one of the worst things you can drop in a swimming pool!!!!

[GHM]

I thought you were a Canadian ? A little cold water shouldn't bother you.

[tenax]

yes, i left my igloo and hopped in my pool LOL..seriously, i tried to convince myself that it was likely no colder than the lake water at my cottage, but then again..i don't like swimming in there either..not a kid anymore i guess yes, i got the razor blade..with my foot..and no cuts ma! i thought about a magnet but didn't think that a magnet would stick to an aluminum pole? and the only magnet i had was a spare 16 ozer for my guitar speaker..still attached to the speaker cone

by the way, for anyone who doesn't /hasn't lived in a winter climate with snow and cold temps, it's absolutely true the older you get, the less tolerant you are to it...when i was a kid, we used to play soccer wearing joggers,jeans and a jean jacket for 2 or 3 hours in -20 celcius or colder temps..now, i'll be hard pressed to go shovel snow in a spacesuit when it's that cold

[DavidD]

but didn't think that a magnet would stick to an aluminum pole?

Think like a sailor (and now apparently an astronaut as well), anytime a situation arises, first think how/if duct tape can help......

Dave

[mbar]

AAAH, a razor blade is not the worst thing you can drop in a pool - I wish we could see the video! Just think of how much money you saved by getting it out before it did any damage! Congrats.

[tenax]

i actually did think of duct tape david..first thing after trying the net and brush..but didn't think it would stick underwater..could have tried it i guess, anyhew

[sailork]

Forgive me Tenax but I can't imagine a pool being "cool" in August. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around that. Please forgive my ignorance but how does one shoo polar bears off the ice in the winter?

Dave, I doubt a sailor would have used duct tape to tape the magnet onto the pole. Clearly the thing to do is spend all afternoon drinking rum and whipping the ends of some light gauge line. Then he would have needed to consider the best knot to tie the magnet to the end of the pole. Perhaps a bowline? Maybe a half hitch? After the preperations had been made he would have jumped into the pool and fished out the razor blade just as tenax did. However, he would have had the advantage of a pint or more of antifreeze in his blood. Unluckily, next morning he would have the new problem of how to get the pole, line and magnet off the bottom of the pool. I'm thinking a trip to the local chandlery for a boat hook would be necessary. Hopefully there's a liquor store nearby.

[tenax]

hey sailor..that doesn't sound very good, does it? anyhew...that's one thing i should have done..had a stiff drink first before i jumped in..knew i was missing a critical element as i contemplated how best to remove the foreign object of concern....

in regards to the temp...you're right..it does sound weird..august in alberta is desert like..by august, it still can get hot during the day (28C) but overnight can get as low as 5 or 10C. july is really the only month where it stays hot overnight..in july, without the pool heater running with the same temp as we had today, my pool would stay between 26 and 27C without running my heater, a comfortable temp. not so now! if you're wondering how it would get so cool in august, i'm saying that's the outside low overnight temp. at the start of august, in calgary, it went down to 3C on a cloudy overnight..and that's just freaking sad. checked my dig thermometer outside..it's 18C right now..pretty warm night but nothing like back in july where it was 27, 28 all night!

[Poconos]

Tenax, I gather you dropped the whole utility knife in the pool and not just the blade. In either case I'd take the vacuum head off the pole, tape the hose to the pole, then approach the knife from the handle end and the suction should suck it right up the hose into the skimmer. It should fit inside a typical 1.25" diameter hose. Assumes your vacuum hooks to a skimmer. Also, a good source of strong magnets are old hard drives.
Al