The Rain Continues — Riverside, February 2010

Michael Torres & E. J. Wamsley working at the SCP counter in Riverside, CA

The rains just keep on coming here in Southern California…but no complaints here! — its all needed and welcomed!

Speaking of welcome —  E.J Wamsley and crew gave us a huge welcome back to open up our first CPO class in Riverside for 2010 this past Thursday and Friday, February 4-5.  Thanks guys!

Our class again was as diverse as ever - new guys, seasoned pool guys, and facility managers.   They came from distant areas of California, too:   Santa Barbara, Yucaipa and Indian Wells!

Starting off  the first day of class, we learned some new terminology, and about constants, formulas and conversions, while also learning about BTU’s,  the area of a circle (πR²), square inches to square feet, PPM…..and much more.

What’s PPM? — Parts Per Million — it is a weight ratio.  An example:  1 ppm of chlorine means that there is 1 pound of elemental chlorine to 1 million pounds of water.  What’s a million pounds of water? — about 120,000 gallons.  How many pounds of elemental chlorine in 1 gallon of liquid chlorine? — Oh, about 1 pound.

They love the Mike n' Ike's & Hot Tamales!

So if you add 1 gallon of liquid chlorine to a 120,000 gallon pool, you will raise the chlorine level 1 PPM (it does not take much).  For a regular backyard pool - 15,000 gallons ( 1/8 of 120,000) it only takes 1 pint to raise it 1 PPM  (1/8 of a gallon = 1 pint) or 1 quart to raise it 2 PPM! .  Hey–you just learned the definition of PPM and how to use it!…a step towards understanding pool water chemistry.

Some popular changes and additions in 2010:

- Our Mike n’ Ike’s and Hot Tamale candies, hand-wrapped in our new CPO class schedule-YUM!….and

- Our new Thursday-Friday classes are a win-win for us, for PoolCorp and for our students (plus everyone gets to go home at 5:00 p.m. on a week day!–hooray!)

Thank you, PoolCorp — you’re AWESOME!

Return to Riverside - November 6-7, 2009

Thanks for hosting us E.J. Wamsley!

SCP PoolCorp, Riverside, CA / E.J. and Steve

We were at the Riverside SCP facility just six months ago and were reminded again this weekend what a truly nice facility it is!  E.J. and his staff are committed to excellence–and it shows in every corner of the facility and in the friendly atmosphere within.

More good news! - Our classroom in their upstairs meeting room was full!  We had seasoned pool guys there,  some people  just starting in the business,  a few from nearby public school districts, and a representative from a private swim school.  Thank you all for your time and effort in attending our class to learn more about the health and safety of recreational swimming pools!

The tragic accidents of children drowning was discussed, and it was stated a couple of times in class that “one entire pre-school class is lost to drowning every year in Orange County alone!”  Based on a pre-school class size of 7 or 8 children–that is truly a horrifying and tragic analogy to think about, especially in light of the fact that drowning  IS 100% preventable.

Here are a few facts: (as stated in the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act:  H.R. 6-303, Section 1402):

1. Of injury-related deaths, drowning is the second leading cause of death in children aged 1 to 14 in the United States.
2. In 2004, 761 children aged 14 and under died as a result of unintentional drowning.
3. Adult supervision at all aquatic venues is a critical safety factor in preventing children from drowning.
4. Research studies show that the installation and proper use of barriers or fencing, as well as additional layers of protection, could substantially reduce the number of childhood residential swimming pool drowning and near drownings.

Check out a safety tip that we posted back in May 2009:   APP_Safety _Tip_May2009.

Click here to read the Orange County Health Care Agency’s Drowning Fact Sheet:  OCHCA_Drowning_FactSheet

Test Time in Riverside

Thank you E.J. and all of PoolCorp for promoting a safer and healthier swimming pool!   You saved a child’s life today!

And our appreciation goes to Kyle Maddox, for once again opening and locking up the facility for us on his personal Saturdays.   Thanks so much, Kyle!–you rock!

CPO On the Road Again

….this time to the Coachella Valley, the Desert, and San Diego!

As part of our working non-service week, we planned a two day CPO ”Road Trip” to seek out new teaching locations in Riverside County (specifically, in the desert area somewhere).

So we took off early yesterday and headed through Riverside County to the Coachella Valley, stopping first at the SCP office in Riverside and the Superior office in Grand Terrace to leave CPO class schedules and registration forms.  By the way, our next class is in Riverside, June 5-6, 2009…..and there’s still room for more students, if you are thinking about signing up!

We headed to the desert next, BUT our first stop was to visit with Steve Little, President and CEO of Hire Standards Pool Maintenance.  What an impressive, enthusiastic and dynamic young man he is–WOW!!  He was truly an inspiration to listen to as his story unfolded about how he got into the pool service business and how he has become so successful!  Steve Little has over 1,000 residential pool customers and his business is growing so fast that he has recently moved into a brand new facility and is wanting his staff of 40 to obtain their credentials as Certified Pool Operator!!  Check out his new website!! So after having lunch with Steve (by the way, Steve–thanks again for lunch!) ….

We headed up the road to Indio where, we visited with Dave Barfuss, the Superior Branch Manager, and he showed us around and was very happy to help us advertise and hold CPO classes at his facility.  Dave is standing by to hold classes there whenever we’re ready, but he did suggest that we head west to Superior’s Palm Desert store and talk to Renee Nelson (National Pool Tile Branch Manager).

By this time of day, the temperatures had risen to 95 degrees (summer arrived early in the desert, according to Dave–and we could feel it!)….. AND it was getting late and we weren’t sure we were going to make it to Palm Desert before closing.  But when we arrived at Superior, we found Renee hard at work in her NPT office.  She showed us their huge tile showroom that she says has had as many as 50 in attendance for other teaching seminars! Wow!–we were blown away! She was so accommodating, saying that the upcoming summer months would be a perfect time to schedule classes, and that she and her staff would even set up the room for us!  Thanks, Renee!!–You are awesome!!  Since Palm Desert is in between Indio and Palm Springs and since the showroom is so wonderful, Steve and I decided that we HAD to hold class there.  So the next step is to confirm dates with Renee, re-do our CPO class schedule, and get the new ones out to all the SCP and Superior locations pronto!

BUT first we had to go to the San Diego Superior store this morning to meet Brett DeVanna (Branch Manager) and see their beautiful store and office.  Brett was very excited about us holding CPO classes at his facility.  He took us upstairs and showed us their very nice meeting room space and break room accommodations, also offering to help us in any way possible!

A HUGE thanks goes to SCP and Superior!  Because of their gracious support of our CPO classes, we will soon have five (5) teaching locations in: 

• Canoga Park (L.A. County)
• Orange (Orange County)
• San Diego (San Diego county)
• Riverside (Riverside County) and
• Palm Desert (Riverside County)

Stay tuned for future updates on classes in these locations!!

After stopping by Torrey Pines Lodge for a superb lunch at A. R. Valentien restaurant (did you know it was recently rated top 10 restaurant in San Diego?), we headed back home in the rain to get back to work!  More details to follow…..