I committed a crime on the 4th of July
 

Not a big crime. Just trespassing, really.

I live in a 3-floor apartment building in Huntington Beach, CA, just one mile inland from the ocean. The building has a fourth staircase leading to the roof. This staircase has a gate at the top that is usually locked with a heavy-duty padlock.

So my neighbors and I got to talking last weekend about how we bet we could see a ton of fireworks from the rooftop, if only we could get up there. So my neighbor who lives on the 3rd floor did some recon work and determined that the padlock is attached to a large chain which is wrapped around the door, so if we could somehow get the chain off, we'd be able to get up there.

We got a large pair of bolt cutters, two cases of beer, 10 lawnchairs, and a chain similar in size/weight to the one wrapped around the gate, and we all went up to the roof last night.

We broke the chain with the boltcutters, and then replaced it with the new chain when we left. We had to set the padlock on the ground next to the gate, but one of us is supposed to call the front office "anonymously" today and let them know that the padlock is mysteriously off the chain.

I felt guilty, but I must say, that was one of the neatest fireworks shows I have ever seen. We could see at least fifteen different shows, with a 360-degree view. I practically have whiplash from twirling around to see them all at the same time.

I grew up in the Washington, DC area and thus spent roughly 10 7/4's at the Reflecting Pool for the greatest fireworks show in the country, but I must say that last night was probably the best ever.

The crime was undoubtedly worth it. How was your 4th?

law abiding. i spent most of the day on a plane or in a terminal.

It sounds like a little bit like this.

quiet.

We watched fireworks from our sofa looking out over South Street Seaport and the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. We could also see other ones from the bedroom from other parts of NYC.

http://www.mountvernonnews.com/local...liday.law.html

OP, if you lived in Ohio, you would be fine!

Sucked! Went to the Navy Pier (Chicago) to watch the fireworks. After hanging out for 2 and a half hours and getting the best spot, we were "treated" to a 13 minutes firework show. WTF!? Thirteen minutes?! I was upset.

We couldn't tell if it was the same show because it was so far away, but it LOOKED like the fireworks were coming from the same place... there was one town around us somewhere that had a show lasting almost the entire hour we were up there. We kept thinking they were showing the finale, but the fireworks just kept going, and getting better and better. It was great!

We watched the Macy's fireworks show on our new HD television with our sound system blasting. It was pretty awesome, and we didn't have to drive home afterwards. :)

this is like the difference between watching porn (fun) and having sex (awesome)....just not the same

I like your story.

We watched the fireworks at our local playground as usual ...except this time it was in light rain. I almost thought they were going to postone it but they didn't. Most of the young kids and some not so young were jumping around and dancing to the live band playing all sorts of mixed cool music, rock, hip-hop etc. ...I kept mentioning how it had Woodstock vibes to it but I think some didn't know what Woodstock meant. My kids were soaked but enjoyed the show. I had an umbrella ella ella ella but my feet got wet anyway.

I especially like the going out on the roof part. I have this "thing" about going out on roofs whenever I'm in a building with a potential view. Many hotels I've been in around the world. I find that those "do not enter" or "authorized personnel only" signs on the roof entrance doors are only symbolic, so I make an effort at getting thru, though I've never cut a chain or broken anything. One of my fav roof exploits was on top of Sacre Cur in Paris. In the upper levels there were boarded up doors, but not boarded up too securely. So I got behind one of those and started climbing higher and higher on tight winding stairways ...the crunch under my feet, when I let a match to see in the pitch dark, turned out to be bird droppings and other bird related mess; finally I got out on the highest minerettes with great views of the city and with some great unusual angles for photos of the cathedral itself.

We went to the blues festival downtown here and watched the fireworks afterwards, then we went home and lit off legal fireworks.

My favorite fireworks show would have to be the one I saw when I was 16 or so. We were in San Francisco, and we were staying in what is now the Radisson down on Fisherman's Wharf, with a fantastic view of the bay. They did the show off of barges in the bay, each stationed at a different point. Before the show started, fog started rolling in through the Golden Gate and partially obscured the westernmost barge. It was an eerie sight to see the fireworks being shot up into the fog, sometimes covered up by wisps of the fog, sometimes shooting into a clear spot. The fireworks shooting off of the westernmost barge were mirrored by a barge in plain sight further to the east, so it very beautiful, clear fireworks on one side and these weird foggy fireworks on the other.

My bf came over and we just hung out. I made hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad, salad, had wine and dessert, and just cuddled. =)

it was aiight. went to a family reunion and later went to a party and did some underage drinking. nothing too exciting.

Yeah my family never celebrated the 4th. They were politically non-partisan so they thought it was taking sides (religious thing).

I'm out of the nest for years now but I'm also institutionalized so I've never really done any celebrating on this day. I spend all 4th waiting for a text from a girl, which finally came at like 5am the next day.


Couldn't even sleep because of all the drunk people outside laughing at the stars...

That's *exactly* what we did, on account of it being 116 degrees outside. :thumbsup:

what does celebrating the birth of our country have to do with either politics OR religion?

I sat on the floor of my family room petting my dog. He is terrified of fireworks, so each year we bring him in and keep him company to help calm him.

We had 8 gallons of jungle juice and sat at the pool all day drinking it. Then later in the evening we stumbled over to the park and watched the fireworks before stumbling back home.

I also watched fireworks from a roof. But legally. Went over to a friends house and after a barbeque, we climbed up on the roof of his house and watched the show.

I got drunk too early and passed out while the sun was still up.

I made the mistake of going down to Newport.
Ended up at a party and wandered into a bathroom in time to see some random dude yanking my wife out of the shower. I put him in the hospital and now I'm facing a half dozen felonies and a couple strikes. Depending on whether the jury believes his story or mine will dictate whether I go back to prison.

All I can say in regards to your adventure is be careful and thankful you didn't end up in OC jail with me. It's not a place anyone wants to be and it certainly isn't somewhere you'd find very safe if you haven't done time before.

Hey I broke laws too! Me a couple buds and a few girls I dont know went to a titty bar, we all drank but I was least drunk. so I ended up driving.

I hit a fire hydrant, not because I was buzzed but because it was in a extremely silly place.

Cool thing it wasn't my truck yay! But I'm paying for half :(

Any pictues?

:eek: We've made it a point to avoid Newport like the plague on the 4th... we have a friend who lives on the Peninsula that always invites us over, but yeah... I'd rather be shot.

Hope things work out for you! I'm sure my husband would have done the same, so ... you were on the right side. :2cents:

hopefully you're on my jury ;)