Sure they’re legal here (thanks ex-Governor Snyder) but I really don’t appreciate them at one thirty-six in the morning.

Animals don't like them much either.

It was 2:30am yesterday morning.

East Dallas used to look and sound like Baghdad On the Prairie for about a month around any holiday, pretty much all the time from dusk until dawn. I prayed they didn’t catch anything of mine on fire and that falling cinders burned the paint on all their cars/trucks.

I used to like fireworks. Then I became a bomb technician. Now I hate fireworks. What an enormous pain they are this time of year. I took a class in grad school that was all about the manufacture and design of fireworks, and I still find them interesting on a technical, intellectual level, but holy cow what a pain they can be. It’s unfortunate that people can’t be intelligent enough to enjoy fireworks in a responsible way. Ugh, so tired of dealing with fireworks.

I used to like fireworks, but then I ended up with seventeen 2nd degree burns NYE '23. Trip to urgent care, trip to PCP, trip to dermatologist, 6 weeks to heal, permanent scars, etc.

I won't be hanging out in the cul-d-sac for fireworks this year. Doubtful neighbors are either as it scared them (i.e. what if it'd hit my kid instead of Todd).

When I was a boy-6 to about 11 or 12-I'd go over to my Grandad's early on the 4th of July and we would sit out in the alley and set off hundreds of firecrackers. As I got nearer to my teen years, M-80s and cherry bombs became the prefered boomers, though lighting a whole package of firecrackers at once was still great fun.

But when I came back from the Army in '68, I discovered my only (or so I claim) quirk I picked up in that beautiful Southeastern Asian paradise was that I couldn't, and still can't, stand to be around when fireworks are going off.

Tonight, the TV will be a little louder and I'll be sitting a bit closer to it so that whatever is going on outside is tamped down in volume.

I especially hate that one boomer that sounds a bit like a mortar round coming out of the tube.

But I hope kids and other folks enjoy the displays tonight-I just plan to stay home and inside.

Bob

After doing fireworks shows as a side gig, they just don’t really do it for me anymore. I just critique the shows, see $$$, and hazards.

We played with them a lot as a kid, blew up all kinds of stuff, but somehow came through with all our fingers and eyeballs.

Now that I'm older, they don't really bother me in and of themselves, but this time of year has become a huge annoyance. We're inundated by calls from people bitching about them, which is annoying and a huge waste of resources. They're legal, there's nothing we can do about it, so stop calling. Don't like it, contact your legislator. That's how laws work.

Every now and then somebody does blow themselves up. Typically that's just a medic assist, though, so no paperwork, and you get to learn a bit about how stuff is attached inside the hand.

Then there's the big crowds and traffic that has to be managed for the official shows. The chamber of commerce types love the idea of attracting 50K+ people into our tiny town, but they're not the ones who have to get them all out of there in their vehicles at the end of the night without running into each other or over crowds of pedestrians. Or deal with all the trailer park drama while they're there.

Thankfully it's done and over for the year...they did it this past Saturday. No wrecks and nobody got run over, so it was a success so far as we were concerned. I worked an 18 hour day, got home at 1am, and then back up at 4:30am for another 12 hour shift. Bah humbug. Stupid holidays.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
I used to like fireworks, but then I ended up with seventeen 2nd degree burns NYE '23. Trip to urgent care, trip to PCP, trip to dermatologist, 6 weeks to heal, permanent scars, etc.

I won't be hanging out in the cul-d-sac for fireworks this year. Doubtful neighbors are either as it scared them (i.e. what if it'd hit my kid instead of Todd).

I remember you posting about that.

Too many heavy trees [and not many kids] for anything aerial in my 'hood, luckily.
We'll walk over to a park near 45 & watch the Woodlands show from there instead.

I'm going to the range to get away from the fireworks.

When I get home however? Probably hide down in my basement reloading room like I do most years. Ironic I know, but I can't handle them.

Like any holiday, it’s amateur hour. Get supplies/groceries for the house, and I hide away from all of it. That’s the best way for me. And that way I’m home if someone starts lighting them up around me and I can protect my home, etc, from fire. It’s not allowed in city limits so definitely want to be home, awake and alert. Every year someone’s property gets destroyed with this bullshit. House, vehicles, burnt to the ground. Boos and fireworks don’t mix but that doesn’t stop anyone.

Operation Dry Water is on, all 56 states and territories of the US. 33% of Boating while intoxicated arrests are made today through the weekend. So that means my ski stays home. I’d like to go ride one of my motorcycles, but with everyone drinking and driving around, again I’m reminded it’s fucking amateur hour. Holidays = people lose their minds and better to just stay home. Fucking morons.

quote:

Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:
After doing fireworks shows as a side gig, they just don’t really do it for me anymore. I just critique the shows, see $$$, and hazards.

Don’t know if NM Tech still puts on a fireworks display but the years I volunteered with the city’s Fire Department we had all hands on deck at the official show. About all we dealt with at the campus was the occasional fool setting off a bottle rocket into the crowd, a kid falling on the ground, minor stuff.

The real fun commenced probably within an hour after the official display ended. Then it became amateur night thanks to everybody and his second cousin selling fireworks at roadside stands, gas stations, grocery stores. At that time we had three trucks and three ambulances and one Chief’s vehicle. We ran fire calls with everything that had wheels, one year we also pressed into service a state Forestry truck.

Usually around one or two the next morning things called back down.

92fstech:

quote:

Every now and then somebody does blow themselves up. Typically that's just a medic assist, though, so no paperwork, and you get to learn a bit about how stuff is attached inside the hand.

I know a young fellow, a Vet, that lost a hand a few years ago in a fireworks accident. It fell over, he instinctively went to right it and…..

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
I used to like fireworks, but then I ended up with seventeen 2nd degree burns NYE '23. Trip to urgent care, trip to PCP, trip to dermatologist, 6 weeks to heal, permanent scars, etc.

I won't be hanging out in the cul-d-sac for fireworks this year. Doubtful neighbors are either as it scared them (i.e. what if it'd hit my kid instead of Todd).

I missed that thread, but I’m glad I read it now. Not the part you getting hurt of course, but about the faulty fireworks. I’ll be sure to bury those in the sand like we do with the mortars. We launch ours from the beach out over the lake.

quote:

Originally posted by shovelhead:
92fstech:

quote:

Every now and then somebody does blow themselves up. Typically that's just a medic assist, though, so no paperwork, and you get to learn a bit about how stuff is attached inside the hand.

I know a young fellow, a Vet, that lost a hand a few years ago in a fireworks accident. It fell over, he instinctively went to right it and…..

Two different guys I've worked with have lost fingers playing with fireworks. One of them was a federally trained explosives guy. Booze and things that go boom don't mix.

A couple of years back we had a fireworks store catch fire overnight. That was pretty exciting for a bit, but thankfully they managed to get it out without anybody getting hurt. When I rolled up the people across the street were still standing in their front yard rubbernecking. When stuff started going horizontal that changed pretty quick!

ETA: Forgot about my other friend from church who's actually a really intelligent kid, but also kinda an idiot. He thought fireworks worked like in the cartoon where you could pinch the fuse and put it out. He lit one in the house because he thought it would be funny to scare his wife, but needless to say the "pinch-the-fuse-out" trick doesn't work. He figured that out with a little bit of time left and tried to toss it away, but it exploded in his open hand. He kept his fingers but got burned pretty good and it made a big mess in the house.

Some genius was shooting them off this morning at 7:30am .
Dog did not like.

Years ago we had a fireworks factory in a remote area of the county I grew up in (a mountain valley). Long story short, it caught on fire and blew up one day. The entire valley rocked.

Having moved out to the country earlier this year I was semi curious how noisy the 4th would be here.

Last night I mention to my wife, it's the 4th of July and 9:30pm. What don't you hear?

I guess I jinxed it as around 10pm you could barely make out the sound of some fireworks way off in the distance. I love living out here.

Fairly tame around us, surprisingly.
A few here & there, but not the WWIII you come to expect.

Driving to work this morning, heard one [I think] over the road/wind noise doing 70mph.
Given the area [Greenspoint, for the Houston familiar] decent odds it wasn't a firework