How in the hell do you shut down state parks and beaches for the 4th of July? Even with a $2 billion deficit staring us in the face and no budget, the parks and beaches in Connecticut are open.
Anyway, happy 4th of July to all! I just got in a few new tins and it's my son's 18th birthday, so it should be an enjoyable Sunday today.
It cost nothing to have a park open. Bust down the gates!!!
Anyway, on Independance Day it has always been my want to read the Declaration of Independance. Read it through, think about what it means. Remember it's that document that was drawn up that stated that our rights do not come from man, nor can man take them away. Government gets it's power from the consent of the governed &c.
I won't spoil the whole thing. I hope everyone takes the time to read it before they've had too many.
The fireworks in my area started a few days ago but they are in full force today. Everything from the small firecrackers to explosions that sound like quarter sticks of dynamite which literally rattle the windows and pictures on the walls. Sounds like the Invasion of Normandy.
Not a pop yet in our part of northern NJ. We're just hunkered down, gnashing our teeth over the state government's shutdown, closing the state parks and beaches.
Down here, we aren't nearly as worried about the combination of alcohol and fireworks, as we are alcohol and firearms. Just about anyone can get by with a missing finger or toe. Rifle cartridges can travel quite a ways though, and what goes up, must come down.
@xDutchx Here in my neck of the wood ... Gary, Indiana ... nightly gunshots are as common as seeing crows eat the eyes from road kill. We stopped calling the police after they told us they were aware of the problem. Apparently it's so commonplace that it's something we're suppose to live with.
And speaking of road kill ... the last time my wife and I drove from Gary to Rockville, Indiana where the annual Covered Bridge Festival takes place each October we counted a total of 56 dead raccoons on the side of the road. There were actually more than that - but we started counting once we saw so many dead carcasses - and decided to make a game of it. I suggested we contact the Governor (who was Mike Pence at the time) and see if we could have the raccoon designated as 'Indiana's Official State Carcass'.
If you don't mind a bit of offensive language, although I think the gentleman is quite religious as he calls for Jesus many times, you can see the best fireworks video ever.
Note: I can not check the link before I post, and once I post I can't edit. So if this doesn't work you will see an embarrassed post right after this.
Its US Independence Day – July 4, 2017 – 240 years since celebrations first began. A few things have changed few people mark the day by having turtle soup and firing off canons, instead its hot dogs and drinks. And in our cases a pipe full.
250 years ago the pipes were clays or corncobs and the tobaccos were what anybody could sell you with whatever was in it. Will pipes still be around 250 years from now? Most likely after all people have been smoking one thing or another almost since we got fire. The pipes I suspect will be different and the principal pipe fuel will still be tobacco. Whether it will be legal or pipe smokers will be an underground movement depends. I will not attempt to predict the future all I can say is that I hope there is a 480 year independence day.
I wish you all a great 4th of July for a great country.
Liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among the people. John Quincy Adams.>>
Mr. Motie our quasi-IT man has been on the spot again with great help. It might save me from accidentally posting the final choices I made for a mail order Russian bride.
Ah, I always remember my favorite 4th of July story. In 1990 I was working an archaeological project in Peru. We lived in Juli, a pretty decent-sized town on the shores of Lake Titicaca. We made a run to Bolivia to pick up what appeared to be bottle rockets. (Why they weren't available in Peru, quien sabe?) We started having enough of a party that the State Police stationed across the street joined us, bringing their own liquor and toasting the good ol' USA as much as we did (I love Latin America). About 11pm we tried the first bottle rockets, setting them off in the middle of our house's central patio, because, well, there we were. About every other bottle rocket would lift off, immediately turn 90-degrees and bounce around the inside of the patio scattering everyone for cover. Since this seemed unsafe, one of the crew decided to hold each bottle rocket, light it, count to 5 and then hurl it up to the sky. So, again, don't mix fireworks and alcohol, even cheap Peruvian beer. No one lost a finger and I honestly don't know why.
@ghostsofpompeii, Oh no I am not from Chicagoland, I am from Decatur, AL. I am a truck driver, so I have been to and thru almost all 50 states. I am running auto parts now, so I go out to Arizona, and up to Michigan and back to Alabama. No more east coast cities, and no more Chicagoland! :^)
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@xDutchx Here in my neck of the wood ... Gary, Indiana ... nightly gunshots are as common as seeing crows eat the eyes from road kill. We stopped calling the police after they told us they were aware of the problem. Apparently it's so commonplace that it's something we're suppose to live with.
And speaking of road kill ... the last time my wife and I drove from Gary to Rockville, Indiana where the annual Covered Bridge Festival takes place each October we counted a total of 56 dead raccoons on the side of the road. There were actually more than that - but we started counting once we saw so many dead carcasses - and decided to make a game of it. I suggested we contact the Governor (who was Mike Pence at the time) and see if we could have the raccoon designated as 'Indiana's Official State Carcass'.
@xDutchx When you said you've been to Gary as well as Calumet ... did you mean you went to Calumet High School? If so, are we former classmates?
No I didn't stutter. I forgot to include in @ in the first message. I wanted to make sure Dutch got my message.