Ecosmarte Pools-like swimming in bottled water!
The post title comes from a quote on the Ecosmarte Pool site; they’ve purchased this review so I can give you some info on how you can have a pool that is clean and safe to swim in without using salt or liquid chlorine to keep it clean. I got quite an education on pool maintenance while researching this post, since I don’t have a pool and didn’t have one growing up, either. I knew that pools used liquid chlorine to clean the water, but I had no idea how the process worked until now. So, how does Ecosmarte clean your pool without chemicals?
The ECOsmarte system creates two sanitizing agents, copper
ionization and liquid oxidation. As water flows from your pump
back to your pool it travels through the ECOsmarte
ionization/oxidation chamber. While in the chamber, the water will
either receive copper ions or become oxygenated depending on
the setting of the switch on the controller.Both the ionization and the oxidation sanitizes your pool water,
killing bacteria, algae, and viruses. It is simply the best
chemical-free method to sanitize your pool water.
One way to clean the water in pools is to use salt chlorinators, which turn salt into chlorine and hydrogen gas through a chemical reaction with the help of an electric current. The current is housed in a chamber containing a generator which uses an average of 500 watts of AC power for a 20,000 gallon pool. In 3 to 5 years time, the generator may need to be replaced, at a cost of over $400. Water splashing from a salt water pool can kill plant life, sterilize the soil, and is actually banned in some places in the United States and Australia. In addition, the salt can cause damage to pool covers, solar covers, and to landscaping placed around the pool.
Ecosmarte eliminates the need for messy chlorine generators by using an ionization/oxidation system that was originally developed for the Apollo Space program to create clean drinking water. It uses an average of only 40 watts of DC power to treat 20,000 gallons of water. The copper bars in the ECOsmarte chamber cost less than $100 to replace and they should last 4-7 years. The ECOsmarte chamber is warranted for 5 years and should last indefinitely. The water in Ecosmarte pools is said to feel “silky”, and is as safe as bottled water. You won’t have to run to the shower to rinse off after a swim, your eyes won’t feel irritated, and it isn’t harmful if swallowed.
Ecosmarte also sells pool filters. The most common form is the sand filter, which can filter 15 to 20 gallons per minute per square foot of filtered area. The filter contains grains of sand through which the water passes, and debris gets trapped in the grains of sand. I had no idea!
Ecosmarte donates 5% of their profits to the environmental charity of your choice, including the World Wildlife Federation, Sierra Club, and American Forests. They are committed to providing customers with a 100% chemical free, clean pool that is safe for people and the environment. Customers praise the clear water and appreciate that it doesn’t dry out their skin. After looking at images of sparkling clear pools on the website, I know I wish I had a pool so I could try out the Ecosmarte system for myself!
If only I’d been a blogger back then
One of the honored guests at the Virtual Baby Shower that I participated in, Mrs. Chicken, just wrote a post about how exhausted she is with this second pregnancy, how some days she feels disconnected, wonders what the heck she got herself into. I was reading through her comments and then started leaving one of my own, only it got so long that I came here to turn it into a blog post instead.
Ryan was 17 months old when I got pregnant with Nathan. I was working full-time at the Credit Union, we had a terrific caregiver who’s house was across the street and five houses down from ours, and Chris was working for a company whose offices were less than a mile from our house.
On a beautiful Spring weekend in April, 1998, Chris, Ryan and I participated in a 5K walk for the March of Dimes. We got home and Ryan went down for a nap, and I stretched out on the couch. And slept for four hours. When I woke up I said to Chris, “wow, I don’t feel good. My stomach feels queasy.”
Dun dun DUN. I made a doctor appointment, peed into a cup, and sure enough. But here’s what’s weird-I have almost no specific memories of being pregnant with Nathan. I see photos from that time with my belly round and I just get no memory sense at all. I know it was a relatively good pregnancy, no high blood pressure or diabetes, no bedrest. In fact, I went into labor naturally, which I hadn’t even done with Ryan.
But why can’t I remember? I can’t nod my head along with Mrs. Chicken and say “oh yes, I remember that feeling”, or “no, that didn’t happen to me” because I just don’t remember it. I was growing a person inside my body, you’d think I would have some memories of that. I do remember that labor started on Sunday, December 20th at Chris’ Aunt and Uncle’s Christmas party, and that I kept feeling my belly tighten. I also played the piano while everyone sang Christmas Carols, and can I just say that oh my GAH, what was I thinking with this hairdo:
(I’m the one in the middle with the curling iron curls on the top of my head. And the festive red nails, which went with me to the hospital and were red for a long time because I was too tired to remember to take the polish off. On my left is Chris’ Mother, on my right, his Aunt). The HAIR.
Rags to Riches
Nouveau Riche: French for “New Money”. Refers to a person who has accumulated significant wealth in their own generation (not inherited), usually used to emphasize that the person had a lower socioeconomic status and that their acquired wealth allows them luxuries that were not previously available.
All righty then! Once again proving that there is a Wikipedia page for everything, there is a page specifically for “Rags to Riches” stories, which I discovered while searching for more information on Liz Murray. Lifetime Television made a story about Ms. Murray’s life called Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story. Ms. Murray became homeless at age 15 after her drug-addicted Mother died and her Father, unable to cope and also drug-addicted as well as HIV positive, moved to a homeless shelter.
I watched Homeless to Harvard a few days ago, and I was fascinated. Thora Birch plays Liz Murray without turning her into an object of sympathy or pity. Murray is shown to be capable and self-sufficient, and highly intelligent. She gets herself into an elite college prep school in Manhattan, and despite an inconsistent record of previous schooling, graduates in two years, then wins the New York Times scholarship for needy students and is accepted into Harvard. Ms. Murray now works as an inspirational speaker and is highly sought after.
I’m not sure Liz Murray is the best example of the definition of “Nouveau Riche”, but she definitely demonstrates a “rags to riches” success story. If you get a chance to watch Homeless to Harvard, you’ll be touched by her story.
I’m a published photographer. For reals.
A few months ago, I got a Flickr email from someone asking if they could use one of my photographs in Spacing, a magazine devoted to “Understanding Toronto’s Urban Landscape”. I don’t live in Toronto, but my photo was just what they were looking for. After verifying their details and asking some questions, I agreed. There was no payment available but they sent me a copy of the magazine. And that’s how a photo I took ended up here:
To illustrate a story about how fewer kids are walking to school these days, the magazine used a photo I took on the first day of school last September. This is my next door neighbor’s great-grandson, Nathan, and Kaitlyn heading down the sidewalk to the elementary school which is in my neighborhood.
This is the link to the photo on Flickr. Even I can’t believe that I can actually say that I’m a published photographer!
It’s the Two’s A Charm Virtual Baby Shower!
When Kristen from Motherhood Uncensored invited me to this virtual baby shower for our friends Mrs. Chicken, Chicky Chicky Baby, and Her Bad Mother, I got a little teary, I did. I haven’t been to an actual baby shower in years, and the only bad thing about a virtual one is that I don’t get to give each of them my favorite baby gift, which is a soft teddy bear completely dressed in baby clothes. They’ll each just have to close their eyes and image it, just like I’ll close my eyes and pretend I’m playing “baby bingo” and “guess what kind of baby food this glop on the paper plate is”.
My gift to each of them is to debunk the worst advice I ever got while pregnant with my second child. And then, I’ll tell you about the great door prizes you can win from the host of the shower, Cool Mom Picks and Better than a Playdate!
By far, the worst thing I have ever heard anyone say to a woman pregnant with her second child is “ooooh, your first child is going to be so JEALOUS. He/she is going to HATE the baby! Watch out he/she doesn’t try to KILL THE BABY IN IT’S SLEEP!!”. All right, so that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but there does seem to be this general feeling that the first child will automatically be jealous of the second. I’m here to assure you that this is not, in fact, always the case.
Ryan was 26 months old when Nathan was born. For a long time, it was like having two babies. My diaper bag was stuffed with two sizes of diapers, the whole tub of wipes, sippy cups, bottles, two sizes of clothing in case of accidents, two sets of blankies and lovies and oh my GAH. How did I ever manage to leave the house?! At first, Ryan didn’t really pay much attention to Nathan, except to come running to find me anytime Nathan so much as mewled, saying “Mama! Babeee cwying! Babeeee cwying!” He also felt the need to point out crying babies everywhere we went, and I had to reassure him that the other baby’s Mother was right there and everything would be okay. It was sweet, really.
Because we had a small house, we moved Ryan out of the crib and into a twin bed and put Nathan in the crib, in the same room. I am convinced that Nathan woke up crying far less than Ryan had simply because Nathan wasn’t alone in the room. And once he was big enough to climb out of the crib, I would go in their room in the morning and find Nathan had crawled into bed with Ryan and was fast asleep. Once Nathan started walking and interacting, Ryan picked right up on his playmate potential, and soon the two of them were a little team, playing together, eating together, watching cartoons together. There was never any jealousy on Ryan’s part, ever.
So my dears, please don’t listen to the ass-vice givers who will try to tell you that your first child is doooomed to hate the new baby. Help your older child feel important about their new role as big sister, play up the fact that you are now a TEAM, that everyone is important and needs to HELP. And whatever you think you need to leave the house now, take twice as much.
You can play along too and enter to win some kick-ass gifts courtesy of Cool Mom Picks. Write a post sharing the worst advice you ever got, and send your link to motherbumper@mac.com by Sunday, May 4, along with the name or number of the gift basket you want if you win in your email. Your post will be shared on Better Than A Playdate and three posts will be chosen at random to win one of these gift baskets:
#1 Her Bad Basket ($200 + Value!)
* Rowdy News Scoop Bag
* Puj Baby Sling
* Bla Bla Bird Rattle
* Belly Ups (2 sets)
* BOOB Nursing Dress (size Large)
* Pedipeds Boys (12-18 months)
#2 Mrs. Chicky’s Chick Basket ($250 + Value)
* O Yikes! Diaper Bag (Magenta/Orange/Brown)
* My Turtle Baby Nursing Cover (pink)
* Pedipeds Girls (6-12 months)
* Pink Oopc Bib
* Zutano Snapsuit in Floral (12 months)
* Bella Tunno Bib (pink/black)
* Flower Child Poetry DVD
* B Delicious Onesie
* Bink Link Paci Clip
#3 Chicken, Cheese, or Whatever Else You Want ($200 + Value)
* $100 Credit for Gift Certificate of your choice from Leverage, that you can use at any of dozens of shops including Amazon, Home Depot, Macy’s and Bath and Body Works
* “Love Life” Hand stamped Concentric Circles Necklace by Lisa Leonard
* Mominatrix T-Shirt
* Crystalyn Kae Vegan Leather Clutch in Green
Seriously, that is AWESOME. Each Mama is also getting a $25 donation made to the charity of their choice through Johnson’s Global Charity. You can also stop by Better than a Playdate to grab the code for the cute baby shower button up there at the top of the page if you want to use it on your own post. Congratulations, HBM, Chicky, and Mrs. Chicken!! You’ll be just as awesome at parenting two babies as you are at parenting one 
