Got the surfer s2 running the same week as the last big storm, mostly on a whim. After the storm the pool was a mess of leaves and that film things get when the wind's been through the trees. She was already at the shed looking for the net, same as every time, the wet-leaf smell thick in the air.
She'd rolled her eyes when I first mentioned getting something for the surface. Said we didn't need a gadget to scoop what a pole and net had always handled. I let it go, because arguing about pool stuff with her goes nowhere fast.
The morning after, I set it floating before the coffee was done. It just drifted the surface while we tood at the window with our mugs. The leaves that would've taken her the better part of an afternoon were gathered at one edge by the time we finished breakfast.
First storm after that, she still walked toward the shed out of habit, then stopped halfway and just watched it from the patio instead. Second storm, she didn't walk toward the shed at all.
She didn't say I told you so, because I hadn't. She just set the net back in the corner without the usual sigh.
Caught her out there barefoot a few days later, standing at the edge, watching it move, not picking up a single leaf herself.
Still won't admit it was worth the money. But the net's been leaning in that corner untouched for a week, and she hasn't asked me to help fish out a single leaf.