Weekly Ephemera #35

• The Earth's population crossed over the eight billion mark this week.  Haven't decided if this is good or bad.
• On Monday we replaced our water heater.  I'd thought it was new when we moved in (2008) but, reading the tag a bit closer, I think it was manufactured in 1996 (This makes sense since our house was built in 1997).  So the heater was over twenty-five years old or over fifteen years over the usual ten year lifespan of a gas water heater.  This may explain why the first person to take a shower in the morning always had a lukewarm shower.  The new one heats up quick, is very hot, and we love it.  I'm just kicking myself for not replacing it sooner.
• I hung a shelf over my computer desk to hold a few of our travel treasures.  I used command strips to hang it.  They should have easily held the weight but I think I had one of the sticky strips slightly wrinkled when I put it up and not long after it came crashing down.  It broke the bezel of the computer flat screen.  It still works ... it just has a hole in the plastic.  I rehung the shelf, this time with screws and anchors.  D'Oh.
• I was supposed to go to see Wakanda Forever on Thursday but I apparently got the time wrong.  So I tried again on Friday and managed to see it.  I thought it was good.  It had its faults and I wouldn't call it great but it was good enough.
• I was planning to walk twice this week but the movie mistake changed those plans.  I only walked once this week for a total of 7.2 miles (11.6 km).  I am creeping longer and longer but I am not anywhere close to where I was last spring.  My endurance is not what it used to be.  I'm not sure if it's just a consequence of my age or I am not trying hard enough.
• The Wife went to a Notre Dame game with her brother and cousin this weekend.  It was snowing and one of the coldest weekends so far this year and Notre Dame won in a blow out ... and the Wife had a great time.
• Sunday was a warmer day so I trimmed a few branches off a fur tree in the backyard.  Without those branches more ground will be exposed under the tree so I can plant more under it in the Spring.
• This week I intend to put up all the Christmas stuff.  This week is going to be warmer than last week.  My rule is usually not to put up decorations until after Thanksgiving but I think that rule will be bent this year.