Mattes's Musings by KC2GIK

 I emailed this to a select few people and figured it would make a good blog post. I want to make it public. I hope everyone has a safe, healthy and successful new year!!! Well we did  it another year! I have been waiting for it to end since the end of last January. I wasn't even sure I would write this note, then I remembered something I heard from  a high school friend a long time ago, "No matter what happens in your life good or bad, and you'll have more than your share of both, just keep writing".  Seems I have been doing a lot of that lately, especially poetry. For those who don't know we lost my mom, Mary at the end of January after a brief battle with cancer.. Devastation doesn't even begin to describe it. That set the tone for the rest of the year.  Mom was such a big part of a lot of lives, not only family, but friends she has known most of her life. She was loved and will be missed by so many. It's hard on all of us but we're helping each ot...

  We didn't put a tree up this year, Nor did we bother with any lights Decorating will bring sadness and tears Also I know you hate seeing dad and I fight You're always in our hearts Mom and in our minds as well I am really missing you a lot Mom, you know it, don't have to tell It's not the same without you Mom is all I can say I know you'll be smiling when we get together Christmas Day -J. Mattes 12/19/23

 Well since the website is still down I manage to write a poem about let's just call it "an online relationship". Which is why I will not say her name. Definitely had it's bumps, although she and I our finding our way. I'm a bit anxious to skip a couple of steps but not rush her too much. It's definitely a learning experience for the both of us but we're finding our way together which is what couples do. I have been reserved and my friends have warned me not to do anything I regret, like going too fast. Ok I admit we'll both a little comprehensive and that's because we're doing this together. It's also reignited some of my writing creativity. I wrote the poem below for her, of course she loved it. We'll see how this progresses but this is definitely a long time coming When you cry all I want to do is wipe your tears When you are scared all I want to rid you of fear When you laugh all it want to do is capture the sound' When you talk...

       On a brisk October day 65 people (51 members and 14 guests) assembled at the Pennington Fire Company for the 14th Annual Garden State Region meet. Once again Ed Butler and Justin Mattes hosted collectors from a half a dozen states in a hall filled with close to fifty tables.Among the attendees was long time New Jersey ALPCAn Phillip Leib who brought some incredible old New Jersey plates to display Plenty of coffee, bagels and doughnuts were provided to feed hungry collectors during the morning into the afternoon as they swapped stories and tin. Among the newest members was also the youngest in the group;. Miles Klenk attended his  first meet accompanied by his mother Rebecca and his father Matt. Miles reminded the veteran collectors what it was like going to a first meet. His eyes were all lit up when he saw tables of plates.  The Garden State Region thanks all attendees for their continued support over the years. We will seeing your again at the...

Like millions around the world I'm mourning the passing of legendary singer Jimmy Buffet. Facebook is obviously filled with tributes to the Mayor of Margaritaville, some pretty funny memories out there. One stuck out particularly, Zak Brown called Jimmy Buffet an "American Poet", which  seems fitting. Buffet lived in Key West where another writer, Ernest Hemingway called home and did most of his writing. I think Jimmy toured the Hemingway house a few times  for inspiration and even wondered how he wrote. It makes me wonder about the conversations between Hemingway and Buffet are having right now. I can see Hemming smoking a pipe while Buffet toking on the finest marijuana ever created. They are talking about writing, their adventures on the sea and how they lives impacted their craft. Man would I love to be a fly on that wall. I wonder if their ghosts are going to wander the streets of Key West Florida together?? You never know what will happen. While Buffet was a beloved...

  Well I haven't actually kept it a secret I have been doing more writing on Facebook than on this blog. Originally I felt this blog was reserved for "important posts". Stuff that would be three pages long, ok maybe jusut a page. Then I thought well I post something on Facebook and then gets buried in a few days, sometimes a few hours.  So I thought  the better thing was to copy the status an d drop it on this blog. Admittedly I need to work  on this blog more. As you might have noticed I have cleaned up a few things these last few days with more to come. Right now I'll just share the post and hope some people get a chuckle out of it! I really haven't posted anything of significance lately. Certainly haven't written a poem about Cape May in over six months. Gotten into a few arguments on here which I always regret in the long run. This being said I want everyone to know how much I appreciate this page. The views vary a lot however we must always remember this ...

 Well history always seems to repeat itself. I obtained"justinmattes.com after I struggled to get " bergenscanner.com back. At the time I knew about website design but not website management. I started on Tripod, a free hosting services with ads with some frequencies which grew into a  then a radio associate who worked for a web hosting company offered to partner up with me, he host the site on one of his company's server and I would edit it. Well everything was all and dandy until the hosting company went out of business. Even though I had access to change the site, it wasn't always easy, the site went dark a few times./ Pretty soon the company went out of business and the website went with it Including the domain name which got scooped up by a company that waits for domains to expire and then pounces. It's very common, another lesson I learned on the fly. Another friend helped me get the domain back and switched the site to another server. I had the domain under...

Hope folks who attended the big show in Denver made it home alright, with a few new treasures. My sister-in-law, Sue had a ball and I want to thank everyone for making her feel so welcome. She even started her own collection with oneplate. Somehow she s already talking about Michigan I found some great plates and even managed to snag another 99 plate. . The Forney Museum was the perfect place to host the dinner this year. I still think Tiger Joe will still be in the motorcycle section if we didn't escort him out. Thursday night we saw the Rockies get destroyed by the Dodgers! Friday night was of course the auction and I'm glad to report I have another # 99 in my collection. The highlight of the business meeting was watching Scott Mitchell and Clark Wothe be inducted into the ALPCA Hall of Fame. They would both very surprised!!! Well it certainly was one for the books! I wasn't sure how I was going to pull it out since mom passssed away, but Sue helped me pull off a little m...

Here is another post from my Facebook page. I a really getting annoyed with people announcing" They got hacked on Facebook" without really understanding the difference between getting CLONED and getting HACKED Daily computer tip: Folks please let me explain the difference between "cloning" and "hacking"Facebook Accounts. Cloning is you get a friend request from someone that you already have as a friend on Facebook. A computer, not a person, cloned your account and the clone is requesting it. Usually the cloned account has less than five friends and doesn't have a profile picture. I get about three of these a week, no I don't inform the person because there's nothing he, she, whatever can do. Just hit decline and be on my way. I admit in the very beginning I fell for this and posted on people's walls asking them to change their passwords.. However this has been going on long enough that people shouldn't need to say "Don't a...