Pool Hunting

We had one in the bag so we got a small guarantee of a session before we hit the trail on hunting down some new backyard bowls.

Today I went pool hunting with my friends. I had rustled up about 5 good virgin pools in my neighborhood and called in the back up (Ben and Mike, the Walrus bailed out) to help me sweet talk my way into getting to skate them. We had one in the bag so we got a small guarantee of a session before we hit the trail on hunting down some new backyard bowls.

Pool #1:
This wasn’t really our pick of the litter when just 3 doors down Pool #2 was beckoning. We tried knocking and the lady at home wouldn’t answer the door. We heard her yackin’ on the phone, but I think she was way to scared to open the door and talk to us. I couldn’t stand the odor of all the cat piss at the front door so we bailed quickly.

Pool #2:
This lil’ beauty really got us excited. It was a sick looking pool and it had a tarp over it which would help keep us cool in this pleasant ‘Valley 100’ degree day. We approached the house and gave a sharp knock at the door. A friendly mexican man opened up and gave us the look over. He quickly grabbed his son/nephew (?) to interpret our questions. First I laid it on the line. “We’re pro skaters and we saw you have an empty pool in the back yard…blah blah blah”, but this failed to sway him. What does he know, he had a black eye already and we were ready to give and get another one if that was going to be the price of admission. I gave up and Mike tried to smooth talk his way in with more questions. It gave us hope, but again, the the guy with the eye came back to say no, “the owner wont have it”. Who was this owner we wondered? Some mob boss we couldn’t get to see face to face? Damn! On to the next pool…

Pool #3:
I found this pool out of straight dumb luck. Pulling a u-turn in my truck I notice the coping and lip in my rear view mirror. I took notes as to where it was and vowed to come back and ask. Today I did just that. Unfortunately for us nobody seemed home. We jumped the fence anyways hoping to flush our prey out of the house, but no-one came out. It was ready to ride with just a little sweeping. The house was locked up like a compound in Waco TX. and we didn’t want the crusty Camaro driving home owner to whack us in the ass with rock salt or buck shot so we split!

Pool #4:
This beauty has been blinking on my radar at the core for almost 2 years now. I don’t know what it’s going to take to get someone to answer the door at this house, but I’ve heard close to 10 dogs barking at me when I’ve knocked before. I hear the t.v. on and I hear you sneaking up to the peep hole to look at me through the little eye hole. JUST ANSWER THE FUCKING DOOR! We’re not going to risk it on account of the dogs. I’ll be back forever until I get to ride this one, it’s less than 1 mile from my house.

Pool #5:
I called this pool ‘My Pool’ in the archives. I have skated it about 3 1/2 years ago back when it was a boarded up home. Now it’s been swimming only for 2 1/2 years in that pool and we want it back! Actually I noticed it was half drained again from the alley behind the house. Remember it’s only 10 doors down the alley from my house now, so I pass it a lot. Anyways, I barge the door and get the lady talking and she informs me she will be remodeling the pool very soon. I say, we can pump it immediately for free and have it dry in an hour. She’s afraid her dogs might fall in! She’s dumb! If they fell in now they’d drown. If they fell in to an empty pool, then the transition would catch them and they would be in pretty good shape. She finally says I might be able to skate the pool during the remodel after they drain the water. Better than nothing I guess.

Pool #0:
We started the day by going to one of our old trustworthy spots, the soot bowl. Me and Ben have been riding this pool for about 2 years. It has seen better days and we definitely treated it a lot better than the pool crews that have skated it since then. It’s barely standing on it’s last legs. Cancer is spreading both deep end and shallow and coping and tiles are breaking down. She’s still a good pool, just a little too hot to really session her today.

So in the end, we pretty much struck out on all our efforts. Mike and Ben left me at home and planned on bailing and skating another pool on their way home. I hope it worked out, because I wasn’t able to make anything happen for them. Sometimes that’s the breaks I guess. Send me your stories of triumph or failure. If you don’t have any you aint getting out much and if you do I bet you have your share of both.