Notice, it isn't that I hate what the 4th of July stands for, merely that I despise the 4th of July. I do love having a day off work, though it is nicer when it extends a weekend (what about the 4th of July observed???). It's just that on that night, even after the large fireworks display which I do not watch, people think that it is their right to set off loud, obnoxious fireworks into the wee hours of the morning. I believe that on a work night the wee small hours of the morning should be reserved for my right to sleep.
Perhaps I have never understood the appeal of fireworks, having not seen them in person until I was 12. (It's called the midnight sun, love it people, love it). While they were fun when I was 12 and setting them off BEFORE sunset, ie during twilight, in a church parking lot. I don't believe I have ever disturbed someone's sleep with them, except perhaps when I was a college student, but there are not enough college students in the world to account for the annoying people who set off firecrackers until the wee small hours. I'm begging you, please, for all that is holy, stop it before I take away your holiday!
Posted by 10lees at July 5, 2006 07:02 AMohhhh 10lees... so crumudgeonly at such a young age... :o) i was NOT one of the people setting off fireworks last night. i was merely craning my neck out the open window to take in every single lame-ass (and occasionally, quite amazing) firework the nieghborhood had to offer. call me a child or a pyro, but the illumination and fascination only happens once a year and for that brief time, my brain revereted back to childhood innocence of light and sparkles and i stood content for quite a while. i definitely romanticise fireworks, and i celebrate that. dont worry hon, tonite you'll sleep well. ;o)
Posted by: dr gonzo at July 5, 2006 08:09 AM10- They were just celebrating their country by blowing up a small part of it. For me personally, I enjoy sleeping so I usually set mine off before it reaches morning (like 9-11 PM) in the summer. Did you have your windows open or something? Were they lighting them really close to your house?
DocGonz- Once a year? The TC metro area has fireworks 5 times a year usually. Memorial day, 4th of July, Aquatennial, Labor Day, and New Years eve. The best ones are usually the Aquatennial ones because they are sponsored by a big corporation. Last year Target was the sponsor and they poured oodles of cash into it. They even had their logo explode in the sky.
Posted by: jeff at July 5, 2006 09:00 AMsee the 9-11 time frame I am ok with, even the 11:30 I'm ok. When it is after midnight and I am buried under my covers trying to drowned out the sound of exploding fireworks. Now, I live in an apartment complex so I don't know where these people were setting them off (which they aren't even supposed to do in the complex) but they were reverberating, which is almost worse than having them explode right outside my window.
They also have fireworks for New Year's here, so that day is ok because you get New Year's day off. But I will admit I am crumudgeonly, now all I need is a cane to whack people with... hehehe....
Posted by: 10lees at July 5, 2006 09:06 AMLast night when trying to get to sleep we were thinking it probably sounded similar to what the battlefields were like a couple centuries ago (they have much bigger fireworks up here, and people don't always launch them vertically). That sorta put an interesting perspective on it.
Posted by: Jeremy at July 5, 2006 09:50 AMyeah, i indulge in the other firework holidays. but the 4th of july is the the official firework holiday. the 4th w/o fireworks is not the 4th.
my old place in st. paul was pretty cool cuz you could see any fireworks shot off from the downtown area. i thought that might be the case here in chicago too, but alas, alack, they are covered by the Hancock building. :o)
yes, 10, see, you already have a "thing" for hard candies, you hate your neighbors and now you want to shake a stick. wow. old before my very eyes!!! old!! what next? scaring away kids at halloween?? ;o)
Posted by: dr gonzo at July 5, 2006 12:28 PMMay I recommend the Tylonol PM?
At the risk of sounding old (or addicted) myself, I will say that Tylonol PM is my friend. Not every night. But on those special nights when assholes abound, it rocks.
I went to sleep around 10:30/11:00ish, and I have to say that after being in North Minneapolis (where, no lie, every third house had fireworks going off either in front or behind--and often both and/or in the street)(the illegal kind), my neighborhood felt pretty tame by comparison.
Also, I pretended it was thunder, and I went right to sleep. I woke up around 1 or 1:30, and most of the festivities seemed to have died away. Sorry for your lack of rest, though.
Posted by: Lo at July 5, 2006 12:42 PMI had the same issue as 10lees last night, around 9:30 the teenagers a few houses down started running around like idiots being noisy and throwing fireworks at each other until around 10:15. After that things quieted down for a few hours. I went to be around midnite and about 5 minutes later my neighbor (The Brickmaster) brought his kids outside and started firing off his fireworks for about 15 minutes...lucky for him my cell phone was in the kitchen.
I'm old and irritable tho,
Nick
Posted by: TheNick™ at July 5, 2006 02:04 PMtylanol pm would have been good since I had to get up in a few hours anyway... I don't want to make it seem like I didn't get enough sleep - I was actually ok the next day, it was just annoying...
Posted by: 10lees at July 6, 2006 07:58 AM