have accomplished my task, the old wall unit has been chipped out, slowly into about a thousand small plastic pieces.

[Lesson Eight: Small success leads to greater success]

18. Now, I have to put the new device in. But remember the $2.99 tool that I purchased to remove the old one, well, I need that same tool to screw the new piece into the wall. Yes, that piece is broken in half and won't work.

[Lesson Nine: Sometimes one small problem causes several other "ripple" problems down the line]

19. I drive back to the store, buy another $2.99 tool and return and then all finally works and the pool is clean.

20. If you happen to be in Austin, you are more than welcome to come jump into the pool, please do, especially after all the time I spent on this one small task!

[Lesson Ten: never give up, in a house project or business project, because the celebration of achievement outweighs all the work that went into the project]