Mattes's Musings by KC2GIK

  You all know I live next store to the VFW. Like everything else I have a million stories I could tell. Tonight was different, a Navy Veteran and a frequent visit brought his boat crew in tonight. They met during the Vietnam War and remained BROTHERS ever since the war. They were joking laughing and just enjoyed each other's company. I've seen vets joke with each other before but this was different. It was something I never witnessed. Men from all over the country assembled in the small town of Cape May to laugh, maybe cry a little, and just be together. I I immediately bought their first round. When they went to pay the bartender she just pointed in my direction. I just said thank you for your service. Each one got up out of their chairs and thanked me. I didn't write this to brag, it was a simple gesture on my part. Tonight I witnessed something amazing, life long friendships that definitely stood the test of time. Certainly worth more than a round of beers Folks I won&

  The Cape May County Amateur Radio Club operated from the grounds of the Cape May County Airport Complex which the EOC/ County Dispatch Center as well as the airport .Kind of cool plane spotting while playing with radios, two of my favorite hobbies ! I quickly found out there wasn't a PSK-31 station setup, only FT-8 and they had that covered so I wandered around aimlessly looking for some way to help. I noticed people were logging After wandering around I finally found the club's Vice President, Joel N3HRK, struggling to enter contacts. He was writing contacts on a notepad only to type them into the logging program in between contacts. After a few minutes of observing this process my archiving skills kicked in, I slid the laptop over and just started typing. Joel still was writing callsigns and exchange information down, but I was logging contacts. Every now and then he'd look over at my work and just smile. I wish I could say we logged over 100's QSO's in an ho

    Here's my take on the Georgia ID law. Imagine this you were born with a physical disability. You will never "get better" you are constantly mocked by children and dismissed by adults. Your parents apply for a special parking permit so you don't have to walk long distances. in order to get this permit you need a doctor to fill out a form You need to go through this process EVERY THREE YEARS, even though your disability is PER MANENT! You turn 17, no driver's license for you because you are unable to drive. You get a state ID instead. This requires you asking someone to fill out the paper work because you can't write. You AGAIN need a doctors note and yes you need to renew this every three years like a regular driver's license In Georgia to get a voter ID you simply fill out a single sheet of paper and send it in. You can call some to assist you in filling out the paperwork. A week or two later you get a card in the mail that NEVER EXPIRES. The voter I

 Picture this scene. Your high school crush, who you took to the prom picks you up for your birthday dinner. EXCEPT it's the night before you birthday. She asks you what restuarant you wamnt because after all IT'S the night before your birthday! You   pick a restuarant. You arrive at the restuarant order sodas (after al you're17 turning 18 in less than six hours) and then the meal. Meals arrive and you realize you forget to ask the waiter to cut your meal since you can't cut it yourself. Your date digs in, after all she has something to do after she drops you of. You just stare at your meal. Finally she asks you, "What's wrong??"  You sheepishly tell her  you can't cut you meal. She grabs the plate cuts up your food in the most casual way and sets it down it front of y ou and you dig it. After a wonderful dinner your date annouces she needs cigarettes and you know a place. You go to the corner store where the owner treats you like a son because you go

 This is a painful time in American  history! Peaceful protesters have once again been mixed in with  a few bad apples and the country has been  more divided than ever Condemning the violence isn't; enough to restore our democracy, not this time. We need a true miracle and honestly neither Donald Trump nor Joe Biden can fix it alone, they must do it together.  The problem is neither ones supporters trust the opposition so they need to both concede, not the election but the biggest grip either side has with the other, I'll start by saying I voted for Donald Trump, although I always respected Joe Biden, well until this election cycle I won't outline exact details but I believe he ran a terrible campaign, picked a horrible running mate who deep down not even  Democrats trust, they won't admit it Joe Biden also has a worse track record on foreign policy I have ever seen,.  I feel like President Obama before him Joe Biden will concede too much to foreign powers and dwell Ame