Keeping Busy at Work

@moffittjc (118219)
Gainesville, Florida
November 14, 2018 4:05pm CST
Normally, as we head into the cooler months (cooler is a subjective term when you live in Florida), my workload slows down a little bit since I manage our city's public swimming pools. However, we've now converted all of our pools to year-round pools by heating them, so now I don't quite get the break I normally get. On top of that, I have $1.7 million US dollars to spend on renovations and improvements to our pools, so I am finding myself almost as busy now as in the summer when things are pretty crazy. If the picture loads, it shows one of our Olympic-size pools being drained so that we can do some repair work and make some nice improvements. Of course, we picked the week before Thanksgiving to do the work because it's normally cool and our patrons normally travel. However, it has been hot and sunny, and our pools have been packed with patrons. So, with our largest pool being closed for renovations, our second largest pool is operating at near capacity each day. Luckily, cold weather should roll in tomorrow, and it will take some of the demand away at our pools, giving our staff a little break. By the way, it takes a week to drain this 700,000 gallon pool!
12 people like this
12 responses
• Valdosta, Georgia
14 Nov 18
Wow, a week! I just learned something new, I had no idea it would take that long. Sorry things have been so hectic for you!
3 people like this
• Valdosta, Georgia
15 Nov 18
@moffittjc That mkes sense.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118219)
• Gainesville, Florida
15 Nov 18
We have giant mobile pumps in our public works department that could drain that big pool in 3 days, but to do so we would have to dump the water into the street behind the pool, which would not only flood the street but also push all that water into the storm drains, which connect directly to local creeks. We don't want to put chlorinated water into our local creeks, so we drain it slowly so that we can dump the water into the sewer system instead of the storm drain system
3 people like this
@moffittjc (118219)
• Gainesville, Florida
15 Nov 18
@LovingMyBabies We do try to be environmentally friendly when we can!
2 people like this
@LadyDuck (454979)
• Switzerland
15 Nov 18
I was wondering how many gallons, it would cost a fortune to fill it up. At least you have many patrons who pay.
2 people like this
@LadyDuck (454979)
• Switzerland
15 Nov 18
@moffittjc Here in Switzerland the price of the water is reasonable, in France was horribly expensive. I paid three times more there living in an apartment than what I pay here that we have a pond, I water the garden and we have an outside hot tub.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118219)
• Gainesville, Florida
15 Nov 18
@LadyDuck Did you ever visit the Florida Keys when you spent time in the United States? Because the Keys are a chain of islands, they have to pipe their water in from mainland Florida, so their water is terribly expensive, just because there's not a lot of it to go around. But otherwise, water is cheap and abundant throughout the rest of Florida.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118219)
• Gainesville, Florida
15 Nov 18
It is very difficult for swimming pools to break even or turn a profit, unless it is an aquatic theme park. Most municipal pools (including ours) operate in the red. I have an expense budget of $1.2 million, yet we only bring in about $280,000 in revenue. Our pools are always operating at capacity, so if it were up to me I could raise prices and not see a huge drop off in demand. However, our elected officials set the rates and fees, and they want to keep the prices as low as possible for our citizens. Thankfully, our water rates are very low, so believe it or not it probably won't be that expensive to fill the pool back up when we're done with the renovations.
2 people like this
@bluesa (15023)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
15 Nov 18
Sheesh, good luck getting everything done. I hope cooler weather did roll in for you @moffittjc . Here we're in the middle of a heatwave. Pace yourself, Jeff, can't believe it is already November.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118219)
• Gainesville, Florida
16 Nov 18
@ramapo17 I love wearing winter clothes, but being a natural-born Floridian, I don't have (and don't need) too many winter clothes. So it is fun when I finally get to pull them out of the closet and wear them. Long live winter! haha
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118219)
• Gainesville, Florida
15 Nov 18
The cooler weather is rolling in right now as we speak. It went from being summer-like hot yesterday to being winter-like freezing tomorrow. Unfortunately, the cold front will only last about 3 days before it warms back up again.
1 person likes this
@ramapo17 (30457)
• Melbourne, Florida
16 Nov 18
@moffittjc I am so looking forward to it as I can wear some of my winter clothes I brought here with me when we moved here.
1 person likes this
@Poppylicious (11133)
15 Nov 18
It's been really mild here, too. But we have very few outdoor pools in my neck of the woods.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118219)
• Gainesville, Florida
15 Nov 18
Swimming pools are almost a necessity here in Florida, due to our hot climate. Many homeowners have their own private swimming pools in their backyards. It's a nice way to cool off in our miserably hot and humid summers.
2 people like this
@Morleyhunt (21595)
• Canada
14 Nov 18
The Bay of Fundy empties of much more than that, twice a day...random fact. It's much too cold here to even consider swimming....even in a heated pool. The temperature today was 8°C with a wind chill of -17°C. I haven't checked the conversion but I do know that the wind chill was colder than 0°F.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118219)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Nov 18
That is darn-tootin' cold! People would be stupid to even try to swim in that kind of weather (well...a polar plunge would be the exception). Since all of our pools are outdoor pools (well duh...it's Florida! haha), we do close when the temperature gets down to freezing. On average, that only happens about 13 days per year in north Florida, And on those days, usually the temperature will climb above freezing once the sun comes out. We are, after all, the Sunshine State! LOL
2 people like this
@Morleyhunt (21595)
• Canada
14 Nov 18
@moffittjc in the summer we would swim in the Northumberland Strait....or for us in Baie Verte which is a bay off the strait. The local kids all swim in the tidal River (high tides give some great depth). I told hubby I want to jump off the Main Street bridge....just once....but would feel really exposed in my bathing suit...maybe next year. One of the moms told me...if I were to jump off the bridge the kids would probably consider me the coolest grandma ever!
3 people like this
@moffittjc (118219)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Nov 18
@Morleyhunt I can imagine you would be pretty popular with the kids if you ever jumped off that bridge! When I lived by the ocean in south Florida growing up, there was a big bridge that went over an inlet. It was pretty high, but as teenagers we would always sneak out there either late at night or early in the morning to jump off the bridge. It was pretty scare in the sense that the current in the inlet was always super strong, either from the tide going in or going out. So you always had to be careful or you could easily get swept away if the current was taking you out to sea.
1 person likes this
@paigea (35511)
• Canada
14 Nov 18
That is interesting. I had no idea, it would take a week to empty a pool. Our local pool is closed for a year.??
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118219)
• Gainesville, Florida
15 Nov 18
I can drain if faster (approximately 3 days) with large mobile pumps from our public works department, but it would flood the street behind the pool and overwhelm our stormwater runoff drains. So, instead, we do it slowly. Can you imagine our water bill when we fill the pool back up?
@valmnz (17100)
• New Zealand
18 Nov 18
I love reading your pool stories as, I think I've mentioned to you before, my husband is a retired pool manager and I'm currently competing for Masters swimming. In August I had a couple of swims in the outdoor 50m 2018 Commonwealth Games pool in Southport, Australia.
1 person likes this
@valmnz (17100)
• New Zealand
18 Nov 18
@moffittjc I'm sure you have. We have anyway, of the staff as well as the swimmers, and all the little things that can go wrong.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118219)
• Gainesville, Florida
18 Nov 18
@valmnz I think most of my craziest stories from the pools involve my staff in some way or another. When you're dealing with a bunch of young kids whose hormones are gong crazy, funny and interesting things tend to happen.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118219)
• Gainesville, Florida
18 Nov 18
I should write more stories from my experiences at the pools. I've got lots of good stories to tell! haha
1 person likes this
@ramapo17 (30457)
• Melbourne, Florida
15 Nov 18
You certainly are a busy man. That is what keeps you young and in shape.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118219)
• Gainesville, Florida
16 Nov 18
@ramapo17 Thanks Nancy! It's exactly that train of thought that gets me into trouble so many times! haha
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118219)
• Gainesville, Florida
15 Nov 18
It is either keeping me young and in shape, or it's driving me to my grave faster! haha
1 person likes this
@ramapo17 (30457)
• Melbourne, Florida
16 Nov 18
@moffittjc I know what you are saying but I have faith in you and know you can do anything you want to.
1 person likes this
@JESSY3236 (18760)
• United States
16 Nov 18
heated pools sound nice. weather has been crazy this year. We have had a lot of rain lately. I had two power outages yesterday. Today it's sunny, but not warm.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118219)
• Gainesville, Florida
16 Nov 18
It is sunny and cold here. Absolutely beautiful. I like cold weather, and wish this cold spell would last much longer. But it is expected to warm up again in 2-3 days.
1 person likes this
@Elizaby (6901)
• Pensacola, Florida
17 Nov 18
And it probably takes just as ong to fill it again
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118219)
• Gainesville, Florida
18 Nov 18
It takes a little less time to fill it than it does to drain it, because we'll have the fire department come hook up their fire hose to the hydrant that is out back behind the pool, so along with our own fill valve running, we'll also have the water from the fire hydrant helping to fill as well.
1 person likes this
@Freewings (399)
• Xian, China
16 Nov 18
Most people who swim in summer go to enjoy the cool, and those who swim in winter really want to keep fit. A few years ago I worked in a constant temperature swimming pool for a few months.
1 person likes this
@Nevena83 (65287)
• Serbia
18 Nov 18
I can not swim.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118219)
• Gainesville, Florida
18 Nov 18
I would teach you how to swim if I ever met you in real life. I'm a good instructor.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118219)
• Gainesville, Florida
18 Nov 18
@Nevena83 I could help you overcome that fear. I work with many adults who have the same fear of water. It would take some work, but I believe I would be able to help you!
1 person likes this
@Nevena83 (65287)
• Serbia
18 Nov 18
@moffittjc Thanks, but I'm scared of the water. As a little, I was drowning in the pool, and since then I have never come into the water.
1 person likes this