Midsummer Holiday

[Jeff V]

Thursday is Independence Day here in the US. Wife is off for the first time in forever, city fireworks can be viewed a few blocks from here and our subdivision fireworks will follow and exceed them. Looks like we will be hosting with BBQ, yard water features (slip n slides, etc.). In the morning the kids will march in the town parade along with some of their friends (with their arts company - music, dance, theater). We'll do BBQ in the afternoon then watch the fireworks in the evening.

[Kraken]

Along with our town, we celebrated it last weekend, as we've done for the past 35 years. Knowing that this would be the last time was bittersweet. I'm looking forward to my new life but reluctant to give up my old.

There are fireworks pics/video, taken from my front porch, on my FB page for anyone who's so inclined. They look just like any other fireworks you'll ever see, but these were mine.

I also enjoyed an Italian sausage sub, which is the most American thing there is.

[msteelers]

We’re visiting my mom in western North Carolina this week. The family will go out and explore while I work during the day, but on the 4th we’ll all go to Mount Mitchell for a bit and then go home to cook burgers and hot dogs. The city my mom is in does fireworks, so we might be able to see those from the house.

[MHS]

Our daughter and her husband moved to Kansas City, Kansas in May and Neal hasn't seen their place yet so we'll be headed to KC for the weekend, with a very quick stop in Omaha to pick up my mom and bring her with us. I have no idea how into the holiday Kansas City gets, but I'm willing to bet we'll get some decent BBQ out of the trip.

[Kraken]

Over the next couple of days I need to get caught up on some editing work and file my Q2 payroll tax returns so that I can clear the decks for the long holiday weekend. We got our appraisal back today and it came in $3k over what we're paying; that was the last potential derail for our mortgage. So now I need to kick into high gear on cleaning out the old house, which I've only been picking at slowly heretofore. We have accumulated so much junk....

[Rumpy]

It's Canada Day here, and our city has decided to not do fireworks, but instead have a drone show.

[gilraen]

It's Canada Day, and my company is headquartered in Canada, so many of my coworkers are out today. It's nice and quiet, and I can actually get some work done.

[dbt1949]

Be sure to have an umbrella.

[Lagom Lite]

Oh, the usual. Dancing around a large phallic symbol and sacrificing our young to the Gods.

[Lagom Lite]

Dang it, I said the quiet part out loud again.

[TheMix]

Dang it, I said the quiet part out loud again.

[hitbyambulance]

[Blackhawk]

You know, I don't mind the fireworks when it's a full display. But I absolutely hate when it's early and people light off just a few. Sitting there and hearing pop-pop-pop-boom-kapow-pop-pop is fine. Sitting there and hearing 'bang bang!' outside, though - that generates a reaction.

[Blackhawk]

...and before someone else does it...

[hitbyambulance]

You know, I don't mind the fireworks when it's a full display. But I absolutely hate when it's early and people light off just a few. Sitting there and hearing pop-pop-pop-boom-kapow-pop-pop is fine. Sitting there and hearing 'bang bang!' outside, though - that generates a reaction.

it's now a favorite activity in my neighborhood for some malcontent to light off one (just one) of the big boom ones... at 2AM

[Carpet_pissr]

Thanks for triggering me. I’ll have nightmares for a week about this movie (again).

[Unagi]

It's Canada Day here, and our city has decided to not do fireworks, but instead have a drone show.

Appropriate transition.

We launch rockets (here in the States) to emulate the "rockets red glare" from our Revolutionary War.

I suppose the modern version of that will become a sky filled with drones.

[Rumpy]

It's Canada Day here, and our city has decided to not do fireworks, but instead have a drone show.

Appropriate transition.

We launch rockets (here in the States) to emulate the "rockets red glare" from our Revolutionary War.

I suppose the modern version of that will become a sky filled with drones.

I guess so. Drones flying in formation. But unlike Fireworks which you can see from pretty much anywhere as long as you have good line of sight, I think drones have a narrow viewing area where the formations would make sense. And the reason given for the drones and discontinuation of fireworks were the cost and the environment, given that fireworks supposedly harm the environment.

[YellowKing]

I took Thursday and Friday off for a 4-day weekend. Thursday we're going to do the traditional cookout, but I plan on utilizing the break to get some home improvement projects done. Namely, repainting my office and my son's bedroom. Doesn't sound fun on paper but I'm actually looking forward to it a great deal. We've been wanting to paint certain rooms for the last 3 years but have just now got to the point where we feel we've settled in and decluttered enough to finally tackle it.

[Unagi]

It's Canada Day here, and our city has decided to not do fireworks, but instead have a drone show.

Appropriate transition.

We launch rockets (here in the States) to emulate the "rockets red glare" from our Revolutionary War.

I suppose the modern version of that will become a sky filled with drones.

I guess so. Drones flying in formation. But unlike Fireworks which you can see from pretty much anywhere as long as you have good line of sight, I think drones have a narrow viewing area where the formations would make sense. And the reason given for the drones and discontinuation of fireworks were the cost and the environment, given that fireworks supposedly harm the environment.

Don't get me wrong, while I'm sure drone formations can be as impressive as anything - I like fireworks.

I can certainly see them being an environment hazard, cause - fire and all that... but it seems we've all managed that over the years for the most part.

[Rumpy]

It's Canada Day here, and our city has decided to not do fireworks, but instead have a drone show.

Appropriate transition.

We launch rockets (here in the States) to emulate the "rockets red glare" from our Revolutionary War.

I suppose the modern version of that will become a sky filled with drones.

I guess so. Drones flying in formation. But unlike Fireworks which you can see from pretty much anywhere as long as you have good line of sight, I think drones have a narrow viewing area where the formations would make sense. And the reason given for the drones and discontinuation of fireworks were the cost and the environment, given that fireworks supposedly harm the environment.

Don't get me wrong, while I'm sure drone formations can be as impressive as anything - I like fireworks.

I can certainly see them being an environment hazard, cause - fire and all that... but it seems we've all managed that over the years for the most part.

Oh totally. I find there's something about fireworks that you don't get via a drone show. In fact, while I haven't seen it myself, I've heard accounts from those who've seen this particular show that it was underwhelming, and more like a powerpoint presentation showing different images every 15 seconds or so.

As for the environment, they've cited harm to animals and the like rather than specifically fires, as apparently fireworks cause distress to pets and wildlife. We live in a very forested area, and our city has 330 lakes within its boundaries, so maybe it has some merit.

[Unagi]

Yeah, I would tend to imagine it's not enjoyed by the wildlife.

[Rumpy]

If anyone's curious about the drone show, they have pictures and a video up here:
https://www.sudbury.com/lifestyle/video ... ow-9165946

[em2nought]

Listening to Time Life Treasury of Christmas, it's Christmas in July.

[Jeff V]

I found out yesterday that wife invited her friends to backyard camp here tonight...but then she texted me this morning asking if I could cancel the party because she's sick. She seems to have contracted the same plague that knocked me out for 5 days last week.

So, currently no party for tomorrow, but if she has some sort of recovery I have brats, burgers and hotdogs to grill and wood for the fire pit. Daughter's friend is spending the night and another two of her friends will come march in the parade tomorrow -- there's more stuff for the kids at a downtown park so they will likely do that as well. Then we'll see if grilling and chilling is on the table (one of her friends needs to bring back tables and chairs we lent them months ago), but my family and friends have already been warned off. Sure, it's been a few years since I've seen some of my friends (and two said they would come), and I do see my family about once a year.

[em2nought]

So, currently no party for tomorrow, but if she has some sort of recovery I have brats, burgers and hotdogs to grill and wood for the fire pit. Daughter's friend is spending the night and another two of her friends will come march in the parade tomorrow -- there's more stuff for the kids at a downtown park so they will likely do that as well. Then we'll see if grilling and chilling is on the table

I think about getting myself a little family occasionally. There's a friend of my friends from Thailand offering it, I'd kind of like it to be because she can't live without me instead of without what she thinks I can do for her. She's such a selfie absorbed chick with little education that I don't think there is much in common. Nobody is climbing under my bridge to take a photo. She has two children, it would be nice to end up with a few people who love me if that was possible. Most of those who did are gone now.

[Kraken]

I've cleared the weekend of for-money work so that I can do for-moving work instead. Tomorrow's agenda is to unpack and test-inflate the air mattresses that we'll use while we treat the new house as a motel. I'll fire up the brand new Weber Genesis that was delivered today and that I'm not going to use until we move; I need to be sure everything's hunky dory with it before then. (My 18-year-old Genesis will remain in service until we move, and then go out to the curb. It still works OK but has rather a large rusted-out hole in the firebox.) I'll sort through and pack up the books from the shelf that collapsed yesterday, and try to repair the bookcase. Then I need to gather together all of my canning supplies that we'll give away because although I will put in a new veggie garden, I don't ever expect to can tomatoes again -- I much prefer turning them into sauce and freezing that. If all that excitement doesn't kill me, I'll clean out a couple of kitchen drawers that have accumulated lots of junk.

Wife has found some online group called Nothing for Sale (?) that has produced a steady stream of people coming to haul away our free junk. She's also identified a few things that are unexpectedly worth money. Some of the art books that have sat unopened for decades are worth $hundreds with all their color plates. And apparently all of my nicer clothes are "vintage" now; people will pay decent money for the shirts I bought in the '80s and '90s and stopped wearing when the workforce kicked me out in 2004. Selling stuff is challenging now that ebay is a hive of scum and villainy, but Wife is resourceful and very fond of money.

Later in the weekend I'll try to get to some neglected yardening. It's hard to motivate myself when I know we'll be outta here in a couple months, but appearances must be kept up, and the weather forecast is encouraging.

We close on the new house on 7/26 which is alarmingly soon. Then we'll spend several weeks gearing up to move by mid-September.

[Jeff V]

I'd kind of like it to be because she can't live without me instead of without what she thinks I can do for her.

One of my friends in a fit of drunken idiocy suggested to my wife she should be kissing my feet for bringing her here. Very, very bad idea. He conveniently forgot that a my wife is holding a life-long grudge against my former best friend (Korean girl I've not mentioned in ages because of this) because she merely hinted at such a thing (well, actually, she was convinced my wife was part of a nefarious plot to harvest my organs). And he still think's he's the one being wronged -- wife was pissed at me for not saying anything at the time and he's pissed at me for not supporting a friend who pre-dated her. I'm glad the plans went south as he brought this up again after I invited him and his kids (who are friends with my son).

[Jeff V]

So we did the parade in the morning, with a couple of my daughter's kids coming along. My son encountered some friends along the way and I even got a shout out from one of my Uber customers.

Wife decided she was okay to have her friends over, they brought a bunch of Filipino food. She then whipped out her box of Covid tests and, well, tested positive! I suspect now this what I had a week earlier. She still tested positive today, so no back to work for her tomorrow. I have to keep interrupting my work day to come home and feed the kids, and tonight feed her as she's tired of the soup she made a few days ago.

[Kraken]

Um, am I to understand that people are paying to ride in your enclosed car while you have covid? Please tell me I read that wrong.

[Jeff V]

Um, am I to understand that people are paying to ride in your enclosed car while you have covid? Please tell me I read that wrong.

You read that wrong. My wife has Covid. I probably had it a week earlier, when I was laid up for 5 days (not driving, too sick). The symptoms were that of a shitty summer cold, something I've encountered many times over the centuries.