Caveat Emptor

It's hot down here. I mean, REALLY freakin' hot. The kind of hot that makes Al Gore cry. It's 'Branch Davidian' hot....

So, what does the old lady want to do on Sunday, after an exhausting night previously performing in this blasted, oppressive heat? Take the toddler to 'Six Flags'!

After about 2 hours of that, and even she wanted to leave. It's too tiring pushing a stroller through that concrete playground in this kind of heat.

So, off to Target to find a 'baby pool' for a nice afternoon swim.

This is where it get's tricky. There are a variety of pools, from the 8$ simple blow up pool, to the 199$ 'kit' pool for the true white trash. After weighing the options, we settle on the 29$ 'Alligator Pool', as we are only partially 'white trash'. Kinda like a certain presidential candidate of mixed origins!

So, we get the pool, the hand pump, and set off for an afternoon of watery delight.

Fortunately, many years of porn surfing and instrument playing has resulted in pretty decent forearms. But that was inadequate to the task at hand. I must toil at the pump in the summer heat like a HUMMER.

Finally, it is inflated, and I begin the operation of tying down the 2 'slides' to the pool bottom. Then, I fill the small pool with water, and looking at the 2 'slides', it looks wholly unable to support my 16oz beer,let alone the writhings of my 35 lbs progeny.

The minute Paul reaches the pinnacle of the 'slide', it tips over, spilling him to the pavement below.Ouch. The 'other'slide leads from the pool to the ground. Ouch#2.

I then look at the box, where the 8-9 year old is sliding out of the pool. Then the toddler on the other slide. Upon closer examination, it looks pretty bogus. Clearly the 'riders' were photoshopped.

Being 'solution' oriented, I went with the 'white trash' solution, and used materials at hand and a little common sense. However, if I had been more attentive, I could have figured this out before I left Target. But, I looked at the shiny, exiting box and I 'hoped' it would live up to it's image. But, when I got the damn thing home, I had to 'change' my plans, and go with the old 'tried and true'.

In the end, Paul had fun, Mom was happy, and it was only 29$. But it was a pretty good metaphor for this elections politics, IMHO.