Mattes's Musings by KC2GIK

I composed the following e-mail to my friends. Kind of a makeshift Christmas card. I got some pretty nice responses already. Definitely a Merry Christmas!! This time of year I usually receive a lot of e-cards from friends, even people I don't know too well maybe from a list or somewhere else where we swapped e-mails. Then today I received a Christmas Card from a friend, actually a fellow license plate collector, from North Carolina but included was a letter outlining how he, his wife and two kids were doing, I enjoyed it better than the card because we never really chat viae-mail or on IM so I enjoy reading it. The letter inspired this e-mail about my family and myself. While I always promise to be short, I always wind up writing more, that's my great Aunt Millie's (grandma's sister) Influence. Anyway the most exciting event was my younger (always have to sneak that in) brother Chris and his wife Natalie welcomed their first son, Zander Bruce Mattes into the world on ...

Well I wanted to write this a few weeks ago but as usual got distracted. As reported here previous I have a new laptop which is now a couple months old. I don't know who is happier,me or dad, since I was using the downstairs computer for a few months. Almost everytrhing was back to normal except for the fact I was still off the air with PSK-31. Isaac my ham buddy who moved back to Germany a year ago promised when he visited we get PSK back. I was thrilled because this meant one step closer to a "more portable" setup. Well Isaac came, with his wife Grit and their new daughter Sarah in tow, and once again worked his magic. I need to tweak some things after the left, but I was back!! It lasted a week and then the USB Port I used suddenlydied so Chris rigged up an extention so I can use the USB port on the other side of the computer. It's been working fine ever since. In this short amount of time I have racked up some interesting contacts.One of the things I'm st...

As you know by now Chris Christie is Governor-Elect of New Jersey. Christie,a Republican and a die-hard Bruce Springsteen fan, invited The Boss to play at his inauguration. Springsteen turned him down because he b"doesn't support candidates";. Oh really then why did he do some fund-raising concerts for Obama? Secondly I don't5 think anyone who knows anything about politics would label Springsteen anything but liberal. Springsteen also LIED when he said he doesn't support candidates. Bruce appeared with Barack Obama and Jon Corzine numerous times and called for the impeachment of George W. Bush on numerous occasions. So Springsteen's statements he isn't political are offensive because they insult his fans' intelligence. Barack Obama's first message as president-elect was one of unity. Now obviously that has been thrown out the window by both parties. However Chris Christie renewed that same optimism by inviting one New Jersey's most recogni...

The breach of security at the White House last week was an example of why "sweeping changes" in the way business is conducted in the Oval Office isn't always a good thing. I recall the die-hard Obama suppporter moaning about every little thing Bush did in the White House needed to be undone. Well Bush never had "uninvited" geusts visit inside 1600 Pennslyvania Avenue, at least within the gates. Should I saywe don't know if there ever was a breach into the actual White House. Yes I know about the various incidents on the grounds but they were handled with professionalism one would expect from the Secret Service. Obama's "open door policy" backfired and will continue to backfire. He needs to take the incident seriously and learn from this mistake., Why Obama? He sets the tone for what goes on in the White House. While critizing Bush, Obama said Bush should realize no matter what happens, he is responsible for everything thath happens in the ...