We’ve had great weather, with mild temperatures and occasional rain. Spring certainly is an enjoyable season.

We had a lot happen this week. We started last Sunday with a comedian/illusionist with  wine and desert. The entertainment was delightful. Some comedians have a sense of humor based on an edge of meanness. This person was not like that at all. Everybody who came had a great time.

Thursday our hot water heater failed. I was shaving and realized I needed more cold water than normal. I measured our hot water temperature. Instead of 120, it was 155. I used the web and the serial number to determine the water heater was 15 years old — it’s time for a new one. By the time I called the plumber, it was 4:45. They had a new one installed within 24 hours, which I thought was pretty amazing. We had to step down in capacity from 80  to 55 gallons. 80 gallon conventional electric water heaters are illegal in the US because they use too much energy. Plus, so much insulation is added that a new 55 gallon heater is just about the same size as an old 80 gallon heater. Did you notice a weird placement of the word “conventional” above? It turns out one can still by an 80 gallon hybrid heater. This has a heat pump to help heat the water. It uses much less energy, but the added cost and complexity only begin to describe the disadvantage of a hybrid unit. Plumbers fix water heaters, but they don’t know much about heat pumps. As a result, repairs are often trial-and-error affairs. The plumber told me he once had to make 4 visits before a hybrid unit was fixed.

I had the plumber add a “tank extender valve”. Plumbers are not permitted to set the water temperature above 120. The temperature setting is behind tamper-evident doors these days. A tank extender mixes cold water with the hot. The tank temperature can be set to 140, with the valve reducing the temperature to 120, with the net result of getting an extra 10 gallons in virtual capacity. After the plumber left, I turned the valve to increase the temperature as high as I could. I wanted 140, but ended up with only 135. I keep on thinking of the days of yore, when we were told that using a dishwasher meant the hot water should be 140 for health reasons. It’s easy enough to mix cold with the hot at the faucet.

Danita and I had scheduled a lecture at UMBC Thursday. I had to wait for the plumber, so Danita attended for both of us. According to the lecturer, the Chesapeake bay water level will raise 3 1/2 feet by 2080. It will be impossible to protect the popular islands (Smith’s, St. Michael’s ,etc.) Huge swaths of Dorchester County will be under water. It was a sobering talk.

Thursday evening, another resident and I gave a cybersecurity presentation. We had good attendance. Many people told me we did a good job. A few people told me they adopted one or more of the security measures we recommended.

We had an enjoyable neighborhood party Friday. We closed the week out by serving at a parish lasagna dinner yesterday evening.

I hope this finds everybody doing well.