February 7, 2025: don't buy it if you can't maintain it

Good Morning, A few weeks ago, my washing machine started to fail. I wasn't particularly surprised: of the five new Whirlpool appliances that came with the house in 2018, the dishwasher died in 2020 and the oven's been on borrowed time since 2023. I scoured error

January 31, 2025: people behaving badly

Good Morning, After a very long day yesterday, I'm back in Alberta. Air travel 12 hours after an aviation disaster was eerie: I feel like everyone I interacted with (from gate agents to passengers to airport retail staff and flight attendants) was on their best behavior. Usually someone

January 24, 2025: river/stone walking in swimming pools

Good Morning, Happy Friday. I'm in Florida for SGE Camp 2025, an annual conference for aquatic professionals hosted on a cruise ship. Many people have asked me why I attend this conference, so I'll be vlogging it this year similar to the WWA Show and IAAPA

January 17, 2025: swimming pools as fire suppression systems

Good Morning, What a week. Between the fires in California, negotiations in the Middle East, the ramp up to a US Presidential inauguration, and continued drama in Canadian politics, I'm happy to provide you with a series of small distractions by talking about the otherwise neutral world of

January 10, 2025: New Year, Same Person

Good Morning, Happy new year and welcome to 2025. Is January 10th too late to say that? I'm not big on arbitrary calendar dates, but I know I personally could do with a reset to shed 2024 and start fresh in 2025. For me, 2022 was an absolute

December 20, 2024: Season Finale

Good Morning, The dearth of meaningful emails in my inbox suggests many people have already stepped into extended time off. I never want to send a newsletter just for the sake of sending one out of habit, so I've got a real mix of aquatic industry stories to

December 13, 2025: Weight & Height Restrictions

Hello from somewhere south of Cuba. Bad weather has us skipping Coco Cay (Bahamas), and doing circles in the Caribbean, so I'm catching up on work. I've been trying to post on Instagram because there have been SO many incredible user experience (UX) design elements on

December 6, 2024: Aqua Mafia

Happy Friday everyone. I'm joining you from sunny Miami this week, prior to boarding a cruise. If you're interested in vacation pool content from RCCL's Icon of the Seas, please check out what's happening on Instagram. If you're not, I&

November 29, 2024: a veritable pool-pourri of news

Happy Friday friends, and a belated Thanksgiving to our US poolies. To make up for the dearth of news last week, this week was BUSY. My inbox exploded! It wasn't matching my mood to wind down before my birthday and a few weeks of vacation, but here we

November 22, 2024: IAAPA Expo & 2025 Conferences

Good Morning, I'm at IAAPA Expo this week in Orlando. I'm still processing everything I saw and heard at what that bills itself as "the global attraction industry's premier event." From amusement rides to inflatable bouncy houses, bowling alleys, arcade games, roller