Anyone else not like fireworks???

I never did really like them even as a kid. Way too loud even then when I could hear well. Now too many people and other things. We have not went to see any fireworks in years. Loud noises usually do not mean good things as you get older. LOL

ME I'm always worried that my rd bales of hay and now my pasture will be ignited from the fireworks. I do have the hay insured.

Gave up fireworks many years ago - just not impressed with them at all. Talk about a way to blow money in a real short time.

My wife and I made a contribution to the kid's college fund instead of buying any fireworks.

I'm beginning to feel the same way. We've pretty much always traveled into town to watch them, but this year we're just going to watch them from our front yard. About 5 miles away. I think that will be close enough.

Willie....

Went to town to see them as a kid, now some of the neighbors set off illegal fireworks (they are banned in NY but we are not that far from Canada). I do not like them, especially when being shot off by people who have been drinking (another thing I do not like).
Zach

One year we were all at the home farm for July 4th. My oldest niece was a late starter learning to walk. My brother & I got her to walk with one of us on either side so she could hang on to our fingers. After a few trips up & down the sidewalk we slipped away and she kept on walking to the end of the sidewalk before she realized that we weren't with her.

She wouldn't stop after that, just walked up and down the sidewalk by herself. We shot off some fireworks but she wouldn't even look at them, just continued her walking.

Learning something new can be a more fulfilling experience than watching fireworks.

I like a professionally designed show put on by experts.

Maine had a prohibition on personal fireworks for years. Long before I ever moved here.

Two years ago, those *$*(ing morons in Augusta repealed that. Now any peckerhead with a twenty dollar bill can buy fireworks and set them off any old time they please.

It's not like it's something they can do in the privacy of their own home without bothering others. Keeps the whole neighborhood up and spooks the heck out of my livestock.

About the time somebody sets the town afire with a bottle rocket, maybe they'll wise up and ban them again.

It's 2 in the afternoon here and some moron is setting them off all ready it just stop raining and if it's the gnat brain I think it is he's still likely to set his house on fire.

Fireworks are just here for a couple of days a year. Let them have a little fun.

Always enjoyed them prob always will. To each their own, but never heard too many gents who didnt like a good fireworks show on the Fourth of July

God Bles the USA

John T

I like the mortar shells, but they have certainly changed everything that used to be fun, that you could buy. It used to be class B fireworks, like the typical bottle rockets etc, that you could get a gross of, very inexpensively, those are much smaller as of a few years back. We always had fun with these, take the stick off one, small piece of masking or painters tape, add it to another whole one, sometimes 2 or 3, wear safety glasses, hearing protection and a leather glove, hand launch em, have to time it just right, then toss upward, there's a technique to it, even if you held it in your gloved hand, (preferably a welders glove) it won't hurt you if you wear the above, just not strong enough, (Now, I don't recommend this to any readers here-disclaimer don't try it at home - just to be safe ) By the same token, you could do a lot worse with other things from around the shop, garage or home that was a lot more dangerous. It was fun to see who could get all 3 pop, or stage a couple extra times, then pop. The large firecrackers, M80 and up like a toilet paper roll and so on, those are dangerous, so are mortars, and you can't play games with this stuff, I know of one person missing a hand, and or how about the guy on Deadliest Catch, they never said what he did, but it sure looks like it either detonated in his hand, near it or maybe he dropped it into the tube with a hot ember, he got nailed real hard with his arm over it. The shell somehow split his hand open at the palm, tore the tendons, and broke his forearm, dislodging the bone, they showed them pulling on it to re-set it, that should teach anyone a lesson. I used to drop 3" mortars in short 3" diameter Victaulic pipe to launch em, you had best make sure no ember is in there from the previous launch, the wick is long but fast.

The other thing is it does raise hell with dogs, livestock, neighbors, so while they are spectacular, and used/handled properly, I don't see an issue, but if your impaired, you should not be fooling with fireworks. If conditions are dry and there is fuel to burn, you should not be setting off any fireworks, same with out buildings, old equipment with oil residue etc, its common sense, but last year the fools set off a bunch of large mortars near an old stand of pine, it was dry for weeks, that is foolish, if that had gone up, some houses would have too, then you put fire fighters at risk, plain foolishness. People get complacent, another friend is lucky he did not lose part of his hand while young, he went over to a dud or some darned thing similar and it went off. As a kid, I think I was foolish enough to have the embers set off a pack of matches in my hand, it hurt. You get complacent, you will get hurt, burn something down or cause a serious problem in short order. I was reading the daily article in the paper of 100 years ago, and they were talking about safety then, the ban of Cannon Cracker fircrackers etc., I cannot imagine back in the day, with all the wood buildings, the city here burnt to the ground in the 1860's, nice section of it, started from sparks from a train.

In a safe setting, I don't mind, but nothing is perfect with fireworks, you get a dud or a stray, wind sends one off in a bad direction, ignorant people, no good in my book.

When i was a kid I lived for the 4th! I would spend every penny I saved so I would have enough to last me through the summer. I dont know how my parents neighbors stood it! Fast forward to last night, and I went on 5 min rant to my wife about the little ba$tards next door, and what I would like to do with their fire works. It doesnt bother me if they shoot some off at dark, but at 2am, thats a little uncalled for.

never did care for them.waste of money.town here about 1300 people cant fill the potholes but can spend $15,000.00 for fireworks tonight.

The older I get, the less I actually like fireworks, but I love the USA. What could be better than celebrating her birthday!


Glenn F.

Love 'em, the bigger the better. I just wish I had a bigger cannon. Mine is only a 1" diameter and shoots about 1/8lb of black powder.

ene

The downtown Indianapolis fireworks will have 2,100 shells this year. Great if you don't mind battling with 200,000 spectators to get a good spot.

I really don't mind them. Me and the wife will probably sit on the deck and watch the one's around here. But I haven't spent any money on them since I was a teenager. I only wish everybody would use them all up so I can go to bed as I have to be up at 5 in the morning for work. My big dog on the other hand is scared to death of any kind loud noise. Wife will put him in the house and cover him up completely with a blanket. Fireworks can't be over quick enough for him. Hope everybody has a safe fourth

Love seeing and hearing them from a distance..

Never was much of a firework fan. Went along with the family just to be social. Now an adult making my own decisions don't care to ever see another display. Thankfully my girlfriend feels the same way. I could still go and not be bothered by them but prefer to stay home.

I love the rockets and aerial bursts. Every year for many years we put on a big 4th party and have our own fireworks display.
You are all welcome to some great barbecue chicken and ribs if you're in the area!
Happy birthday America!!!

I go to Farley every year now. Dubuque is terrible..cant get a seat unless your there 10am..Dyersville is ok..but getting to crowded for my taste..and my two girls dont like the fireballs they put off way to close to the crowd. Add in traffic and i cant stand it for very long. In my old age(41 lol) Im finding I like the smaller festivals much better..

When I was a kid, my grandma loved fireworks- and her brothers owned a toy distribution company in Sioux Falls, SD- Rich Brothers- and they sent a big box of fireworks out every year. Granddad and I had to go to a remote train station out in the middle of nowhere to pick it up, because it was the only one around licensed to receive explosives. Lots of firecrackers, and once we'd blown up all of the anthills, we'd kind of run out of innovative things to do with them. My favorite was to make a pistol out of an old water faucet, and shoot rocks at stuff.

I don't buy fireworks anymore, now that the kids are grown, but will probably go to a local display tonight.

I don't care for the neighbors shooting them off after 11 o'clock or so on a non-holiday,but I'm not some crotchety old d!nk who doesn't like them in general,no.

The state collected 150,000 bucks in sales tax on fireworks.Count that money over the prohibited years.Do the math,7.5 million in fireworks sales per year.Bottle rockets are prohibited.Get your facts straight before running mouth.

Don't like some. Hurts the ears. I can sit in my back yard and watch the show at the high school.

(quoted from post at 16:09:34 07/04/13) I really don't mind them. Me and the wife will probably sit on the deck and watch the one's around here. But I haven't spent any money on them since I was a teenager. I only wish everybody would use them all up so I can go to bed as I have to be up at 5 in the morning for work. My big dog on the other hand is scared to death of any kind loud noise. Wife will put him in the house and cover him up completely with a blanket. Fireworks can't be over quick enough for him. Hope everybody has a safe fourth

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e do a truck load (continuous for 30-40 minutes w/o pause) every 4th and our neighbors lab shows up and gets right in the middle of it all, tries to bite the shooting tubes & burning fuses........one brave or crazy dog!

I could care less about them. I have never spent a dime of money on them and have only been drug to see them one time.

However:

Harvest is still going full swing. I about jumped out of my skin twice today. Once was when pulling the big Freightliner into the elevator and some fire cracker went off nearby. The other was when I just started the lift on the straight truck up at the elevator and one went off. Some kid getting his jollies nearly have me a heart attack!

The last thing I want to hear when moving with a load of wheat is a bang. Sort of like seeing smoke in a wheat field. Your mind goes from zero to dooms day in .25 seconds.

No matter how small the town, the kiddies love their crackers.

Love watching well-made, professional productions. Hate putting out roof/grass/car fires of amateurs. Really hate bandaging and searching for the blown off digits of inebriated fools playing "Hey y'all, watch this!"
Hoping the rain keeps up til 7 a.m.- when my shift ends!
Be careful folks!

I have a new pet peeve.

Chinese Lanterns.


If you have never seen a Chinese Lantern, it's a very thin piece of tissue paper, shaped like a hot air balloon. The bottom is held open by a piece of wire, and there is a piece of wire that crosses the opening across the diameter. It holds a small block of candle wax infused with some type of kerosene. Like a fire starter.


People light them on fire and then they float up into the sky.

I found 2 of them in my wheat field right around July 4th last year. What if one of those things came down still lit? Someone would be eating through a straw right now.

The more the merrier for me. Last time I was in Garden City Kansas for the 4th we went to a very impressive commercial fireworks show and while we were driving back to the motel after the show the whole town was snapping and cracking. Bottle rockets were rising just above the trees and the air was hazy with fireworks smoke. If I wouldn't have had to get up early the next morning I'd have found a place to sit outside just to soak it all in. Jim

What i do not like is the unexpected ones as i have really never got over things that go bang or BOOM . After getting hit twice by shrapnel from Mortar rounds and once from a RPG and shot once when things go bang or BOOM i still want to dive for cover . The first night back home from Nam i had gone to bed in MY OWN bed for the first time in a year and about andf hour after i was asleep the fire siren went off , Well over in Nam at the one base camp they had a radar unit that would pick up a mortaqr round as soon as it cleared the trees and a siren would go off . IF you were fast enough you could make it to a bunker before the round hit . Ya got good with all the practice we got as for about three months each and every night we got hit usually around 1-2 in the morning and it would last till 4-6 as they would set up many tubes in different areas and each would shoot off four or five rounds and move to a new spot and do it again. And once the Tet offensive started I was under fire almost every day for 8 weeks. So yea i am a bit shell shocked . So when that siren went off i came out of bed and out the door and was standing in the ft. yard screaming IN COMING and looking for a bunker to dive into in my skivvees . Yea that was fun with all the neighbors looking at this nut case . I started dating a fine young girl and went put her up on the 4th for a date and as we were waking to my brand new Road Runner and both of us all dressed up for a evening out the neighbor kid threw a fire cracked under one of the cars in the drive and i dove for cover with my date and we were both eating grass. Sure glad her dad was a WW2 vet as he knew what it was like . Now Judy on the other had was a bit upset with me as she now had grass stains on her nice white slacks.

I used bottle rockets (incorrectly) as an example.

The rest of my rant stands. $150,000 less in taxes means one state parasite misses a "business trip". BFD.

Of course, the "income" and lobbying by the folks that make the real money of the fireworks is why it got passed and will stay.

It was an obsolete law that was costing us money.I dont mess with fire works but now I can use a few fire crackers to keep birds out of my sweet corn with out facing criminal charges.If every law that is on the books was enforced the whole population of Maine would be in jail.

Here in Michigan, the "good" ones were illegal until last year. People would got to Ohio or Indiana and bring them home. Now, there's a tent (sometime 2 or 3) on just about every corner where any kind of traffic passes by. They're only legal on 3 days of certain holiday periods (day before, holiday, day after) and before 11:00 PM but the idiots that buy them evidently can't read a calendar or tell time. So the legislature is looking at changes due to all the complaints.

Then there's the cost. Guy at work ordered $ 1700 worth online, had UPS deliver a pallet to the shop. Couldn't take it into the building so he unloaded it and divvied it up in the parking lot. UPS charged him $200 extra for a "haz-mat" delivery. To each his own, I guess, but that's a lot of money going up in smoke in about 15 minutes.

Many years ago when there was a field behind our subdivision, a neighbor was lighting off Roman candles and one fell over, shot along the ground and started a grass fire. I think he got a $400 bill from the fire department. Don't know if his insurance paid it.

I have not liked them since I was a kid. Had an Uncle that thought it was fun to throw fire crackers under your feet. As a little kid that would scared the crap out of you.

He did it to me right after I got back from over seas. I had him knocked out in nothing flat. He did not do it again around me.

Tractor Vet. Did you get seriously wounded by any of the mortar rounds??? I carry part of a Chinese one around with me. Another reason I hate Chinese made JUNK.

I did not have any major issues with loud noises or other things until years later. I mean twenty years later. The Doc still swore that it was caused by the war. I am not so sure. I think it effects you more when you are under stress. I think the stress is the common issue. You sure where stressed over there.

Thank You for your service Tractor Vet.

Loved fireworks as a kid, now I avoid a them.
Led

Yep. Only thing these jerks bring to the world is noise. Fireworks, a boom boom radio, a hell bent motorcycle and a rusty old truck with a loud muffler. Noise. Look at Me! Look at Me! Yea...we see ya...and it ain't pretty.

Yes, and sadly we are all forced to hear you...long before we see you...boom ...boom...boom. And what do you bring to the party? Just noise and a bunch of little kids that could use a better role model....like a father that bought food and paid his bills, before he bought fireworks and motorcycles.

But that is how it used to be.

Well sorta , left arm and left hand took a good slicen left leg and knee and i hate to admit to it but took a finger nail size chunk to the right rear cheek and a 6.5 round to the left chest , went thru my ruck sack strap and lodged between the heart and left lung. . Had i been in a ground pounding outfit i would have been home on the second one BUT NO not with the group i was in . they would sick a bandaid on ya and back out ya went. when the left arm got hit after theyhacked and wacked on me they put a od green cast on my left arm and made it so my hand could still hold the long gun and back out GROUND HOG hunting i would go .After i was shot i got two weeks off and back out at it , them main reason was i saw the one that got me and i was wanting to return the favor . A little over two months later and within thirty clicks of where i got hit i returned the favor , he will never dwell in trees anymore.

yea i like fireworks not the crowds or traffic trying to get home afterwards.
our little town had fireworks about 3 weeks ago.
i think fire dept. did as good a job or better than the larger towns around us.

About 15 years ago, I got bored with it. Then when I had the hankerin', there was no time. The last time I saw fireworks was on my way home from the Illinois Railway Museum. Getting to see everyone's celebration across 5 counties spoiled me a bit. AND, I didn't have to listen to them. Now I just don't have the time or cash to drive around rubbernecking at fireworks.

Mike

Our neighbor to the south of our place in Dallas used to shoot off fireworks.

Flying discs, bottle rockets, fire crackers, etc. He couldn"t set them off in his driveway, no he had to come out into the street and shoot them over our pasture and toward the barn.

Scared the beejeebers out of my horses. We always had to stay home on the fourth because of him.

Very glad he finally gave that up.

Why do you say it was obsolete?

It was a lot like Prohibition, a stupid law.Government lost millions of tax money on booze.Maine has become a nanny state.Didnt hear any fireworks last night.Used to hear more fireworks when they were illegal.

My moms family has been celebrating Independence Day since 1955 here at the lake on our family farm. An all day event. Bar-b-q at noon, home made ice cream (made in white mountain freezers, important side note, lol). The kids setting off fire works all day. Then an awesome fireworks display at night. Here's 2 of the guys setting up the night display on the concrete pad by the lake.

I feel the same way. Was at Camp Evans in RVN when they blew the ammo dump. We had GP mediums for cover. Tore everything up for 3 days and 3 nights.
1st Cav was a good unit...but we could sure get in the mess fast.
I still do not like fire works or even the smell of gun powder.

Fireworks are great! I am blessed to live on the edge of a city of 9000, I park a few blocks away from the fireworks site, walk over with a lawn chair and sit on the grass at the park and meet and visit with friends as we wait for it to get dark. Had lots of powerful loud booms last night...love the echoes across the valley. Fifteen minutes after it"s over, I am home. To this 76 yr old vet it"s a nice summer night and reminds me of how wonderful it is to let all the different people enjoy their thing....something called "Freedom".
LA in WI

I do like fireworks. As others have said, on the 4th of July, professionally done.

They are now legal in Michigan, I really dont need to hear them 5 nights a week from April til November.

I really like a huge boom that shakes the ground, dont need the lights, guess its the kid in me. Maybe I should have been a demolition person!

Rick

Used to really like fireworks.....but now our dog HATES the noise of them.....so, it gets to be a annoying thing when the neighbors do it nowadays. But......if they want to light them off, so be it.