Blade Edge

Computer software | Video production | My life in general

Blade Edge grucci header

First Fireworks Display!

June 2nd, 2010 · 13 Comments · Grucci

This Memorial Day weekend saw me out in the field on Sunday with about 15 other trainees and three experienced chief technicians setting up a small fireworks display for the North Patchogue Fire Dept carnival out on Long Island. This was our first time setting up a show from the ground up – back during our training class we each loaded, wired, tested and fired two 4″ shells, but the racks, grids and mortars were already laid out for us. This time around we had to get the whole shebang up and ready to go. Report time was 12:30, and so after arriving in the area early enough to have a nice Chinese lunch with my friends an fellow Grucci family members Justin & Trish, I showed up at the field with all my gear, ready to rock and roll.

Because of the area we were firing in, we could only send up 4″ shells. This is determined by the rule of 70′ per inch of shell size. If we wanted to fire off a 5″ shell, we would have needed a diameter of 350 feet to work in – and the sports field at the middle school only gave us 280 feet of room – just large enough to fire off 4″ shells. The show was a pretty small one – normally at team of about 3 people would have set it up and we had a total of 19 technicians on the site – 3 chiefs and 16 trainees. But even with all the extra manpower time was lost due to our inexperience so it all balanced out. Still, even for a small show we were shooting off 495 shells in 6.5 minutes!

First step is to unload the truck, which means hauling out all the racks, grids, mortar tubes, product, firing shelter, cables, wires, etc etc. That done, our chiefs walked us through the site plan and how to arrange everything. Then it was time to assemble the racks and grids. Racks need legs to be able to stand upright, and additionally may need to be angled to a certain degree to help spread the bursts across the sky. Grids need the mortar tubes inserted into them after they are assembled. The racks were all handling the 3″ shells, while the grids were holding the 4″ mortars. Here’s everything set up. You can see the wooden racks (each 10 tubes wide) in the foreground, the grids behind them, and the aluminum racks at the back. Notice the grids can be angled as well.

Once all the mortar tubes were in place, it was time to break out the product and wire it all up. I loaded some 10-shell finale chains, which were a bit of a pain in the ass to unravel properly. When you have a time chained batch of shells, they are all wired together with black powder match and obviously you want to insert them in order so the wires don’t get crossed. If that happens, a firing shell could rip out another one on its way up. So for a 10-shell chain you’re dealing with quite a jumble of wires. After getting that all sorted, I attached and then ran the various vote électronique wires from the product to the wiring panel. After everyone had loaded and wired up their product, we tidied up the loose cables so no one would trip over one and rip it out/loose and taped down whatever loose wire were over the mortars. Here’s the final result.

After we hooked up to the firing panel and tested to make sure everything was connected properly, there was really nothing else to do until sundown. We had wrapped setup around 4:30pm, so Grucci brought out some food and water – which isn’t a normal occurrence (water yes, food no) but luckily this was a local show and so some of the other family members came out as well. Some people went over to check out the carnival, but I laid in the grass and caught up on some sleep and my Star Wars ebooks. Finally, the sky started to darken and our showtime approached.

At 9:40pm the test shell shot skyward so we could do a final check of the wind, which was blowing laterally across the field and not towards the audience. 6 trainees wanted to fire the show, which is done manually by electrical firing panel, and one got picked to do so. I was more interested in watching the show – you can’t see the show when you’re firing – all attention is on the panel, with a spotter next to you to let you know if something’s gone wrong. Obviously one of the chiefs was there as well calling out the cues. The rest of us were spaced around the perimeter to watch for debris and make sure no one wandered into our 280 foot safety zone.

The show kicked off and I was soon holding my head with my hands so I wouldn’t cramp my neck since the shells were bursting literally over my head – especially the ones angled towards me. Some burning debris hit the ground about 25 feet away, and I watched to make sure nothing lit up afterwards. About two minutes into the show, one of our finale racks lit off, and I screamed out a curse imagining that our entire finale was going to fire off. Luckily it was just that one rack that went, but it was a rack stringed together with 3 others, so 40 shells launched! So a slight adjustment in firing rate had to be made to cushion the ending – one of the things experienced chiefs learn to deal with.

Everything else seemed to go off fine as far as I could tell, and immediately after the show we were strolling about the field, lights on, collecting up shell debris and making sure no un-exploded shells had landed in the field. After several minutes of waiting, to make somewhat sure no unlaunched product actually did launch, the chiefs approached the racks and grids for an inspection. I finished gathering up debris and heading over just in time to hear our head chief call out “I got good news and bad news.” We all asked for the bad news first. “Bad news, is we made one hell of a fucking mess over here.” We all laughed, because that’s normal. And the good news? “It looks like you guys fired 100%!” That brought out a cheer. Since we don’t hand fire shows (dangerous, but still in practice for some companies today) there’s always a chance some wire will get messed up during firing or some electrical glitch will short out a shell or chain of shells. It’s more common to send a small handful of shells (that also may have just been duds) back to the plant than it is to send them all up in the air. As I said earlier, it was a relatively small show, so our chances of shooting 100% were greater – additionally we wired the hell out of everything to anticipate and overcome any possible faults – but it was still satisfying to know that everything we came with lit up the night sky.

As for that finale chain that went up early, the chiefs double-checked the wiring after the show and affirmed that everything was hooked up properly – so that’s a mystery they’ll have to solve back at the offices – but at least it wasn’t anything we did!

We all tore down the equipment and packed up the truck in a little over an hour, and then it was all over. I certainly can’t complain a bit about my first show! On the other hand, it was a bit of a pampered show, with so many people and local support from the company, but I realize that as well. I jump into a “real” real show on my next outing, which is sometime in June. And then, of course, there’s the 4th of July.

Icing on the cake was making it to and from Long Island with no tickets 🙂

Tags: ·

13 Comments so far ↓

  • legiano casino auszahlung

    Mit seiner Erfahrung in der Finanzberatung bei Unternehmen wie John Deere und Procter
    & Gamble bringt er einen strategischen, pragmatischen Ansatz ein, um die
    Sicherheit und Nachhaltigkeit der Website zu gewährleisten. George Williams ist Mitbegründer von Gambling ‘N
    Go, wo er die Sicherheit und die Finanzgeschäfte der Plattform überwacht.

    Der Live-Dealer-Bereich wird auch von vielen Wettfans in den Niederlanden bevorzugt.

    Online-Casinos in den Niederlanden tendieren zu bekannten Debit-/Kreditkarten, digitalen Geldbörsen für Sofortüberweisungen und Kryptowährungen für
    Ein- und Auszahlungen. Online-Casino-Fans müssen sich also für eine Zahlungsmethode entscheiden und dabei bleiben, wenn sie der Meinung sind, dass dies die richtige Option für sie ist.
    Alle zuvor erwähnten Zahlungsmethoden werden empfohlen, vor allem,
    weil sie sicher und schnell sind. Was für den einen Spieler passt, ist
    für den anderen vielleicht nicht gut. Die Spieler müssen selbst entscheiden, welche Zahlungsmethode sie bevorzugen.

    References:
    https://online-spielhallen.de/princess-casino-deutschland-ein-tiefenblick-in-das-online-glucksspiel/

  • Casino Bonus Cashback

    Spieler sollten die Allgemeinen Geschäftsbedingungen des Casinos prüfen, um sicherzustellen, dass sie berechtigt sind, sich zu registrieren und zu spielen. Crocoslots Casino bietet Kundensupport über Live-Chat, E-Mail und einen FAQ-Bereich auf der Website.
    Die Website des Crocoslots Casinos ist für mobile Geräte optimiert und bietet ein nahtloses Spielerlebnis auf Smartphones und
    Tablets, ohne dass eine spezielle App erforderlich ist.

    Casinospieler erhalten präzise Informationen über sichere Online-Glücksspiele und Online-Casinos in der Schweiz.
    Als Highlights gelten für mich nicht nur der Willkommensbonus sowie
    50 Freispielen ohne Einzahlung, sondern auch der VIP-Club und die weiteren Bonusangebote.

    Auch weist Crocoslots auf seiner Plattform gut sichtbar darauf hin, verantwortungsvoll
    zu spielen.
    Sicher dir jetzt deinen exklusiven Bonus mit 25 Freispielen sowie einen Ersteinzahlungsbonus von 150% bis zu
    500€. Zudem gibt es einen exklusiven Playcasino.com Bonus mit 25 Freispielen sowie zusätzlich einen 150%
    Bonus bis zu 500€ und 100 Freispiele auf deine Ersteinzahlung.
    Wenn Sie bei Crocoslots zu spielen beginnen, gibt es neben dem Willkommensbonus noch weitere Boni, die Sie als treuer Spieler sammeln können. Neben klassischen Casinospielen bietet Crocoslots Casino auch eine
    große Auswahl an Jackpot-Spielen an, darunter beliebte Titel wie Mega
    Moolah und Divine Fortune. Wenn Sie gerne online spielen, wählen Sie
    Crocoslots.

    References:
    https://online-spielhallen.de/instant-casino-deutschland-schneller-spielspas-im-fokus/

  • bank craps rules

    It happens when you deposit money into your Golden Crown Casino account.
    It’s called weekly reload bonuses. Imagine getting a 100% match bonus up to AU$10,000 plus 100 free
    spins on your first deposit! Transaction processing varies by method, with e-wallets typically
    offering the fastest turnaround times for both deposits and withdrawals.
    The login portal remains consistent across platforms, allowing seamless transitions between devices without disrupting active gaming sessions.
    The platform remembers login credentials for convenience while
    maintaining encryption standards that safeguard account access.

    This approach allows newcomers to understand betting patterns and
    game mechanics without risking significant funds. Golden Crown Casino 7 welcomes
    new members with a variety of sign-up rewards that kick in right after account creation. Behind the scenes,
    a team of specialists monitors game fairness and keeps
    everything running smoothly. Every transaction goes through a thorough security check, and withdrawal times are among the fastest in the industry.

    Best experience I’ve had when they fix issues right then and there.

    If you have any further questions, please contact our support team directly.Best regards,
    Golden Crown Casino Hello Tori,Thank you for
    your feedback — we’re glad you enjoy our casino and we note your comment
    about the provider. Staff were also much more helpful than on other sites I’ve had experience with.
    And one more thing, they scam you into getting all
    these free spin depending how much they con you into depositing.
    And they’re not that interesting to play, nor do they pay out?

    References:
    https://blackcoin.co/pokiesurf-a-quick-overview/

  • free casino slots

    There really isn’t a simple trick that you can use
    to win. However, Blackjack is also a game that involves both skill and luck.
    If you think you may have issues with problem gambling, there are charities and organisations
    that you can reach out to. We have now added Crypto casino
    payment methods to our list. There are a number of payment methods worldwide to
    choose from that can make deposits and withdrawals quickly and easily.
    They are popular for their Video slots with long intros.

    Free online slots allow players to spin the reels without wagering real money.
    The latest slots and casino games often boast stunning graphics and more complex features than ever before, with developers
    using cutting-edge software to deliver an immersive gaming experience.
    Rush Games is the free-to-play extension of the trusted BetRivers brand, offering online slots and table games in a
    completely legal, non-monetary format for players in New York.
    The casino games at Slotomania are developed by Playtika, a leading gaming software company, ensuring a top-notch gaming experience for New York players.
    Online gambling has been a topic of ongoing discussion in the
    Empire State for some time—but what are your options for playing
    casino-style games online in New York? Most free casino slots for fun are colorful and visually appealing, so about
    20% of players play for fun and then for real money.

  • online gambling Australia

    Cashback is usually credited on a daily or weekly basis, depending on the casino.
    It also delivers flexible transaction limits compared to e-wallets and debit/credit card payments.
    This mode of payment is fee-free, secure, and direct – it connects your bank to your casino for uninterrupted transactions with no middleman required.

    As one of the most iconic Australian pokies
    online, this game promises straightforward, low-volatility action with an innovative twist.
    Our experts rank Aussie online pokies based on their popularity,
    RTP, volatility, paylines, and bonus features. So, there’s no shortage of pokies
    to choose from, but how do you find the best games, and what makes them
    better than the rest? His content is trusted by players seeking reliable information on legal, secure,
    and high-quality gaming options—whether locally regulated or internationally licensed.

    He specializes in evaluating licensed casinos, testing payout speeds,
    analyzing software providers, and helping readers identify trustworthy gambling
    platforms. The casinos above are the top all-rounders, but if you want to learn more about a specific game genre, you can refer to any of the pages
    below.
    Always look for free spins, welcome bonuses, and reload offers.
    Still wondering what is the best online casino in Australia?
    Just open your online casino account, verify you are human, head to the cashier section, choose your method, and follow the
    on-screen prompts. Here are the most common ways Aussies fund and cash out at online gambling Australia sites.
    Expect lower % matches than welcome offers, with similar rules on wagering, eligible games, and bet caps.
    Check the multiplier on wagering, whether it’s bonus-only or
    deposit+bonus, max bet limits, and the timer to clear it.

  • no deposit cash offers Australia

    He returned to rob the cage in March 2019, and a shootout occurred outside the resort between him and police as he tried to escape.
    Another robbery occurred later in 2017, when a man stole money from a poker cage.
    The robber pled guilty as part of a plea deal, and was sentenced
    to 3 to 11 years. The Bellagio heist was one in a series of casino robberies committed by the men.
    In June 2000, three men stole $160,000 in cash and casino chips, and were
    subsequently apprehended.
    Bellagio is one of many hotels with swimming pools on the Strip.
    The game starts when a gambler bets the ante and, in some cases, makes the Pair Plus side
    bet. The rankings are nearly identical to those used in traditional poker.

    References:
    https://blackcoin.co/yukon-gold-casino-a-member-of-casino-rewards/

  • okbolt.co.kr

    casino online uk paypal

    References:
    okbolt.co.kr

Leave a Comment