Katie Crysdale

Good Morning, I've spent the last five days in Fort Lauderdale for the Pool & Hot Tub Alliance (PHTA) Certified Pool Operator (CPO) Instructor School. I'm one of a dozen instructor trainers (ITs) who rotate through facilitating 1-2 classes per year to train new CPO

Happy, er, Thursday? ICYMI: we've moved this weekly newsletter from Fridays to Wednesdays permanently as of yesterday. (Our last newsletter was sent on Friday, September 5, and our next newsletter will be sent on Wednesday, September 24.) I'm sending this week's newsletter on Thursday

Welcome to September. A quick programming note: this newsletter is permanently moving to Wednesdays after today. If anything big pops up, I'll do a short update next week (September 10). Otherwise you can expect newsletters to resume regular programming on Wednesday, September 17. The delivery time is still

Happy Long Weekend! Fresh off a cruise to nowhere (thanks Hurricane Erin), I want to lead with a story I have opinions about. Family Sues Cruise Line After Drowning During Bermuda Port Visit Respectfully, snorkeling in the open ocean will always carry risks. Full stop. The claims that the ship

Good Morning, Recently I learned about Dieter Rams, a German industrial designer. You've probably seen some of his iconic designs without even realizing it. Two things he said that resonated with me: "Less, but better" and "indifference towards people and the reality in which they

Good Morning, I heard the most incredible, probative phrase to use when defusing a customer interaction that's quickly going off the rails: "It seems you have a reason for saying that...." - Chris Voss Chris Voss is a former FBI hostage negotiater, so he knows a thing

Good Evening, I wish I could say I had some words of wisdom for you this week, but it's just been... a week. I'm going to jump straight into aquatic industry news (below) and plan to be back with a clearer head next week (or this

Happy August! I don't know about you, but I'm very happy to say goodbye to the dumpster fire that was July 2025. Last weekend I went to someone's house for dinner in Cochrane, Alberta. Cochrane is a town just outside of Calgary. I don&

Good Afternoon & Happy Friday, I've shared in the Certified Pool Operator (CPO) class a few times recently that I drive a 13+ year old vehicle. I'm usually very prompt about preventative maintenance, however in March I was quoted $5800 worth of repairs with parts they

Good Morning, We are 45 days out from Labour Day. Depending on where you live & work, summer is either almost over or barely half-done. I've been thinking a lot about momentum versus movement this week. The idea is that movement is the false sense of productivity