OT July 4th just around the corner

I hate the bottle rockets. The powerful city leaders have made them illegal here, but somehow a few still manage to find some. When the damn things go off I run for cover. Just a reflex I guess.

I'll be glad when the fourth of July is over with.

You could sign up for the US Military and go to Iraq....

I hear that you can hear some SERIOUS explosions and that smell.....

....and it is NEVER over....lol

I remember when I was a kid, the fireworks in Blue Island seemed to last for hours. Now you're lucky if they last 20 minutes. Didn't they try to ban fireworks shows about a decade ago?

Probably lead by the PC crowd.

I've stopped singing the Hillary Hurl every time I catch Hillary on TV lately. Don't have enough hours in the day . . . And if she doesn't run in 2008, she's sure one of the busiest non-candidates . . . . Can we send her up into space on the end of one of those fireworks?

Charles of Schaumburg

I *LOVE* the smell of solid propellant and spent gunpowder!

But I have NEVER been down there for a display. Even when I was living in Chicopee, we went to either South Hadley, or usually Amherst.

Imagine...ME being surrounded by thousands of Liberals on the 4th of July!!!! I've been going to Amherst since I was a teenager, in my very first Corolla 1200.

They have to spend too much of their budget on Law Enforcement there. How many shootings/stabbings have there been since Jan 1?

And, I'm surprised it's not Salsa blasting from the cars with the 'Dubs'

I recall only having to run for cover once when a firework went berserk. I can't imagine intentionally being shot at 24/7. Maybe that's why the cut-off age for enlisting is 36 afaik.

Only if you get FAA permission first. I heard they don't even like it if you fly model airplanes above 400 feet. And speaking of rockets, you have to notify them when and where you plan to shoot off model rockets. I guess I'll have to register my tennis ball launcher if things keep going as they are. Probably have to show an ID for the isopropyl alcohol.

I think the US Army had made the age higher.

That happened when I was living in Pittsfield. I was about 10 feet from the guy shooting them off, and they were going off right over my head! And Pittsfield used to do 90 minutes; one of the best displays anywhere! That was before GE closed Transformers, of course, and there was MONEY in town!

Well, the guy lit one, and he kind of peered over at it, and then he started RUNNING, and I figured, if HE'S running, then *I'M* running too!

It went up about 20 feet (if even that far) and WHOOM!!! all over the place. The 'charge' went off at about 5 feet, 15 feet behind me. I already had my ears covered, but the shock almost knocked me on my ass!

WHAT A RUSH!!!!! (um, did I mention I was on an 'herbal enhancer' at the time? We're talking a LOT of years ago!)

Was that a "wow, man" moment?

Damn. We used to shoot off model rockets in the 80's didn't need no stinkin permission. . . .

Charles of Schaumburg

Oh yeah, things have changed. Not only do you need permission, but once they have your name be prepared to wait a LONG TIME at an airport. My son-in-law shoots model rockets with his buddies and he always gets the shake down at airports before being allowed to proceed to his flight. I remember when farmland was off limits to government interference. You could drive unregistered cars, go as fast as you wanted. You could sleep under the stars, piss anywhere you wanted. Get drunk, nobody cared. Shoot rockets until you went broke. When will do gooders realize others have to have fun?? I mean good wholesome fun. Fun today means going to a organized event and you can't bring in your own food and drink. Even camping isn't the same. No outdoor fires, no drinking. Why bother? No, they want you to remain uptight just like them. 24 hours a day. See what happens when too many have a college degree? When this country had more blue collar we knew how to have fun. I'll tell you a secret about do gooders. Their idea of fun and mischief is to go in a corner and shut off their cell phone.

One could only hope that they all do that....

LOL! Oh, yeah, man. And after a brief interlude (of about 45 seconds while everyone collected themselves) the show continued for about another hour.

You probably could have made a fortune selling clean underwear!

We got drunk around a campfire just last year . . . . A real fire with wood. But that's here in the Midwest where we get rain now and again. . . .

I don't fly. Anywhere. Until they quit treating the citizens like criminals and the criminals like they have better rights than I do, the airlines can do without my money. . . .

It was bad enough pre-9/11. I had to fly all over the country in '98.

Charles of Schaumburg

It seems that the singing of God Bless America violates the separation of church and state, and the ACLU has sued to halt the 4th of July.

You should hide under the coffee table with the dog.

Me and the cat. She runs, I run. We're both equal cowards.

May I say F*CK THE ACLU?

hmmm I guess I did...