MONKEY MUSINGS DAILY OPEN DISCUSSION #61 04/22/13 - 12/03/14

[klaasend]

Don't miss the Dana Pretzer Show tonight at 9PM ET!!



Click on link below to listen:

http://scaredmonkeysradio.com/radio.m3u

[crazybabyborg]

Thanks, everybody! John is as determined as I am that we're going. Michael has a 4 wheel drive and he'd rather drive mine or John's car anyway, so we may switch with him. They've already called school off tomorrow so since Waylon's preschool follows that schedule, he'll be with me. That's going to make the stuff I have to get done harder, but I'm going to plow through. Accumulations of 10 inches are expected in Gatlinburg, and 5-7 here. It starts in the Smokies in the morning, and here in the afternoon, so I'm hoping that by Thursday morning, they'll have the roads cleared? It's supposed to stop snowing Thursday morning and the temps won't be too far below freezing so I'm hoping the salt will work!

I'm mostly worried about that stretch between Pigeon Forge and the Smokey Mt. National Park entrance. That's a two lane windy road and I've known it to close before. With all the trouble it took to get a room, there's a LOT of people there, so hopefully traffic will help!

Blue Moon, that sounds like a great deal on a cabin! We always get a cabin if the family goes with us. They're great and we've always had a fun time! John and I opted for a room this time and managed to get one at the tramway to OberGatlinburg. We wanted to be able to park the car and walk to shops and restaurants. Room service sounded good too, but where we could get a booking doesn't have a restaurant. Crazy, isn't it? We have a room with a fireplace and whirlpool tub, microwave and fridge but they only offer breakfast off the lobby and you go get it!   

[Blue Moon]

Thanks, everybody! John is as determined as I am that we're going. Michael has a 4 wheel drive and he'd rather drive mine or John's car anyway, so we may switch with him. They've already called school off tomorrow so since Waylon's preschool follows that schedule, he'll be with me. That's going to make the stuff I have to get done harder, but I'm going to plow through. Accumulations of 10 inches are expected in Gatlinburg, and 5-7 here. It starts in the Smokies in the morning, and here in the afternoon, so I'm hoping that by Thursday morning, they'll have the roads cleared? It's supposed to stop snowing Thursday morning and the temps won't be too far below freezing so I'm hoping the salt will work!

I'm mostly worried about that stretch between Pigeon Forge and the Smokey Mt. National Park entrance. That's a two lane windy road and I've known it to close before. With all the trouble it took to get a room, there's a LOT of people there, so hopefully traffic will help!

Blue Moon, that sounds like a great deal on a cabin! We always get a cabin if the family goes with us. They're great and we've always had a fun time! John and I opted for a room this time and managed to get one at the tramway to OberGatlinburg. We wanted to be able to park the car and walk to shops and restaurants. Room service sounded good too, but where we could get a booking doesn't have a restaurant. Crazy, isn't it? We have a room with a fireplace and whirlpool tub, microwave and fridge but they only offer breakfast off the lobby and you go get it!   

Hate to tell you this but they don't/not allowed to use salt around the mountains, streams, pigeon river etc.  They only use sand, even on the mountain roads.  Sand is not very effective.  Hopefully the temps will help out a lot.  It is going to miss us and go south but the temps are suppose to do nothing but raise for the next 10 days.  I know they have already shut down parts of I-75 in North Georgia, mainly because of the mountains AND they are suppose to get up to 1"inch of pure ice.  State of emergency down there. 

I hope you all make it down there just fine and a 4-wheel drive will help a bunch.  Like you said, if all you get is snow and you have a 4-wheel drive you should be just fine.  Be careful-----watch out for the other guy.  That is the biggest problem in weather like this.

[Blue Moon]

About them not using salt down there---back several years ago we went to Gatlinburg during New Years and took my son and nephrew.  They were around 12 and 8.  We let them walk downtown and and we were not far behind them (they didn't want to be seen with us), we finally found them sitting on a sidewalk by the road.  They were laughing out loud is how we located them.  I went up to them and asked what was so funny.  They had been sitting there laughing at all the "old" people who were slipping and falling down.  I really didn't think that was so funny.

So, long story short, Gatlinburg is iced over and the sand really doesn't help at all.  It was a skating rink that year but the boys had a blast.

[crazybabyborg]

 

UH - OH. 

Geez, I'm hardly sure footed. If I were to post a pic of my feet and ankles, everybody would freak...... seriously. Let's just say they're permanently blackened. Seems that if enough bleeding occurs, repeatedly, the iron in it discolors the tissue. I had a spiral break in the joint below my big toe that no one could find and the little disc-like bone on the ball of that foot was dislocated as well. My walk was altered to avoid pain and ultimately the other foot and ankle were in a state of constant sprain and developed the same lovely color. I can't walk far at a time and I have a slight limp. "Slippery" won't help!

Oh well. We'll just have to think of other things to do until it melts!      

[Blue Moon]

This is WILD:

http://www.wbko.com/home/headlines/BREAKING-Floor-Collapse-at-National-Corvette-Museum-245173671.html


BREAKING: 8 Vehicles Swallowed by Sinkhole at National Corvette Museum

UPDATED 9:00 AM -- Confirmed list of Corvettes that have fallen into the sinkhole. This list is from the Corvette Museum.

1993 ZR-1 Spyder on loan from General Motors
2009 ZR1 “Blue Devil” on loan from General Motors

The other six vehicles were owned by the National Corvette Museum including:

1962 Black Corvette
1984 PPG Pace Car
1992 White 1 Millionth Corvette
1993 Ruby Red 40th Anniversary Corvette
2001 Mallett Hammer Z06 Corvette
2009 White 1.5 Millionth Corvette

Bowling Green city spokeswoman Kim Lancaster says the hole opened up at about 5:40 AM, setting off an alarm and a call to the fire department.

The Sky Dome area is an original part of the facility for which construction began in 1992 and was completed in 1994.

Lancaster says information is still being gathered about what exactly happened, but this appears to be the first incident of its kind at the property.





We are sitting on a cave system that extends from Mammoth Cave.  Holes like this happen a lot around here.  You never know when it will happen to you.

[MuffyBee]

 

http://kxan.com/2014/02/12/app-uses-facial-recognition-to-find-lost-dogs/
App uses facial recognition to find lost dogs
February 12, 2014

NEW YORK (CNN) — Whether they’re a prize-winner or not, a lost dog can be a stressful situation for any dog owner.

That’s where “Finding Rover” comes in.

It’s a new app that helps find dogs using facial-recognition, or shall we say snout-recognition.
 
“We don’t charge anything. We don’t sell anything. Our goal is to save dogs,” says Polimeno, the mastermind behind the app . “We can identify a dog using facial recognition.”

His app registers a dog’s face and its owner’s details.

So if Fido gets lost, anyone can snap a picture to reunite man and Man’s Best Friend.

“I think the statistics out there were that 9 million dogs were lost in the United States alone,” says Polimeno. “And I think the numbers are like 30 percent to 40 percent make it home. We’re going to change that.”

In order to get dogs to look at the camera, there’s a “bark button.”

The technology behind the app cost millions of dollars to develop, but Polimeno hopes to monetize the service with ads.

“We’ve been out about a little over 90 days, and we have a little over 32,000 downloads. And we’ve already found 170 dogs,” says Polimeno.

And don’t worry. If you lose your dog before you download the app, you can always upload a picture of your pooch after.

Video at Link. 

[Green Eyes]

This is WILD:

http://www.wbko.com/home/headlines/BREAKING-Floor-Collapse-at-National-Corvette-Museum-245173671.html


BREAKING: 8 Vehicles Swallowed by Sinkhole at National Corvette Museum

UPDATED 9:00 AM -- Confirmed list of Corvettes that have fallen into the sinkhole. This list is from the Corvette Museum.

1993 ZR-1 Spyder on loan from General Motors
2009 ZR1 “Blue Devil” on loan from General Motors

The other six vehicles were owned by the National Corvette Museum including:

1962 Black Corvette
1984 PPG Pace Car
1992 White 1 Millionth Corvette
1993 Ruby Red 40th Anniversary Corvette
2001 Mallett Hammer Z06 Corvette
2009 White 1.5 Millionth Corvette

Bowling Green city spokeswoman Kim Lancaster says the hole opened up at about 5:40 AM, setting off an alarm and a call to the fire department.

The Sky Dome area is an original part of the facility for which construction began in 1992 and was completed in 1994.

Lancaster says information is still being gathered about what exactly happened, but this appears to be the first incident of its kind at the property.





We are sitting on a cave system that extends from Mammoth Cave.  Holes like this happen a lot around here.  You never know when it will happen to you.

Yikes Blue Moon I was just reading about this. Scary stuff. 

[Green Eyes]

http://kxan.com/2014/02/12/app-uses-facial-recognition-to-find-lost-dogs/
App uses facial recognition to find lost dogs
February 12, 2014

NEW YORK (CNN) — Whether they’re a prize-winner or not, a lost dog can be a stressful situation for any dog owner.

That’s where “Finding Rover” comes in.

It’s a new app that helps find dogs using facial-recognition, or shall we say snout-recognition.
 
“We don’t charge anything. We don’t sell anything. Our goal is to save dogs,” says Polimeno, the mastermind behind the app . “We can identify a dog using facial recognition.”

His app registers a dog’s face and its owner’s details.

So if Fido gets lost, anyone can snap a picture to reunite man and Man’s Best Friend.

“I think the statistics out there were that 9 million dogs were lost in the United States alone,” says Polimeno. “And I think the numbers are like 30 percent to 40 percent make it home. We’re going to change that.”

In order to get dogs to look at the camera, there’s a “bark button.”

The technology behind the app cost millions of dollars to develop, but Polimeno hopes to monetize the service with ads.

“We’ve been out about a little over 90 days, and we have a little over 32,000 downloads. And we’ve already found 170 dogs,” says Polimeno.

And don’t worry. If you lose your dog before you download the app, you can always upload a picture of your pooch after.

Video at Link. 

This is a wonderful idea.  Thanks for bringing it to our attention Muffy

[Green Eyes]

UH - OH. 

Geez, I'm hardly sure footed. If I were to post a pic of my feet and ankles, everybody would freak...... seriously. Let's just say they're permanently blackened. Seems that if enough bleeding occurs, repeatedly, the iron in it discolors the tissue. I had a spiral break in the joint below my big toe that no one could find and the little disc-like bone on the ball of that foot was dislocated as well. My walk was altered to avoid pain and ultimately the other foot and ankle were in a state of constant sprain and developed the same lovely color. I can't walk far at a time and I have a slight limp. "Slippery" won't help!

Oh well. We'll just have to think of other things to do until it melts!      

CBB you guys be careful. I know in Washington State they don't use salt either but they have something they use on the roads to help.  I know when we would drive coast to coast during winter we used chains a lot. Hubs hated putting them on but they did help.  Have a wonderful time

[Blue Moon]

This is WILD:

http://www.wbko.com/home/headlines/BREAKING-Floor-Collapse-at-National-Corvette-Museum-245173671.html


BREAKING: 8 Vehicles Swallowed by Sinkhole at National Corvette Museum

UPDATED 9:00 AM -- Confirmed list of Corvettes that have fallen into the sinkhole. This list is from the Corvette Museum.

1993 ZR-1 Spyder on loan from General Motors
2009 ZR1 “Blue Devil” on loan from General Motors

The other six vehicles were owned by the National Corvette Museum including:

1962 Black Corvette
1984 PPG Pace Car
1992 White 1 Millionth Corvette
1993 Ruby Red 40th Anniversary Corvette
2001 Mallett Hammer Z06 Corvette
2009 White 1.5 Millionth Corvette

Bowling Green city spokeswoman Kim Lancaster says the hole opened up at about 5:40 AM, setting off an alarm and a call to the fire department.

The Sky Dome area is an original part of the facility for which construction began in 1992 and was completed in 1994.

Lancaster says information is still being gathered about what exactly happened, but this appears to be the first incident of its kind at the property.





We are sitting on a cave system that extends from Mammoth Cave.  Holes like this happen a lot around here.  You never know when it will happen to you.

Yikes Blue Moon I was just reading about this. Scary stuff. 

It is scary but these sinkholes happen a lot.  They said today not only the Corvette Museum but one opened up at our soccer complex and one on the land we used to live many years ago.  That one I knew was there.  It was connected to the Lost River cave system and as kids we used to walk through the fields to that cave.  My parents always warned us not to go into the cave and don't get too close to it.  Now all that land has our big mall on it which a sinkhole opened up on it several years ago and they have built houses and subdivision all over it.  Only problem is there is nowhere in this area to build on that this is not a problem.  Our whole area is sitting on a cave system that extends from Mammoth Cave.  There are many nights when it is silent and I hear cars coming from the distance that I feel our house shaking and I told my husband I feel like our house will cave in.  We do have a hole on the back corner of our house and have tried to fill in the hole but nothing helps.  It is something you live with and insurance does not cover it.

[Green Eyes]

This is WILD:

http://www.wbko.com/home/headlines/BREAKING-Floor-Collapse-at-National-Corvette-Museum-245173671.html


BREAKING: 8 Vehicles Swallowed by Sinkhole at National Corvette Museum

UPDATED 9:00 AM -- Confirmed list of Corvettes that have fallen into the sinkhole. This list is from the Corvette Museum.

1993 ZR-1 Spyder on loan from General Motors
2009 ZR1 “Blue Devil” on loan from General Motors

The other six vehicles were owned by the National Corvette Museum including:

1962 Black Corvette
1984 PPG Pace Car
1992 White 1 Millionth Corvette
1993 Ruby Red 40th Anniversary Corvette
2001 Mallett Hammer Z06 Corvette
2009 White 1.5 Millionth Corvette

Bowling Green city spokeswoman Kim Lancaster says the hole opened up at about 5:40 AM, setting off an alarm and a call to the fire department.

The Sky Dome area is an original part of the facility for which construction began in 1992 and was completed in 1994.

Lancaster says information is still being gathered about what exactly happened, but this appears to be the first incident of its kind at the property.





We are sitting on a cave system that extends from Mammoth Cave.  Holes like this happen a lot around here.  You never know when it will happen to you.

Yikes Blue Moon I was just reading about this. Scary stuff. 

It is scary but these sinkholes happen a lot.  They said today not only the Corvette Museum but one opened up at our soccer complex and one on the land we used to live many years ago.  That one I knew was there.  It was connected to the Lost River cave system and as kids we used to walk through the fields to that cave.  My parents always warned us not to go into the cave and don't get too close to it.  Now all that land has our big mall on it which a sinkhole opened up on it several years ago and they have built houses and subdivision all over it.  Only problem is there is nowhere in this area to build on that this is not a problem.  Our whole area is sitting on a cave system that extends from Mammoth Cave.  There are many nights when it is silent and I hear cars coming from the distance that I feel our house shaking and I told my husband I feel like our house will cave in.  We do have a hole on the back corner of our house and have tried to fill in the hole but nothing helps.  It is something you live with and insurance does not cover it.

I knew your area had lots of caverns But never gave it much thought about sink holes from them. Every area has it's on natural elements to deal with. With the potential of having one happen they don't have any special insurance for the home homers?  California has earthquake insurance but it's very expensive. I know Florida has sink Hole insurance but not sure how expensive it is. 

I was just glad no one was hurt. That's what always worries me. Stay warm and safe with this new cold wave hitting your area.

[Blue Moon]

Watch the video of this sinkhole:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=IukDWhf7U9I

[Green Eyes]

Watch the video of this sinkhole:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=IukDWhf7U9I

Yikes!!!! 

[Mere]

Wow....you know how close the interstate is to the museum....and Blue Moon, that is where I
wave to you when I am passing by.  Some shots of the hole show that there is nothing under there..!!!

I hope the department that is responsible for roads and bridges checks on that before I drive up at the
end of the month.

Update on new puppy....cairn terrier....all I can think is that my life has changed for the next 10-15 years.  Wonder if I can take him to the nursing home with me....lol.  He is so cute and so full of energy.
Getting estimate for fence....  Wish I could learn how to put up a picture.  It is embarrassing to be here
this many years and still cannot do that. 

CBB...be careful this weekend....I have been skating on the ice in the streets of Gatlinburg....and the car
went skidding along the mountain roads near Cherokee.  It is beautiful though.  They did sand the area but no salting.  Maybe it will all be melted by then.   

[Blue Moon]

Wow....you know how close the interstate is to the museum....and Blue Moon, that is where I
wave to you when I am passing by.  Some shots of the hole show that there is nothing under there..!!!

I hope the department that is responsible for roads and bridges checks on that before I drive up at the
end of the month.

Update on new puppy....cairn terrier....all I can think is that my life has changed for the next 10-15 years.  Wonder if I can take him to the nursing home with me....lol.  He is so cute and so full of energy.
Getting estimate for fence....  Wish I could learn how to put up a picture.  It is embarrassing to be here
this many years and still cannot do that. 

CBB...be careful this weekend....I have been skating on the ice in the streets of Gatlinburg....and the car
went skidding along the mountain roads near Cherokee.  It is beautiful though.  They did sand the area but no salting.  Maybe it will all be melted by then.   

Yes, Mere, it is just off the interstate but that interstate has been there since the 60's (but there again the corvette museum has been there for 20 years).  I think the ground underneath was frozen solid and was filled with water from all the rain and then started to thaw and all that loose dirt gave way---also looks like a cavern in that hole.  Also, they are building a race track to test cars on across the interstate and they could have covered up a cavern and diverted the run-off back in that direction underneath the interstate.  I really would not fill safe in the museum but they opened it back up today.

Our soccer complex had two sinkholes to open up yesterday and a road beside the mall had a sinkhole to open up yesterday also.  It has to have something to do with the hard freeze we have had this winter and then thawing and the dirt collapsing with the expanding and collapsing.

I heard on the news last night that the museum had "sink hole" insurance.  I had never heard of that.  Those eight corvettes are estimated at 1.5 million dollars alone.  The skydome, I never heard how much it was.  I know they raised money for that for several years before they built it.  The National Corvette club is very upset about this.  Lots of their members donate their cars on loan for show.  Luckily, no ones car was in that hole.

When you wave to me do it at first exit for BG.  I could probably see you from home waving.   

Your old home town got walloped with snow yesterday. You missed a good one.

[Red]

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

[seahorse]

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

  Happy St. Valentine's Day, Red!

[Green Eyes]

Morning Monkeys

Hope every one is having a good week.And all the Monkeys still getting hit with the bad weather are safe & warm.

CBB how was your get away?  Hope you didn't have any problems with the drive to and from.

[Blue Moon]

61 degrees yesterday, last night we had severe thunderstorm, plenty of thunder and lightening, today up to 65* and tomorrow 75 degrees with tornado watches.  I want warm weather but I am afraid this year will bring very severe spring weather. Our yard is thawing out and it is nothing but mud.  Hubby's truck back tires sunk into the mud in the yard and he got stuck.  You just sink in the yard by just walking over the grass too.

The 6 corvettes that fell into the sink hole will be pulled out of the hole within the next 2 weeks.  The 1st two corvettes that fell in they have not yet located them and don't know how far down they are.  They are putting up a viewing glass where visitors can watch the progress.  I am here to tell you I will not get near that museum.  Too many caves and sinkholes opening up in this weather we have had.  I would be afraid that that hole would open up even more and swallow the rest of the building.  Engineers say that the building and surrounding area is stable.  Whatever!