Pop it, tire

I thought I'd take a break in the doom-and-gloom of trigger warning labeled post and give another little anecdote from my time in Las Vegas, once again co-starring Jackson.

The winter holidays in Las Vegas was a time of some of the most extreme mood swings I've ever had. I went from completely apathetic to hamster on a sugar high with just a syllables notice and I was missing Sweden like crazy.

That's when my host parents made the suggestion that I stay with Jackson's family for New Year's, since they would be attending an grown-ups-only party Somewhere Else. I jumped at the opportunity faster than anyone can say Roman Candle.

Now, New Year's Eve in Las Vegas is very different than New Year's Eve in Trollhättan. Firstly, there was no snow and we ran around without jackets and in sneakers. You try that here in Sweden and you'll get pneumonia with a side serving of fever.
Secondly, they've banned fireworks in Las Vegas. You need to have a company with a special permit to light fireworks, which to me felt very strange. A New Year's Eve without nearly setting a pine on fire with an errant firework just felt odd. This fireworks ban also include all kinds of crackers and poppers you light a fuse to set off.

I did however have my first encounter with the kind of crackers that snap at pressure or go pop when thrown on the ground (and I just can't remember the name of them. Help?) Throwing those at someone's feet turned out to be all the entertainment needed and Jackson and I spent the better part of the evening trying to hit each other's feet with them. (I have later found them here in Sweden, but they're not as fun without slightly unhinged company.)

The last order of business was to empty out a whole box of them on the road, before we went inside to eat.

Here I would like to say that the sofa in the apartment Jackson's family lived in is without a doubt the most comfortable I have ever slept in. If I could, I would haul it back to my own apartment and not leave it.

Anyway, I crashed on said sofa sometime after midnight (memory is a bit hazy) and woke up to the very entertaining sound of the poppers going off under car tires at WayTooEarlyO'Clock and the subsequent screeching of brakes. It seems that said poppers are loud enough to be heard inside of running cars.

As far as I remember, Jackson just laughed when I told them about the Pop... Goes the Pop Adventure.