When you design and build with a number of highly skilled teams, you often can only see a client in the early evening when they come home from work.
This particular evening it was getting late around 8pm, I was a tad tired from driving perhaps 140 miles that day, and wanted to get home.
The client a Brazilian banker, loved detail.. I mean he kept a little book, with jottings in ( it was way more detailed than my site notes – I only kept up because I took pictures of everything).
This particular night we were looking at his pool – not the one in the picture ( I used that as an example) No this pool was an in ground 25 year old pool with a cover, never been emptied and he wanted the pool taken out. Removing 25 year old reinforced concrete pools is hard work, we used to get two a year on average, due to the huge cost of keeping the water warm enough to enjoy a swim.
So this night I’m dressed in a suit, walking next to the client when suddenly, my feet are sort of floating, I had missed the dogleg step area jutting out of the pool and was now attempting to tread water on top of a very old fabric cover, which was tearing fast as I scrambled to get out of this disgusting green smelly liquid..
The client saw what had happened, and ran off to the kitchen… I thought to find perhaps a towel.. but alas no, when I managed to get out somewhat bedraggled, on reaching the back door I hesitated to enter as I was dripping this green smelly liquid everywhere.. I heard ” Darling come quickly with a camera..Mr Coope has fallen in the pool”.. this brought not only his wife but the children as well…who took a few pictures while I sheepishly tried to leave.
The 40 minute drive home was filled with the aroma of a swimming pool that hadn’t been touched in 5 years and the thoughts of what my kids might say, when I finally arrived home !
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