Mattes's Musings by KC2GIK

  . When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.  The reaction to America's 250th Birthday is mixed. People are celebrating in some circles while others are claiming the current political climate is ripe for the fall of democracy. I will attempt to  not be as dramatic, even though I am enthusiastic about our country, imperfections included. It would be a waste a time and effort to go through 250 years of  American history through my eyes, a forty-eight year old from NJ with CP. However it absolutely blows my mind that Thomas Jefferson was just thirty-five when he wrote the   Declaration of Independence . He...

90% of the time we go down to Murrells Inlet, we travel by car. That means taking first the Cape May-Lewes Ferry across the Delaware Bay. As we were approaching Lewes, I quickly noticed old blue "Welcome to Lewes, Delaware" was replaced by this new white sign with the ferry logo on the  upper right hand corner. I knew this was my only chance until December to shoot it.. My dad likes to be one of the first cars on and off the ferry, so this was an added bonus!! It's one of the advantages of being in the shotgun seat!!!!!

     It's almost been three years since I decided to abandon my   paid web host  and moved my  website over to Blogger. I realized I hadn't really explored the "pages " feature that  creates single pages you can link to like regular pages on a website. At first I was hesitant because I wanted to keep my HTML coding skills up to par, but I am just happy to get it back !!  I will continue to write about the ALPCA Conventions on here but have an index of all license plate writing on there. .I also plan to cross-post  both blogs. I also have links to the license plate collectors' eBay handles and the "What We Collect" pages from my old site!! The link is http://plates.justinmattes.com

     Well it took multiple online purchases, namely power poles, KB9VBR J-pole antenna and some cable, but  the  Alinco DR605- T on the air!! I took the power supply down from Cape May, since I won't be using two stations at once. Actually his will now be my"GO-KIT" plus I have a whip antenna. I debated on whether I was going to bring the antenna back to Cape May or leave it in Murrells Inlet. I also am toying with the idea of getting a second power supply, so I can literally grab the radio and go! Although I won't order it until I get down  there next year        My goal was pretty simple, to hit the local 2 meter  and 440 repeaters. It worked perfectly to get into the Grand Strand Repeater system, which has multiple repeaters in the Myrtle Beach area. This includes one repeater which happens to be less than a mile from our house.  This repeater is also  part of the  HEART System which links repeaters from No...

+        Robert Duvall passed away on February 15 th   His list of acting achievements is nothing short of remarkable from his big  screen debut in 1966 as Boo Radley in to K ill a Mockingbird to nailing Lt Col Kilgore in Apocalypse Now . He also played along side John Travolta as "the kirky "Doc" in Phenomenon , one of my favorites. Although  fans and movie critics alike would say his appearance as Tom Hagan in the Godfather Parts I & II was among his best work, I'm not going to argue.  Duvall rounded out to the already all-star cast and sealed his place in Hollywood history.    Anyone who has been on Twitter knows it's littered with just goofy memes, however every once in awhile pure gold appears on my feed.   While scrolling through  the countless tributes for Duvall I noticed the  above is a scene from T he Godfather. The order that the characters left the table is the order the actors passed away in re...

  I was hesitant to leave Cape May for three months because I'd miss my friends but there was a definite upside.  License plate collector and ALPCA member Jeff Francis hosts a license plate meet in January at his huge warehouse in St. Petersburg Florida. The warehouse is filled with license plates, all kinds of memorabilia  from highway signs to even a few antique cars. He also has a few phone booths, although I checked and no dial tone.  It takes days just to see everything then you get to the license plates!! I actually found one or two plates in the vast sea of tin. One of the many highlights was travelling with my buddy  Rick Kretschmer.  who I first roomed with at the 2007 ALPCA Convention in Huntsville and have done numerous trips out to Hersey  before I moved from Woodcliff Lake down to Cape May. One of the first thoughts when my dad bought the house down here was Rick had to drive through SC to get to Florida so I had my chance!! It just so hap...