In Facebook jail

When I went to Facebook to post a link to my post earlier this week, I got an unpleasant surprise. I had been locked out of the Rensselaer Adventures page. I could see the page, but I could not post anything. I had no idea that I managed a page with high potential reach.

Facebook wanted me to do a couple of things. One was to either use an authenticator (something I had never heard of) or get a text message with a code. I checked two authenticators they had listed and both required mobile devices. I have a couple of obsolete mobile devices that no longer can be updated. One of the two would not run on my old devices and the other was a google authenticator. I was worried that if I used it, I would have to take additional steps to log into my google account. (This blog is run by google.) I am one of the few people in Rensselaer who does not have a working cell phone but we have a cheap tracfone that we use when traveling and it will receive text messages. (I do not text--I am a real dinosaur when it comes to the latest tech stuff.) Anyway, I entered the phone number, got my code, and entered the code. I thought I was finished, but no. They also wanted me to submit a photo ID. Google and Facebook know way more about me than I want them to know, so I do not think I want to share a photo ID with either. If you rely on Facebook posts to the Rensselaer Adventures page to learn when this blog has new content, you may not be able to do that in the future.

I suggest you bookmark the Rensselaer Adventures blog and I would appreciate anyone who links to my posts on Facebook. I will see how traffic flows in the next month or two. If readership drops too low, it may be time to stop the blog and move on to other things. Like alphabets in which all the glyphs have either reflective or rotational symmetry.

(Has anyone else run into this situation with Facebook? I wonder if the sharing of my post on the fire might have tripped some bit of software that Facebook uses. I do not know how else they could have concluded that my page has high potential reach.)

Autumn Trace had its ribbon cutting on Wednesday. They are currently about 70% full.

More Christmas trees have been placed in Potawatomi Park.  Chief Industries has an usual and large display.

 The City of Rensselaer planted a live tree. Hopefully it will grow next year.

 Hope Community has an untraditional tree that points to Good Friday.

 Can you tell from the hat that this is from the Little Cousin Jasper Festival?

 The tree below was jointly sponsored by First Presbyterian Church and the RCMS Choir Department.

The tree and the bicycle are from the Ride to End Alzheimers.

 I do not know who sponsored this tree. It had no identification.

 On Friday morning the Tourism Commission met in the Commissioners room at the Court House. They spent much of the meeting brainstorming on how to develop tourism themes such as sports tourism and agricultural tourism.

This week the concession stand for the Blacker Fields has a roof.

 A couple offices in the Court House had decorated. Below is the entrance to the Clerk's office.

 The second floor hallway has a large Christmas tree. The boxes are collecting food for the food pantry. Even Jasper the Bison has gotten into the holiday spirit.

 The other doorway that is elaborately decorated is the Veterans Service office.

Did I mention that I really do not like Facebook? Unfortunately so many people use it that I have use it too in order to learn what is happening.