Review: My Sutro Smart Pool Monitor
a review of the new My Sutro pool monitor
My Sutro Pool Water Monitor
We have had our stock tank pool for three summers now. And for the first two years, I used a pHin water monitor to keep the pool balanced and in good shape. However, pHin was aquired by another company which discontinued the service, so I had to recycle my pHin and look for an alternative. Of course, I could have turned to manual pool testing kits. But I love the convenience of an automatic monitor and an app that tells me what to do. Enter: My Sutro. My Sutro is a pool water monitor that uses a different technology, but it is a great alternative to the pHin — and has some advantages, too.
Disclosure: My Sutro sent me their product, but all ideas and opinions are my own.
This post contains affiliate links. AKN
My Sutro claims to be: “The world's leading water testing device. The easiest way to actually measure your pool chemistry and keep your pool and spa crystal clear.” And that is an interesting difference. Each Sutro monitor utilizes a cartridge to conduct testing. This cartridge of reagents is housed in the monitor and must be changed out about once per month. My Sutro is actually testing the water using the reagents inside the cartridge.
And I have seen the difference!
How does My Sutro work?
In the past, I used far more chlorine and other chemicals. With My Sutro, my stock tank pool is cleaner, clearer, and more comfortable with far less intervention. According to My Sutro, this is because their device is taking actual measurements rather than using a method of extrapolation called ORP (the tech used by pHin and other monitors). This testing means, however, that the device is somewhat larger and requires monthly maintenance. That’s not terrible, and frankly, the improved functionality makes such things feel trivial.
Each day I open the app and check the report on our water quality. The app also tells me what, when, and how much to add to adjust the water. It also tells me the water temperature and provides weekly and monthly reports so I can see trends as they develop. The app is easy to set up, it stores the exact products that I use, and you can adjust the notifications and their frequency. It makes maintaining my pool very simple and straightforward, frankly. And I don’t have to worry about it.
My Sutro at work in our stock tank pool
My Sutro works with chlorine, salt water, mineral sanitizers, and bromide pools. I may switch from chlorine next summer, and that’s not a problem with My Sutro either.
But here’s the best part: you only have to pay for the months that you’ll be using My Sutro. Once you purchase the device, there is a monthly fee. But if you live in a place where you can’t swim year-round like I do, you only pay when your pool is open. That means I won’t be paying for the 7-8 months of the year when we have our pool shut down. That saves a lot of money over time!
Having used My Sutro for several months now, I am truly pleased with how it works and with the resulting clean water and sparkling pool. It’s an investment for a stock tank pool, but I think it is a worthy one. And I look forward to years of clean water to come!
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Looking for a pool monitor to keep your pool clean? I've been using the My Sutro pool chemistry monitor for a few months, and here is my review. A pool monitoring system will help you figure out why your pool is cloudy and fix it quicly. It's one of the best pool monitoring systems, and I'll tell you why and what it costs, too. Also: how to keep a pool clean, how to keep a stock tank pool clean
Review: How to Train Your Dragon 3
As much as this film is about death-defying, dragon-borne ariels and fighting a bad guy with a decided Putin world view and accent, it is deeply rooted in Hiccup’s relationships, the cornerstone of the trilogy.
All images courtesy of Dreamworks and NBCUniversal
A Post-#MeToo Protagonist for All of Us
In our family we celebrate great stories about friendship, love, tenderness, and intimacy. Female protagonists are common in such stories — Anne Shirley, Laura Ingalls, Ramona Quimby, the Dashwood sisters, the Marsh girls.
Male protagonists in such stories are rare. But then there’s Hiccup and the motley band of Vikings in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World.
Hiccup is cast as the unlikely hero in this trilogy of movies, loosely based on Cressida Cowell’s series of books. He is quiet. He is small. He has no interest in becoming like his Nordic chieftain father, an omnipresent theme in the first two movies. But in this third installation, those duties fall squarely on his shoulders, and he must figure out how to lead his friends and fellow Vikings and to save the dragons they all love so much. And as much as this film is about death-defying, dragon-borne ariels and fighting a bad guy with a decided Putin world view and accent, it is deeply rooted in Hiccup’s relationships, the cornerstone of the trilogy.
And here’s the thing about Hiccup — he is the hero our boys need to see. He is the antidote to the toxic vision of masculinity presented by so much of the entertainment industry. He loves deeply. He is confused. He is sensitive and soft and shy and not a natural leader and those things don’t just magically disappear when he becomes the “hero.” He tenderly cares for dragons AND enjoys a rollicking ride through the sky on the back of Toothless, the sweetest-looking dragon ever.
He is a good friend, not in the superficial joshing, ribbing, teasing way, but when Toothless can’t fly alone with a new-found potential mate, Hiccup fixes Toothless’ tail, intuitively addressing the needs of his friend who can’t ask for such things. Not only does Hiccup see that Toothless may need a mate, but he also sees why that would be important.
Yes, Hiccup is surrounded by other young-adult Vikings who are less noble and more gross than he is. There are plenty of potty jokes for the elementary-school crowd. And there is some teasing about love and marriage — but never about the bond between friends or Vikings or dragons. And this is a subtle but important difference. In Berk, friendships are cherished, sacred.
And then there is Astrid.
First, let me note that this movie brilliantly dispenses with the silly, awkward courtship rituals of so many animated movies — the ones where either the male looks a buffoon or the female swoons or rejects him and then gives in. The first two movies both had a bit of that. But in this third installment that notion of romance is replaced instead by several charming sequences neatly drawn from Planet Earth 2 as Toothless and his mate preen and prance looking oh so much like Wilson’s bird of paradise — a fact not lost on Bambino who loves the entire Planet Earth series. The mating ritual is at once silly and sweet — and carefully observed by Hiccup from afar with a scientist’s curiosity and a friend’s loving help.
Back to the humans… having removed the awkward silliness of human courtship, that animal-documentary device lends a seriousness to the relationship between Astrid and Hiccup which is rare in children’s movies. Astrid isn’t just a love-interest. She isn’t just a friend. She is a partner, and without giving away too much, the unequivocal message comes from Hiccup’s bad-ass mother, Valka, who notes that Hiccup and Astrid must partner and work together — to lead. This isn’t a “girls can’t do it without boys” message — it is about the strength of partnerships and teamwork. Astrid and Hiccup. Together.
But perhaps the most powerful vision of masculinity comes in the snapshots of fatherhood — flashbacks between Hiccup and his now-deceased dad — and a vision from the future as well. Visions of tenderness, warmth, love, and compassion. The picture of fatherhood in this film is not of a son unable to live up to his dad. It is of the warmth and love between father and son, a passing down of tradition without threat or fear. Tears shed. Hands held. Deep hugs. And a father at once shielding his children — and awakening a tenderness in them. This is a change from the last two movies, and I think this installation is better for it.
I hope none of this is unintentional. I hope it marks a new chapter in movie-making. After all, America Ferrera, the voice of Astrid in this series, is one of the leaders of the TIME’S UP movement. And with little fanfare TJ Miller was replaced following several recent scandals. Hollywood has a lot of work to do. But there is a deep sensitivity in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World which gives me hope. I pray we see more protagonists like Hiccup for our child — and yours.
We are picky about the movies we welcome into our home — and even more so about the movies we see at a theater. But How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World was storytelling worth our time and our money.
PS: Now curious about the mating rituals of Wilson’s bird of paradise? Here you go…
