Friday Funnies

“X” marks the spot . . .

But, who’s going there to look for any treasure?

Broken Blogger

While we have been able to post on our blog, even if sporadically. Sometimes it let’s us sign in and post, but other times there’s an endless loop of trying to sign in and leave a post comment on another blog.

Just wanted y’all to know, we really tried to comment on some recent posts as you may have tried on ours and know what . . .

It ain’t our collective faults!

Seems like issues with Blogger are becoming a weekly (almost daily) problem. There’s a website with known issues – called Known Issues for Blogger – The latest on what's still a problem, what's getting fixed, and what's been taken care of, direct from the Blogger team. And there’s also a Blogger Help support page. Only problem (and a BIG one) is both these sites don’t seem very helpful and are not really current

Here’s what some folks have reported in the past 24 hours  on the blogger help site. . . please note that all comments are verbatim (including types, abbreviations, etc.)

No it still isn't working for me I still need to log in to place a reaction in someone's blog and I am still anonymous.

Can't log in at all on blogger. Logged in fine to Gmail (which is usually "good enough" .. but keep getting log in screen for any attempt to access admin tools for blogger).

I login at my dashboard, no problems there. I go to a blogger blog and comment, and instead of my username being there I have to pick "Google account", which then takes me to the login screen, where I login (selecting remember me), and I get taken to the comment form again, and show up as anonymous, instead of as my user name. Then I type the word verification, and click post, and it takes me to the login screen again. Then after I login again it takes me to the comment, and I have to start all over again. It also isn't accepting WordPress or OpenID as an option.  Also, I end up getting logged out of all other Google products (reader, Gmail, etc.).

I click on sign in and it takes me to my dashboard just find, but when I click view blog it takes me to my blog page, but it says sign in again in the upper right hand corner.  I can no longer edit anything from my home page.  I can only work from my dashboard...it's driving me nuts!  Help!

Posted on Blogger Help - Tuesday, May 24, 2011

We're investigating an issue which is preventing login and comment posting for some users, and hope to have a fix released shortly. Thanks for your patience in the meantime.
Labels: comments, login, outstanding

Also Tuesday from the Blogger Help from Brett, Google employee. . .

Hey folks, an update: We are in the process of rolling out a fix which should address the issues from this morning. Please reply directly in this thread and let us know if things have resolved. This affected my personal blog, and now things are fixed so I'm assuming others will see an improvement very soon (if they haven't already) -- -brett

Keep on working on that fix, cause it’s STILL broken.

Carried Away?

A while back, Grenville posted that in late July we will become 2nd time grandparents with the arrival of a granddaughter.

And, as we did earlier for our grandson, we’re already gathering baby bargains in the local thrift stores.

Many items are not only like new – some are brand new and never worn by a baby – maybe too many outfits in the same size?

WHAT deals we’ve found! The bib above and this hat were 25 cents each. At these prices, we can afford to buy a wardrobe and have $ left over for toys – or a college education?.

Saving money aside, this is great fun. Any clothes she can’t use will be donated elsewhere, so it’s all good.

We’re trying to avoid the all-pink look, adding yellow and purple outfits.

This week, we got a chance to buy blue baby clothes as NJ friends became 1st time grandparents and we sent these for their new grandson.

Can you tell that we’re having a great time shopping?

What is This? #11 Answer

YES, the What is This? #11 post from earlier this week is – a Bird Bath

Sort of . . . OK, it’s only the pedestal base, since the top bowl piece has a crack and is awaiting repair by Grenville.

We have a second one in the front yard. This plastic birdbath has withstood summers and winters the past several years. We bought it for under $10. The penguins skate on the little ice pond in colder months and frogs swim in warmer ones – hanging out those little skates and towels is a lot of work. What you don’t believe that  -- WHICH part?

CORRECT answer once again came from Sandra, who almost went with Kathleen in guessing it was a plunger, seconded by Elaine.

And, it sort of, kinda DOES look like an upside-down plunger.  Elaine, you may be right in posting that a plunger might be more “essential” than popular.

BUT considering how often I have to wash it out and refill it, the birds find the bath VERY popular.

Clingman’s Dome

NO, these folks are not walking a ramp to the “Mother Ship.”Although, it may look like it in this photo.Some folks are already there.What is this place and why are these people here?

At 6,643 feet, they’re at the Clingman’s Dome observation deck getting a great overview in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Clingmans Dome is not only the highest peak in GSMNP, but also the highest point in Tennessee, and the second highest point east of the Mississippi. Only Mt. Mitchell (6,684 feet) in NC is higher. The tower is located on the state line ridge of North Carolina and Tennessee; the observation tower stands equally in both states.It’s located along the state-line ridge, half in North Carolina and half in Tennessee. To reach the peak, we drove the 7-mile Clingmans Dome Road from Newfound Gap Road (US 441), which runs through the [park. After parking, we walked a steep 0.5-mile paved  trail that lead to this 54-foot observation tower. The Appalachian Trail crosses Clingmans Dome, marking the highest point along its 2,144 mile journey. From the tower, the average viewing distance is about 22 miles.On a clear pollution free day, views can amplify as far as 100 miles into 7 states.

Where did the mountain get its name, I was curious and learned it was named after Thomas Lanier Clingman, Civil War general and U.S. senator from NC. He was appointed senator (D) in 1858 to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Asa Biggs. During the civil war, Clingman was one of 10 senators who refused to resign and was expelled in absentia. During the Civil War, he was a brigadier general in the Confederate Army. He  explored and measured mountain peaks, and through his survey work, he spread information that NC was a site to find diamonds, rubies, platinum, corundum, and various other rare minerals. 

Clingmans Dome is open year-round, but the road leading to it is closed from December to April 1, and whenever weather conditions require. Hiking and cross country skiing is allowed on the road during the winter.

The cool, wet conditions on Clingmans Dome's summit make it a coniferous rainforest. But, pests, disease, and environmental degradation threaten the fragile spruce-fir forest. Dead trunks litter the area, and dying trees struggle to survive another year. Berries thrive in the open areas; a young forest will replace the dying trees.

What's killing the trees at Clingmans Dome?

The balsam woolly adelgid (Adelges piceae)  an insect pest that infests and kills stands of Fraser fir (Abies fraseri) in the spruce-fir zone. This fir occurs naturally only in the southern Appalachians and used to be the dominant tree at the highest elevations. Because the adelgid was introduced on trees imported from Europe, the fir has little natural defense against it.

The adelgid blocks the path of nutrients through the tree by injecting it with toxins. The trees starve to death; thousands of dead snags are all that’s left on the highest mountain peaks.

A “cousin” of this insect, the hemlock woolly adelgid, is killing hemlock trees throughout GSMNP.

Distance Between the Rails and WHY???

WOW,,, i posted a stumper…. Thanks to everyone who answered and those that know the answer, because they are smart little possums.

Daisy was close with the idea of the width of a wagon, but what was in front of the wagon was more important. And Anonymous who ever that was, had the right distance at 4 feet 8.5 inches. This is the gauge of the standard railroads in the US even though there are still some narrow gauge railroads around. BUT why this strange number. While Wikipedia has a nice description, i sort of like the ‘urban legend’ one. Now i can’t confirm this but in Great Britain horses were used to pull coaches before the steam engine was perfected. AND if you put two British horses side by side their asses measured 4 ft 8.5 inches. So there you have it, the width of two British Horses Asses.

Most Popular U.S. Park

Do you know its name? Hint: Last week we visited one of the 2 states it’s located in.

IF you said the Great Smoky Mountain National Park (GSMNP) – you’re absolutely RIGHT – this is the most visited U.S. national park with 8 to 10 million annual visits.That’s 2X as many visitors as at any other national park.Unlike most other national parks, there is no entry fee to the park.

WHY? The reason for free entry dates to the 1930s. The land that today encompasses GSMNP was once privately owned. The states of Tennessee and North Carolina, and local communities, paid to construct Newfound Gap Road (US-441) which runs through the park.

In 1936,Tennessee transferred ownership of this road to the federal government, and stipulated that “no toll or license fee shall ever be imposed …” to travel the road. Newfound Gap Road was then one of the major routes crossing the southern Appalachian Mountains; the state was concerned with maintaining free, easy interstate access. North Carolina transferred its roads through abandonment, so no restrictions were imposed. If GSMNP ever wanted to charge an entrance fee, it would take action by the Tennessee legislature to lift this deed restriction.

Established in 1934, GSMNP was created from more than 6,000 tracts of private and commercial land bought with money from public and private donations.

About 100 native tree species make their home in Great Smoky Mountains National Park — more than in all of northern Europe. The park also contains one of the largest blocks of old-growth temperate deciduous forest in North America.

GSMNP is a renowned preserve of wildflower diversity and has over 1,660 types of flowering plants, more than in any other North American national park.

It is often called the “Wildflower National Park.”  Peak spring wildflower blooming usually occurs in mid- to late-April at lower elevations in the park, and a few weeks later on the highest peaks. Spring ephemerals include flowers such as trillium (the park has 10 different species), lady slipper orchids, showy orchis, crested dwarf iris, fire pink, columbine, bleeding heart, phacelia, jack-in-the-pulpit, little brown jugs, and violets.

Ephemerals are so named because they appear above ground only in late winter and early spring, then flower, fruit, and die back in a short 2-month period, emerging from February through April, and gone (dormant) by May or June.

These are some of the flowers in bloom the day we visited.

IGSMNP is one of the few places left in the eastern U.S. where black bears live in a wild, natural habitat and are often seen and photographed.

Sorry, no photos as we missed seeing any bears during our visit, but saw several groundhogs and lots of black-capped chickadees.

The GSMNP straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain. The border between Tennessee and North Carolina runs northeast to southwest through the centerline of the park. Nearby Tennessee towns of Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Sevierville, and Townsend and Cherokee, Sylva, Maggie Valley, and Bryson City in North Carolina receive a significant portion of their income from tourism associated with the park.

The two main visitors' centers in the park are Sugarlands Visitors' Center near the Gatlinburg, TN entrance and Oconaluftee Visitors' Center near Cherokee, NC. Ranger stations provide exhibits on wildlife, geology, history of the park, and sell books, maps, and souvenirs.

Establishing most of the older parks located in the western United States, such as Yellowstone, was different than creating GSMNP. In those cases, Congress carved parks from government-owned lands owned, usually where no one wanted to live.

But people were living in the current GSMNP areas. Land was owned by small farmers and  large timber and paper companies. Farmers didn’t want to leave family homesteads; corporations didn’t want to abandon huge forests of timber, miles of railroad, logging equipment, and villages of employee housing.

In the late 1890s, people talked about a public land preserve in the  southern Appalachians; a bill entered the NC legislature, but failed. By the early 20th century, Northerners and Southerners were calling for some type of preserve: a national park or a national forest.

What’s the difference?  In a national forest, consumptive use of renewable resources is permitted; but in a national park, the environment and resources are protected for everyone to enjoy.

In May, 1926, President Calvin Coolidge signed a bill that provided for the establishment of the GSMNP and Shenandoah National Park, allowing the Department of the Interior to assume responsibility for administration and protection of a park in the Smoky Mountains after 150,000 acres of land had been purchased.

The government was not allowed to buy land for national park use, so fund raising was started. In the late 1920s, the Tennessee and North Carolina legislatures each appropriated $2 million for land purchases, money was also raised by individuals and private groups. By 1928, $5 million had been raised, but land costs had doubled. The Rockefeller Memorial Fund gave $5 million for purchase of the remaining land.

Farms and timbering operations were abolished to establish the protected area of the park. Mountain homesteaders, miners, and loggers were evicted – 6.000 small farms, large tracts, and other parcels were surveyed, appraised, and sometimes condemned. Timber and paper companies had valuable equipment and inventory which required compensation. The park was officially established in June 1934.  During the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Works Progress Administration (WPA), and other federal organizations made trails, fire watchtowers, and other improvements to the park.

• Bears over 1,500 black bears live in the park, which equals a population density of approximately two bears per square mile.
• Hiking there are over 800 miles of trails ranging from quiet walkways to multi-day backpacking backcountry treks.
• Historic Buildings GSMNP has one of the best collections of log buildings in the eastern United States. Nearly 80 historic structures — homes, barns, churches, schools, and grist mill.
• Waterfalls can be found on nearly every river and stream in the park.
• Fontana Dam is the tallest dam in the eastern United States, and is  located near Fontana Village, North Carolina.
• Mountain Farm Museum  at the Oconaluftee visitor’s center is a unique collection of farm buildings assembled from locations throughout the park.
• Clingmans Dome at 6,643 feet this is the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We hiked the half mile up and half-mile down. (MORE in an upcoming post.)

What is This? #11

WOW – how time goes by.

It’s nearly the end of the month without a single What is This?  Until now, that is. Here’s the first – and maybe only – What is This? for May 2011.

Do you know what this is part of ?

Hints: It looks the same horizontally and vertically. This is only part of the entire object, which is very popular. We have a couple of these here at the Frog & PenguINN . But, to tell you more (like where they are located) might make this far too easy.

As always, NO prizes, just braggin’ rights cause it’s just for fun!

The answer in tomorrow's post. Everyone is eligible to post a best guess – no exclusions.

Still no answer!!!!!

Well, there still is no answer to the burning question of what is the distance between the rails of a standard American Railroad track?

So here is a visual hint. This is a shot from the GSMRR Maintenance Yard of a set of train wheels and section of track minus the car. Not your usual site, but good for illustration.

SOOOOO What is the distance between rails and what is the measurment based on???? AND remember 'smart possums' should not give away the answer :-)

Grenville (heading back out the the fields)

Natural Highs . . .and NOT

Home Again on the VA eastern shore after a  week-long road trip to NC to celebrate the 14th anniversary of our 1st date by riding a train, touring a national park, and hiking to an observation tower. Boy, do we know how to relax (?).  We had a GREAT time. Grenville had his first-ever train ride in the engine cab. Needless to say he was excited – didn’t it show in his recent post and videos.

Our actual wedding anniversary (#12) is in August. We already have something special planned – of course, we’ll be posting about that too and sharing with everyone !

Cloudscapes viewed on the drive from Bryson City to Durham, NC.

The clouds looked ominous, but the weather was not and there were only a few raindrops. We had a few rainstorms during the trip, but nothing compared to the week-long soakings all along the U.S. east coast. The flower and veggie gardens here at home needed lots of watering on our return yesterday.

Clouds are fascinating to watch, especially when Grenville is driving and l’m in the passenger seat. This group looked like a giant plane. What do you think?

Gas prices were up and down from NC to the VA eastern shore – LOW of $3.69 to HIGH of $3.99/gal and everywhere in between. The average at home now seems to be $3.75/gal – down 14 cents from $3.89 when we left over a week ago.

Unlike clouds, none of these are natural.Could this be a sign (sorry, couldn’t resist) of lower prices to come – or a temporary drop before a summer season rise?. The next few months will let us all know.

ANY gas price drops in your part of the country/world?