Okay, so it sounds like I don't need to sweat the long period of time between flushing.

As to the filter breakdown, how hard is that for someone who isn't mechanically dexterous? ;-) The pool maintenance guy that the pool builder sent to balance my water once the pool was built said the breakdown should be done once a year. I'm okay with paying someone to do that rather than risking damaging the filter because of my own ineptitude.