Hot Tub Fiasco

For several weeks I was unable to use my hot tub because of a heart monitor I was wearing as it was water resistant but not water proof...  Now that the 30 days are over, I am once again able to use the hot tub.  Typically, after a long day whether tired from working or not, I like to relax my body is the hot water of about 103/104 degrees...  and, getting into that hotness has to be done slowly and carefully but once in, I am usually in the water for about 30-45 minutes and run the jets about12-15 minutes as it makes one's body super hot.

Every other week or so, I pour into the hot tub about 1-2 cups of non concentrated bleach to purify the water as best as I can...  knowing that I am going to replace the water about every 3-4 months.  This last time of pouring in the bleach and setting the jets to CLEAN, I noticed that foam was being created and since there was nothing I could do about it at the time, I just went back upstairs.

The next day, I wanted to get into the hot tub and once I lifted up the cover, noticed that there was still some remaining foam but lowered my body into the hot water anyway.  And, once I turned on the jets, foam was created quite easily.  After a few minutes with the jets on and pushing away the foam, I decided to turn off the jets...  the foam gradually dissipated 

Tonight, I will get into the hot tub again and I wonder what will happen and how long this foaming condition will last...  I also wonder why the bleach I poured in caused this to happen...  but, since I am going to drain the water and refill the tub in a couple of weeks, I am not that concerned...  it is just a minor aggravation and/or annoyance with which I can easily deal.

Profound Happiness and Enjoyment

One of the decisions that my wife and I made during the last few years of working before retirement was for me to take some consulting and teaching jobs since whatever income I generated would not impact or reduce my Social Security since I waited until age 67 to claim Social Security.  We decided to use that extra income to refurbish the house, especially the kitchen and bathroom...  but also to put in a 26 foot round pool, surrounded by a large deck with a gazebo and hot tub.

We knew that we could make this financial commitment because 5 years earlier, we achieved our financial freedom by becoming debt free 

Looking back at our paperwork...  all of this was done 10 years ago and I have been retired 6 years.  There have been some repair bills on the hot tub but that is because we were advised to use powder chemicals when we should have been using liquid chemicals...  and just normal wear and tear.  However, the pool has never needed maintenance but we have had to purchase a new motor.  During the summer months, the motor operates 24/7, so replacing only one motor is not that bad.

I am in a state of PROFOUND HAPPINESS AND RELAXTION every time I lower my body into the hot water of the HOT TUB.  Out hot tub seats 6 people, so there is plenty of room for me to extend out my entire body with my arms over the sides to hold me up.  I close my eyes and remain in that position for a good 30-40 minutes.  Then, I turn on the jets that massage my upper and lower back which is especially comforting when I have overworked in the yard.   I have lower back issues anyway so the massage is just a good way to keep my back relaxed.

I would say that I am in the hot tub every other day/night out of 365 days for a total of about 180 times a year and I get in the pool during the summer weeks about once or twice a week and typically that is for exercise purposes because I walk around the perimeter for about 20-30 minutes...  after 4-5 revolutions one way, I turn and walk in the other direction against the water currents that my movement created.

This past summer, when we could not go to MYRTLE BEACH because of COVID, our backyard pool and hot tub got a workout and while others stayed inside, we were outside enjoying ourselves either in the sun or the shade, it did not matter.

This was money well spent...

BTW...

most hot tubs last 10 or years and most pools last a little over 7-8 years...

my wife and I made of point of taking good care of both...

and, it has paid off.

At 73, I figure I only have 5 good years left maybe 7, but after 80, it is going to be a little difficult getting in and out of the hot tub.

Since my wife no longer enjoys the hot tub (for reasons that only her own), if we ever need to replace this one, I will invest in a 2-3 person tub as I really don't need all the extra space.

EAST TN: Ideal Retirement Location

As I have mentioned many times before, I am living in the Tennessee Valley of East TN and as far as I am concerned, it is an IDEAL place to live, especially if one is retired...   because of:

• its physical location weather protection
• its physical location geographically
• 30-60 minute access to everything
• Oak Ridge National Labs
• TVA Parks and Recreation
• Country Life and exposure to nature
• Tranquil surroundings
• University of TN
• its lower cost of living index
• its lack of urban influences
• its lack of crime

NOTE:   Not everyone is suited for this type of lifestyle...  but, let me assure you that we have local watering holes that serve beer, wine, and alcohol.  We have illegal drugs being sold to our elementary school children and high school students.  We have local prostitutes and call girls.  We have several members of the Mexican Drug Cartels living in our area as well.  We have political crimes and influence peddling.  We have telephone scams and computer hacking and all sorts of people trying to get access to our data to perpetrate a variety of crimes against us.

WHAT WE DON"T HAVE IS:

1. Racism
2. Black Lives Matter
3. ANTIFA
4. White Supremacists
5. Police Violence against Black
6. Blacks killing cops
7. Protesting and Riots
8. Burning of city buildings
9. Pipe Bombs
10. Domestic Terrorism

TODAY...

there is a light rain falling instead of snow.  The temps are in the 40's but will rise to the 50's but it is doubtful that we will have all the sunshine that we had yesterday.  Each day, the light extends the day against darkness by ONE MINUTE....  so, we are getting closer to spring and the rebirth of nature.  All our bushes will blow and grow.  All our flowers will return.  The Japanese Maple that I cut back will sprout new limbs as will the Crepe Myrle that surrounds our pool.

REGRETS...

My physical health and all the cuts I have on my body and all the recent procedures I have had, have kept me out of my HOT TUB for almost a month.  But, as they heal, I will return to its warmth and once again sit in the warmth of its waters and look up and see all the stars in the absolutely clear night sky.

Hot Tub Revelations

Tonight, I decided to spend some time in my hot tub after it got dark and sitting in the warm 101 degree temperature water and after turning on the jets, looked up at the stars in the sky...  and noticed that there really wasn't many of them that I could see.

The black sky above my head was loaded with millions perhaps billions of stars even though I could only see  less than 00.00000001% of 99.9999999% of them around our planet earth which is located in our solar system...  and, to expand your mental horizons imagine millions/billions of solar systems in our galaxy and millions/billions of galaxies in our quadrant of our universe.

Now, let's imagine our universe is a dinner plate and our quadrant in this universe represents 1 degree of the 360 degrees that completes the full circle of the universe.  Of course, it is also possible that our quadrant is not 1 degree but 1/10 or 1/100 or 1/1,000 or 1/10,000 of 1 degree.

In short, our universe is incredible vast and in each quadrant there are literally billions of billions of billions of solar systems and galaxies...  so, you can just imagine how many stars there are.

AND, as I look at these stars, I begin to wonder:

1. why am I here?
2. what's my purpose here?

BUT, before we answer those two questions, one must come to terms with the creation of the universe...

• was it created by the BIG BANG?
• was it created by CREATION?

Interestingly, NEITHER BELIEF CAN BE PROVED ABSOLUTELY...  one must have elements of faith that support their belief(s).

If God created the universe...  the big question here is WHY?

And, why did God create Jesus to die for our SINS when it was GOD who gave us those sins in the first place?

The BIG BANG direction does not take us any closer to the truth because we still have to answer the questions:

1. how?
2. why?
3. where did the stuff that created the BIG BANG come from?

BUT...  and more importantly...  why am I thinking about this in the Hot Tub when the whole purpose of the hot tub is to RELAX and not think of anything?

One thing is for sure, mankind on earth relative to the size of the universe is literally INSIGNIFICANT to say the least.  Does belief and faith make mankind on earth more SIGNIFICANT, especially when a member of mankind DIES?

My big question is this:  Does each SOLAR SYSTEM have a God and a HEAVEN?

Just Relaxing a bit...

About 12-15 years ago, after my wife and I paid off our mortgage on the house, we decided to renovate the outside of our house in case we did not have enough money to afford to go on a vacation to Myrtle Beach, SC which is where we both like to go in the summers.
\

Our first order-of-business was to install an above ground about 24-26 feet in diameter, then build a deck around the pool big enough for me to completely walk around to clean and wide enough to add a 12 foot by 12 foot gazebo along with a 5-person hot tub next to the wall of the house since the pool proper was about 10-12 feet away from the house. 

During those 12-15 years, we have had to do nothing to our pool or pump (except add a new motor) but our hot tub (a Hot Springs Prodigy) has required maintenance twice at a cost of about 1/2 of what we paid for it.  Part of the problem is that we were using powders to clean the tub and that was causing problems even though powders is what the seller recommended we use.  Once we switched to liquid, our only issues has been replacing the heating elements. 

A month ago, our hot tub stopped heating the water and we called the technicians expecting a $2,000 bill and decided that we would use our COVID-19 stimulus money from the Government but it was just a bad switch in the electrical box which cost us substantially less except for the huge labor fee.

My wife sits under the gazebo most every day in the summer when it is not raining or lays in a lounge chair soaking up the sun and if she gets too hot, cools off in the pool.  I use the pool on a daily basis but have to wear long sleeves because of my Melanoma and the sun, but what I do is walk around the circumference of the pool for exercise.

As far as the hot tub is concerned, I use it at least every other night all year long, remaining in the 104 degree water for about 30 minutes each time.  The jets are pre programmed to only last 15 minutes for health reasons.

Our investment in our backyard was the best money we every spent and those monies did not come from salary or savings but from consulting fees that I earned on-the-side as a second job.  If I had remained in NC, my skill set would have been a dime-a-dozen and no consulting would have ever come my way, but in TN I was unique and consulting gigs were easy to acquire.