Kool Pool Service fits in the desert

Public Record, The, Jun 14, 2005 by Davis, Rick

The desert heat has a way of cooking up unique problems. For instance, a dip in the pool in the middle of July isn't necessarily an ultra cool experience.

And understanding why is as simple as doing the math. If the air temperature has inched up to 110 degrees, the water in the pool has risen accordingly, creeping into the 90s and feeling a bit too much like bath water. Stay cool though, says Tim Priehs, a local entrepreneur whose pool service business offers a solution to such beatingthe-heat challenges. Priehs' valleywide "Koo] Pool Service" recently added a new product - the Glacier Pool Cooler.

Billed as energy-efficient, affordable and simplistically designed, it's a compact piece of equipment that hooks up to a pool's "return line" and lowers the temperature of pool water by up to 15 degrees by removing heat from it. The product is manufactured by a company headquartered in Houston.

"This area is potentially a strong market for a product like this," said Priehs, the Coachella Valley dealer for Glacier. "I've sold 10 units in about two months. It works very efficiently in cooling down a pool. And it's affordable because it operates for about the same [electrical] cost as an average ceiling fan."

Glacier, which sells for $1,500 and up, is the newest phase in a poolservice venture launched by Priehs, on a part-time basis 14 years ago. At the time, he still was working in the restaurant business as a banquet captain at The Ritz-Carlton (now The Lodge at Rancho Mirage). But taking over an eight-account service route from a friend seemed like a good idea.

"Three years later, I left the restaurant business and the pool business has grown to what it is," said Priehs, "Today, I have 85 pool accounts. All of the pools are on a salt-water system."

Kool Pool Service is a change of pace for Priehs, a 45-year-old Detroit native who moved to California in the early 1980s and seemed to hit his stride as a fringe player on the entertainment scene. It included cameo roles on the TV shows General Hospital and CHiPs along with parts in music videos with Oliva NewtonJohn, Barry Manilow and The Pointer Sisters.

Eventually, Priehs wound up in the desert, as much out of curiosity as anything after working for an Orange County company that sold timeshares for Palm Springs locations.

"I liked the desert immediately," said Priehs, who has lived in the same house at the top of the cove in Cathedral City for nearly 15 years. "I feel like this is a good place for me."

Priehs' desert lifestyle changed dramatically on the morning of Jan. 8, 2003. While riding a motorcycle for a security company that was providing escort for a funeral service. lie struck a car broadside at a Cathedral City intersection, suffering critical injuries that included three fractures in his back.

That spring, he had surgery that involved two incisions to insert two titanium rods and 13 lag bolts in his spine. That was more than two years ago and Priehs still is rehabilitating with daily physical therapy (Bikram yoga) and walking. He totes a walking stick everywhere, but said it's "just my security blanket most of the time."

"Some times on some days, it's tough." said Priehs. "But I try to stay positive and keep a sense of humor. For me. the glass definitely is half-full. I realize how worse things could be. I could have died. I could be a quadriplegic now. So I count my blessings. I look forward to therapy every day. And my dogs - if not for them, the last 2 1/2 years would have been tough."

Priehs' perspective includes tough times years ago when more than one addiction had him strung out. Nowadays though he gets a natural high from Bikram yoga, a form of the ancient physical/mental discipline that emphasizes 26 postures and is practiced in a room heated to 100 to 105 degrees.

"A massage therapist recommended it. If I don't do it daily, I get all knotted up," Priehs, said. "It loosens me up mentally, too. It just makes me a better person."

Before the accident, Priehs was a 12-handicap golfer who played on the winning team twice (1998, 2002) in the Frank Sinatra Celebrity Tournament. Now he just wants to get out there and play 18 holes again. And yoga and daily 1 1/2-mile walks with his dogs, Lizzie and Lily, are steps in the road back.

Priehs, said his life also is enriched through community service for organizations that include the Family YMCA of the Desert and Children's Discovery Museum. He also plays Santa Claus at three preschools operated by a neighbor, Mark Hastings.

"Tim has been through the mill dealing with issues that would change an average person's whole outlook on life," said Hastings. "But he's very resilent and charismatic. A real optimist. And that's infectious for those who are around him."

Priehs said seeing his business grow, largely through referrals, has been satisfying and enabled him to continue to make a living.

"Since the accident, I've only been able to run the business from my office with other people doing the service," said Priehs. "But it's critical that I've been able to keep it going. It's my livelihood."