Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for October 19, 2023

A heated pool with a good pool service contract is a wonderful thing. A bright green pool that’s freezing all but one month out of the year, not so much. Besides, don’t they have an ocean where they’re moving?

In the last panel Janis has the “And there’s that” look. Arlo has a history here.

You married a real killjoy, Arlo

Wouldn’t you love to know who they are, and tell ’em to mind their own business?

Arlo, you’ve moon-bathed nekked in a tree AND frolicked in the moonlight in your nightwear in your younger years, which could be repeated with much, much less expense than a pool! BTW, a hot tub is just right for two.

I say, go for it!

Last time I went skinny-dipping I was just a kid, now it’s chubby-dipping.

Midlife crisis? Or maybe Arlo forgotten the ditty " happy wife……"

When I find out whoever “They” is, they will suffer substantial wrath.

They say that you will soon be the neighborhood attraction.

…what would the neighbors think?…

They say avoid the shrinkage and make sure it’s a heated pool.

Go for it! You only live once.

So true….but it depends on where you live. When I lived in NY, a pool was NOT an asset in selling a home. I would never have bought a home with a pool. The season to use it is too short-lived. But here in Florida, houses GAIN value with a pool. About $100k more! Of course, we use our pools all year…even in winter (with a pool heater, of course).

The trick is to design it so you can go skinny dipping in the sunlight.

It seems like “they” have always been naysayers…for centuries.

Forget the pool. Get a hot tub. That’s the way to go skinny dipping.

Hot tub, instead of a pool.

What matters most is the value you get from it Janis.

I’m sure Janis would insist on wearing a flannel bathing suit she surely owns.

Janis lost her lips? Must be at a loss for words on Arlo’s last comment.

Just make sure your fence is high enough and no neighbors with 2nd floors.

A hole in the ground you fill with water and MONEY. And hardly anyone uses them.

That reduces the value of your neighbor’s house.

I’m beginning to think google is giving him recordings of my wife and my conversations. I swear it’s a comic about my wife and me.

When I was in real estate, I had a house with a pool listed. One offer came in right in line with the value of houses in the neighborhood…without the value of the pool. When I pointed this out, the prospective buyers agent said, “My clients don’t care about the pool. The sellers can take it with them, if they want it.” Needless to say, they didn’t buy it. The ultimate buyer DID pay top dollar for the place, including the value of the pool.

Just go hot tub, there Arlo. Easier to keep and just as skinny dipping worthy.

As a pool owner, I do not recommend. Way too much work.

I agree. My brother had a pool. He spent more time maintaining and cleaning it than swimming in it. You couldn’t give me a pool for free.

I lifeguarded and managed pools in both high school and college and did private pool maintenance to earn extra money. Pools are indeed a lot of work. I learned my lesson(s) early on, which is why I don’t have one.

Arlo is such a horn dog.

Only good things, Arlo!

How old are Arlo and Janis in this strip? Do they have adult children?

Compromise with a very large bathtub and a very large shower with multiple shower heads both large enough for two people comfortably…..

Me and my Lady do it every chance we get.

If Arlo wants to be a semi-exhibitionist, he should just run naked around the backyard.

Hmm… I wonder if Jimmy has ever thought about having Arlo and Janis talk about going to a nudist camp.

Arlo, I like the way you are thinking!

I guess that “they” say that your resale equity is more important than enjoying life.

Do NOT get a pool. They are very expensive, tons of work and most people never use them after a while. I wish we could get rid of ours, but the only solution would be to move. My husband wanted the pool 30 years ago, but he never uses it and I do almost all of the work to take care of it.

That too. If I went skinny dipping in the moonlight I would lower the property values of everything within a 10 mile radius.

Beach ahoy.

Perfect retort, Arlo!

Better have a tall fence. We had a 6 foot fence but the neighbor’s kid liked to hang out on their roof.

My former employers parents had a pool. Filled it in with rock then concrete then dirt and made a nice flower garden. The lady who bought the house when the parents died loved the garden.

The insurance companies…they call swimming pools “an attractive nuisance”.

Seriusly Janis?

Once again JJ has been lurking around my house. Many years ago my, then divorced, wife was “skinny dipping” in total darkness in her in-ground pool. As she enjoyed the cool water suddenly the lights in the back yard all lit up; lighting the pool and the property surrounding the pool. The sudden lighting was provided by her 4 year-old son. As she desperately whispered his name he loudly said: "ma, ma, what you doing mama?! She sidled over to the edge of the pool and slipped out into a waiting towel. That’s about it. Much funnier when it occurred than I can describe here.Thanks for reading.

My kind of guy @ Arlo :-)

This reminds me of one of my favorite A&J’s of all time, from back in the 1990s, I think. Arlo was outside holding a basketball, telling Janis about a guy at work who was complaining about the falling “value” of real estate. Arlo said his response was something along the lines of, “I don’t know . . . I can still shoot baskets in my driveway.”