Episode 10 · June 23, 2026
From Strawberries to Submarines to Swimming Pools
Where the habit of paying attention actually started
Ten episodes in, this show has been about chemistry. Pumps, pH, cyanuric acid, the rules the pool industry got wrong. This episode is about where all of that actually came from.
It starts on a strawberry farm in Missouri and moves through a submarine, twenty five years of building homes, and a pool route in Kansas City that none of it was obviously headed toward. Some of it is funny. Most of it isn’t. This is the most personal episode in the catalog, and it explains more about how I look at a pool than anything else in this show so far.
No Circle update this week. No homework. Just the story.
Inside This Episode
01
The Farm
Twelve miles northeast of Sedalia, Missouri. Three acres of strawberries, an orchard, a garden that wasn’t a hobby. Where the habit of watching a system closely enough to know what it needs got built, years before there was ever a pool involved.
02
The Man Who Came Home
Who my father was, and what he carried home with him that nobody in 1953 had a name for yet. This is the part of the show I’ve been circling for three episodes without quite landing on it.
03
Finding the Work
Twenty five years of building custom homes, the first questions about pool chemistry, and the moment an engineer who couldn’t stop asking why finally went looking for real answers.
04
The Through Line
What connects a strawberry farm, a nuclear submarine, and a swimming pool route in Kansas City. And who this whole platform was actually built for.
A Note About This One
This episode doesn’t have a takeaway list. It’s not that kind of episode. If you’ve been with this show since the beginning, you already know something has been building toward this. If you’re new, this might be the best place to actually understand what Pools Scientific is for, and who it’s for. Give it the full hour. It earns it.
Referenced in This Episode
- Episode 1: Why Pool Care Is a Science Problem — the first telling of how this platform actually started
- Ask John: poolsscientific.com/ask-john — Episode 11 opens the mailbag. Send your questions now.
Next Tuesday — Episode 11
Ask John
Ten episodes of me talking, you listening. Next Tuesday, that changes. The first Q&A. Real questions, real pools, on the air. If you’ve got one, the Ask John page at poolsscientific.com is open.
New episodes every Tuesday.
Episode 10 · June 23, 2026
From Strawberries to Submarines to Swimming Pools
Where the habit of paying attention actually started
Ten episodes in, this show has been about chemistry. Pumps, pH, cyanuric acid, the rules the pool industry got wrong. This episode is about where all of that actually came from.
It starts on a strawberry farm in Missouri and ends on a pool route in Kansas City that none of it was obviously headed toward. Some of it is funny. Most of it isn’t. This is the most personal episode in the catalog, and it explains more about how I look at a pool than anything else in this show so far.
Just the story.
A Note About This One
This episode doesn’t have a takeaway list. It’s not that kind of episode. If you’ve been with this show since the beginning, you already know something has been building toward this. If you’re new, this might be the best place to actually understand what Pools Scientific is for, and who it’s for. It runs about thirty five minutes. Give it your full attention anyway.
Referenced in This Episode
- Episode 1: Why Pool Care Is a Science Problem — the first telling of how this platform actually started
- Ask John: poolsscientific.com/ask-john — Episode 11 opens the mailbag. Send your questions now.
Next Tuesday — Episode 11
Ask John
Ten episodes of me talking, you listening. Next Tuesday, that changes. The first Q&A. Real questions, real pools, on the air. If you’ve got one, the Ask John page at poolsscientific.com is open.
New episodes every Tuesday.