How nice it is to hear the wind blowing outside now and to know that the leaves landing on my pool cover can be brushed away with ease.

It's all thanks to some zip ties, bungee cords and a hole puncher.

In other years, it was a calamity when the wind would blow the pool cover off the sides of the pool, the leaves would fall in the water. I needed hours to fish them out and clean up the water.

Now, using zip ties, the far end of the pool cover is permanently attached to the pool. Holes are punched in the pool cover at both sides of the pool, and at the near end. One end of a bungee cord goes into each hole, and the other end is wrapped around one of the supporting pool poles. How perfectly lovely it is that I can sweep the leaves right off the cover.

How nice it is to know that when my saltwater generator's electrolytic module accumulates calcium deposits, from the water’s PH being out of balance, I can easily flush away those deposits.

All thanks to my new saltwater generator's design, flexible PVC piping and two union adapters.

It used to be that I would have to cut water pipes (which would stop the pump from working), take apart the saltwater generator, and soak the long electrolytic module for days in a large glass vase filled with vinegar.

Now I easily disconnect the flexible piping at the union junctions, remove the generator and re-connect the piping so that the pump keeps working. I unscrew one end of the saltwater generator, remove the short electrolytic module and soak it overnight in a plastic cup filled with vinegar. By the next morning, the deposit has dissolved.

How good these small solutions make me feel. No more dreaded leaves and calcium deposits. Why did it take me so long to figure these things out?

That is a subject for another essay.

Happy Giving!

Mr. Ebsen may be contacted at robertebsen@hotmail.com