Mattes's Musings by KC2GIK

Justin Mattes  surprised my "niece" Georgia!! He has been visiting at Fusco's Market today!! We miss you!! File this under a "Feel Good Post", where I'm not going to write aan opinion on current events nor insight some wisdom to the public.  Even t hough I LOVE Cape May with 90% of my heart, there's still 10% left in Woodcliff Lake, sorry living in a town for 38+ years can do that to anyone. Of course every  time we go up there it drops my "Cape May Cred" back a few points I hear my friends at the VFW jokingly say "Yeah, move back North ya Yankee". Truthfully parents still have doctors located in Northern NJ and so we need to go up there a few times a year for their check ups, especially my mom.  So we need to make the 168 mile trip up the Garden State Parkway! We did it once this summer when my  Uncle and Aunt visited from Te x as! Then we did another trip up in late October for my license plate meet in Elmwood Park, I used  up a

You would think Cape May moving to Cape May would open  up; plenty of blog entries for me, it hasn't been that easy. Mostly because so much has happened since the end of June, from 4th of July fireworks to celebrate Congress Hall's 200 Th Anniversary, so many chances I have missed just to come on here to vent. It hasn't been that easy\ because I haven't set aside enough time to write, usually I'm wasting time on Facebook which leads to trouble. Especially now that the weather is getting colder so I  won't be able to go outside aS MUCH The latest was a double whammy. Out of all the political posts I have made, and even lost a few friends over I knew deep down something I would do would really get me into hot water. I commented about the riots and while I didn't use any foul language , I portrayed a whole group of people in a very negative light, or that's how it sounded.   Now I have a guy who I utterly respect trying to smooth things over. This is not

Nothing is more upsetting than to come on this blog to try to comprehend another death of a friend. Dave Kuehn was one of the first members of ALPCA I actually met in person. when I first joined back in 1994 my first meet was in New York City the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Some how I got my dad to drive me into Manhattan to a community center in the middle of the city. We arrived to ind a group of collectors from the area and surrounding states and sign on sheet. I vaguely remember actually meeting Dave but I remember him showing off rare and valuable Connecticut plates for sale. When someone inspected them Dave gave a brief history lesson on the plate, where it came from and if it was for sale. Usually he notice the young collectors at the shows and give them a few pointers on how to build  up their collections. Dave knew where we were coming from because he started collecting as a teenager himself. Dave joined ALPCA when the club still held their yearly conventions in schoo

Hosts Ed Bulter ALPCA# 6661and Justin Mattes ALPCA#6748 For the third  year in a row the American Legion Post 157 in Elmwood Park NJ played host to 62 ALPCAns and visitors. Collectors joined us  from as far away as Utah and South Carolina which made the meet all that more successful!!  Tables filled with plates made for quite of selection to buy and sell. Brothers Jon and Phil Leib once again brought an impressive collection of rare and odd New Jersey plates.  My hats off to my cohost Ed Butler who  manned the registration desk and kept the entire show running smoothly!!  Adam Garstka did another wonderful job as the official photographer for the meet . We have a great group of volunteers to keep these meets running smoothly!!   The party continued when we went over to Charlie Bloods for a late lunch and lively discussion. I again want to thank everyone who came ou t and am looking forward to doing it all again in 2017!! Submitted by Justin Mattes, ALPCA 6748

Unlike my postings on Facebook, I have stayed away from the circus known as the 2016 US Presidential Election on my  blog. For the record I don't believe we're voting for the lesser of two evils, I believe we're voting for the lesser of two absolute psychopaths. I could spend the rest of the post outlining my thoughts on why neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton should be president. I could also lay into the sitting President of the United States for not taking a cue from the previous Commander-in-Chief and keep his mouth shut. We know who he's supporting in this race, there was never any question. It never ceases to amaze me how the first black president feels he always has to remind us he is the first black president and has to test every single boundary set forth by the men who proceeded him . Out of the many issues I had with Bill Clinton I need to give the man credit, he never went after George Bush when he and Al Gore were running. Sure he wanted his sitting VP

ABC, the company behind hits like Rosanne, Home Improvement, Modern Family and Last Man Standing , my now second favorite show on the network, once again nailed it with Speechless. Speechless stars Micah Fowler, a teenager with CP who plays JJ  Dimeo, who has moved into a new neighborhood, going to a new high school. He uses a wheelchair and can't speak but uses a pointer and pictures to convey his thoughts and feelings. JJ's mother, Maya, played by Minnie Driver, is his protective, sometime overbearing mother is out to ensure he gets a decent education. This causes Maya and her husband, Jimmy, played by John Ross Bowie, to move JJ, their other son Ray, played by Mason Cook, and their daughter, Dylan, playeds by Kayla Kennedy As JJ enters his new high schoolne of the requirements Maya makes to the school is to provide JJ with a full-time aide, at first they choose a hyper-active woman, but she didn't work out. I thought the writers ripped this scene out of my own life!

When my folks put the Woodcliff Lake house on the market to move to Cape May, I made a promise to myself. I knew the Cape May had more opportunities for me for all kinds of reasons, but I needed to act quickly. The VFW next door provided a perfect n etworking tool. Unlike other bars where either my brothers and/or friends usually served as ice breakers, I marched into the VFW alone. It was again a struggle connect with folks who saw past the awkward body walking around, but I soon made friends without any external assistance. Over the course of my visits to the VFW I befriended the then police chief who immediately recognized both my skills, whit and fascination with politics. Being the radio geek and fire buff, I usually pester him with some police talk. He, seeing my genuine interest and perseverance was more than happy to comply. Of course during that time we formed a bond, hey I can't help it, and given my interest in both public safety and politics, saw me as a sounding boa

An Olympic Challenge The 2016 Olympic Games are in full swing in Rio! I go on Twitter to find top stories about the events down south, some Olympic and World Records being broken especially by Michael Phelps, Lilly King an Katie Ledekey. Ledekey broke her own world record in the 400 meter free-style race won the hearts of every American back home! Her post-race interviews are what you would expect from her, a mix of shock ,excitement and pride. Then there's Lily King who broke the Olympic Record for the 100 meter breast stroke. I have a special place in my heart for the aquatic competitions because of m y love for swimming. I think the free-style events are some of my favorites to watch, I have tried to mimic some o fmy favorite strokes to watch. She's caught a little flak for taunting her Russian counterpart, Yulia accused of using of doping. With Russia's behavior latel y in the word it is almost certainly true! .Ibtihaj Muhammad mad history in a different way becoming

Congress Street Command One of the most exciting things about moving to Cape May was getting a new desk and shelves. My room in Cape May is smaller than the one in Woodcliff Lake, so that has made me get rid of most of the junk, which makes mom very  happy. It all has made me setup my scanners better than sliding all over a shelf when I go to change a setting or two. The mount was purchased from Scanner Master and is designed perfectly to fit that corner of my desk. My old desk required me to take my eyes totally off the computer screen to see who was talking which usually meant my hands off the keyboard. Now a quick glimpse is simple and I have even perfected my touch typing even more. Those two white wires are going to an antenna splitter on top of the shevling  Everything is in a hands reach even the switch to the overhead lamp  just out of view of the picture!! The top scanner is my workhorse, the BCD99T which I loaded with 90% of the Cape May County frequencies. I also dump

As a writer you would think I'd have some profound words to express my deepest gratitude, I will try to do my best The whole night I had firefighters I've known for 10,15, 20+ years shake my hand including former fire chiefs! People who have laughed with me cried with me, shared a beer or two or three with me. Who have ALWAYS treated me as one of their own ! I also need to mention both Chief Joe Higgins and Honorary Chief George J. Fusco, both of whom I know are sitting up  there looking down and just smiling! To be made an Honorary Member of the Woodcliff Lake Fire Department by a fire chief who I went to school with as well as one of the most recognizable firefighting names in the Pascack Valley area is something I will ALWAYS treasure. I again want to thank Chief George Lucia Jr. and ALL the members of the Woodcliff Lake Fire Department for this incredible honor. I am PROUD to call all of you brothers! THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART P.S. To answer a personal question

I just posted this on the Cool Cape May Facebook page in support of "Captain" Rob Sheehan. The use of quotation marks is denote Rob should really be Chief of the Cape  May Police While I can't go into details the basic Chief Sheehan got railroaded by a corrupt mayor and city manager. They took petty misunderstandings and  blew them into some kind of  criminal activity. After a year of court battles and mudslinging all charges against Rob were dropped, although technically he's still fighting the city  It is really a shame what Rob Sheehan has gone through., I may not know him as long as some of you but I can tell you one thing there's not a nicer guy around Cape May. As for being police chief, Rob fits Cape May perfectly because he grew up here and understands how to run the department to keep the city, its residents, business owners, their employees,and visitors safe. There's something everyone needs to remember, even though Rob got demoted, he still has al

Well last Monday  night there was another  good thunderstorm down here in Cape May and  lightning hit two houses over on the other side of town. Of course the famous Cape May fire horns w ere going full blast however it was the thunder bthat woke me up! I grabbed the scanner tuned it to Cape May fire and boy was it busy. Lightning DID strike more than  once because a row of houses caught fire. Pretty soon trucks  from Lower Township and even Wildwood were racing into the city I was still half asleep but knew this was going to b e big!The radio traffic bounced between the main Cape May Fire frequency and their fireground. Since Lower Township is just north of Cape May they got dispatched to the scene first but stayed on their own frequency while their chief talked to Cape May directly.   The Coast Guard has \a base down in Cape May and hey're very active in the community! So when Cape May has a fire they call the Coast Guard for mutual aid. Cape May County does the majority of

Like all other conventions getting there and the action on the trading floor is only  part of the fun. Nestled between the Wednesday Welcome Reception Dinner and the Friday Night Auction is Thursday night which usually means an actual night on the town. Clark Wothe usually acts as our recreation director and always finds something that emphasizes the city we're in. This time it was a boat ride through part of the Erie Canal system. Around five thirty a bunch of us assembled in the hotel lobby and piled into our cars to make the twenty minute trip from Rochester over to  Lockport where after a quick bite we b/oarded the boat to travel the Genessee River and the  Erie Canal. I have never traveled on a canal before and while I have seen the process on TV and understand how it works, sitting on a boat while it rises  is a completely different adventure. The boat we were on was originally the west coast and the pilot gave a little history of how it got to t he Erie Canal Another li

Every time folks on the ALPCA Listserve moan about the costs of going to the annual convention I feel the need to explain to them I pay a price no dollar can cover. That being said I have no idea if I'll even make it out to Fort Wayne Indiana, but it just felt like folks needed to be reminded of some genuine dedication to the hobby Fellow Convention Attendees Every time I read about people complaining about the costs of getting to a convention I have to sit back, take a swig of Pepsi and just smile. I have often been accused in numerous circles I don't know how much money it takes to get to our annual event, but let me share with you another perspective. While you all are questioning prices, I'm talking to my folks about how I'll be careful. I get constant reminders "They can't hop on a plane to come help me if I get stuck". While you folks complain about driving for hours, I'm trying to find someone to room with, because that's t

RIP Aunt Millie, my first penpal, my 3rd grandma. I will miss your letters, playing "office" with the cousins and all the chats. You always knew how to cheer me up. Say hi to grandma, grandpa and Uncle Jack............until we meet again These days when someone passes people remember them b y posting a Facebook status. Friends of the mourner "Like" the comment and reply with condolences. As much as I have been on both sides of this kind of Facebook status, I feel there are certain times where more  needs to be said, a lot more. I found out earlier this even my Great Aunt Millie, my mom's aunt, grandma's oldest sister passed away earlier this week. Like me she was the oldest in here family, she had four younger sisters.  Aunt Millie didn't have grandchildren until much later in her life, so when she visit  my grandparents house, she " borrow" u s for a week. Back when it was just my  brothers and two or three cousins she devote one ful

 A lot of my blogging friends occasionally allow guest post to their blogs, some good some bad, but I have to post this post  by my friend Briann Gelnaw. Brian and I  forged a friendship the way a lot of my post-high school friendships were forged, at the Cornerstone in Hillsdale. Yes he was one of the  "Thursday Night Crew" just like Alex & Jamie. Brian has taken the 50 days 50 friends challenge where he posts a picture a day of a friend and writes how he met  them. Well  today he decided to highlight yours truly.I consider it an early birthday present: Day 22: Justin Mattes  It must have been the year Sanchez came to the Jets. I talked shit all season, and with good reason...as far as I was concerned they were going to win the whole damn thing. Super Bowl was ours!!!! Well the Jets lost in the AFC Championship game. My friends busted on me, my brother in law laughed and told me how the Jets will never win. Then from the other side of th e room this guy who I just met

A year ago I wrote an entry entitled Justin's Internet Reading List Part I    where I highlighted the blogs I read on a regular basis and comment often. Two of the people I have known even before I starting blogging so I really feel like reading their blogs is  like catching up with old friends, a way to stay in touch. Many bloggers on the Internet, whether they be blogging about politics, relationships, children growing up or more specialized, license plate collecting or raising a child with a disability or having a disability yourself usually do a lot of reading about topics that would write on their own blogs. For instance Ellen Seidman ( Love That Max )  often highlights other issues surrounding kids with disabilities in general, not just CP, I can tell based on her profile she's written for a number of parent magazines as well and has attended blogging conferences. David Schoenberger (DC Scanning ) uses his blog to supplement his website  to quickly post radio  frequenci