# I hear explosions. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 28, 2007, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hear-explosions/389789 "2007-01-28T02:34:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hear-explosions/389789/1 "2007-01-28T02:34:18Z")
It’s 6:15 PM on Saturday in Seattle just north of downtown. For the last 20 minutes I’ve been hearing sounds like distant thunder, only it’s been continous (Boom,boom BOOM[sub]boomboomboom[/sub] boom…boomboom) I hear it on the north side of the house. It’s not loud. It sounds miles away. The sky is crystal clear. I’m watching the local news, and there’s no mention of bombs being dropped or a chemical factory blowing up. Maybe the neighbors are moving _really_ big furniture. :dubious: I feel like I’m channeling **Anastasaeon**. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hear-explosions/389789/2 "2007-01-28T02:35:23Z")
What’s Mt. Rainier look like right now? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hear-explosions/389789/3 "2007-01-28T02:43:09Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] What’s Mt. Rainier look like right now? 😃 [/QUOTE] It’s still there, no cloud over it. Besides, the sound is coming from the north. Well, it was, it’s stopped now. Mt Baker? It would have been on the news. Wouldn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hear-explosions/389789/4 "2007-01-28T03:00:00Z")
It was Bill Gates! It had something to do with a scavenger hunt He had fireworks set off over Elliott Bay. Surprise! When you have all the money in the world you can scare your neighbors with impunity, I guess. :rolleyes: Anyway, the news mentioned it at the end of the report, since so many people had called in. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hear-explosions/389789/5 "2007-01-28T03:06:57Z")
It is always Bill Gates…grumble grumble. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hear-explosions/389789/6 "2007-01-28T03:11:19Z")
[QUOTE=picunurse] He had fireworks set off over Elliott Bay. [/QUOTE] Heh. That reminds me of when I was newly-installed in my first apartment. This was before the Crips and Bloods reached their famous truce in the '80s. Hearing gunfire was not uncommon. There I was, sitting on the toilet, when suddenly it sounded as if the Mother Of All Gang Wars was being waged nearby. And I was in no position to do anything! Turns out it was fireworks over the newly-opened MGM building a few blocks away. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hear-explosions/389789/7 "2007-01-28T03:23:39Z")
[QUOTE=picunurse] It was Bill Gates! It had something to do with a scavenger hunt He had fireworks set off over Elliott Bay. Surprise! [/QUOTE] That was just _cover_ for the cluster of underground nukes he set off in order to hollow out space for his secret new ‘Microsoft World Domination’ center. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hear-explosions/389789/8 "2007-01-28T03:29:50Z")
Not MWDs! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Tikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hear-explosions/389789/9 "2007-01-28T03:34:17Z")
Darn it! We were there at Elliott’s Oyster House celebrating a friend’s birthday this afternoon. And the two things she wanted most were oysters and fireworks. If we’d stayed long enough, she could have had both. We all had a good time, though, and got absolutely stuffed to the gills on great food as well. Bill Gates and other rich people have had their own fireworks displays before, some of which I’ve heard, if not seen, when I lived on Queen Anne Hill. I used to have a perfect view of the fireworks at Leschi every 12th of July. I thought maybe it had something to do with Bastille Day but apparently it’s some rich person’s birthday. Our friend’s hubby did get some sparklers for her. He may not be Bill Gates but I’ve never seen a couple who go so well together. I think she’d rather have him that an all-night display of fireworks anytime. So, if you happen to read this, Happy Birthday to you, Dee. Edited to say: Okay, Bastille Day is the 14th of July. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hear-explosions/389789/10 "2007-01-28T07:20:13Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] That was just _cover_ for the cluster of underground nukes he set off in order to hollow out space for his secret new ‘Microsoft World Domination’ center. 😉 [/QUOTE] No it’s not. Gates just install M$ Vista on his laptop. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hear-explosions/389789/11 "2007-01-28T07:28:56Z")
Military planes? Airshow? ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hear-explosions/389789/12 "2007-01-28T08:10:22Z")
…so it wasn’t Norwegians? For me it’s _always_ Norwegians. ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hear-explosions/389789/13 "2007-01-28T11:55:40Z")
[QUOTE=Anastasaeon] …so it wasn’t Norwegians? For me it’s _always_ Norwegians. [/QUOTE] Slander! 😛