Pool fools

You buy a house because it has a pool and you think, yeah, that’s cool. And then you discover you were a fool because the electric bill is double the usual amount (to run the recirculating pool pump umpty-ump hours a day, most of the year, to keep the water from going scummy in the summer or freezing in the underground pipes in the winter) and the pump and various other components wear out and break down–usually when least expected and at the same time that too many other things are competing for the available cash.