Mattes's Musings by KC2GIK

Greetings Family and Friends, Here's hoping everyone had a great holiday. I can't believe another year is closed as  a new one opens. Definitely been a roller coaster around here. Between travel and writing I have certainly  kept busy. Actually I'm trying something new, writing this entry on my blog and then copying it into an email!  However as tradition, I will start with the family Chris, Natalie and the kids are all doing fine. I can't believe both Zander and Quinn are in high school. Quinn's freshman year is going well, she's likes most of her classes. She joined a travelling soccer team that has taken her to places like Florida this past spring and California the first week of December. She's taking a break for the winter, but joined the girl's basketball team. I actually should say teams because the freshman and JV teams don't have enough players so she and a few of her teammates are bouncing around between the two teams.. Dad and I actually g...

 Well after a year hiatus due to esophagus surgery I once again hit the Life Rolls On event in Wildwood, NJ!  It's an annual event that enables people with all kinds of abilities to experience the joys of being on a surfboard. This year was a more then I expected   The first year I was a bit skeptical. Friends of mine encouraged me to go and I wound up having a lot of fun. The one hiccup was you were  supposed to register ahead of time,  so I had to wait a bit longer.  Although watching the other people ride the waves got me really excited and  thinking that I actually  could do it. When it was my time to hit the waves surprised thqat my  

  Another Facebook post that inspires a blog entry So I need to explain my previous post. I was cruising Beach Ave and I noticed Steve's Stockton Golf was wide open.....So as a goof I just turned around and glanced at a sign that said "I'm somewhere on the course just pay me when you see me" . So I thought I would just play a few holes, I was tired I hadn't slept well last night, my back hurt and i did have PT earlier that afternoon. The entire time I was playing nobody else showed up! I kept looking at the booth hoping to see someone so I could pay him or her.I get to the 17th hole right near the booth and it was a hole in one! I was alone, or so I thought. I get to the booth, the attendant was there. He looked at me and said "You played the entire 18 holes, alone" I answered " I kept looking for you" as I reached for my wallet. He simply said "I saw your hole in one, the game's on the house.: " I was humbled. Another day i...

 Well the beaches of Cape May have a welcomed addition, accessible beach mats! These make it easier for people in wheelchairs and other mobile devices to navigate down to the beaach and enjoy the ocean air. I had to try it myself before the official grand opening the Friday before Memorial Day Weekend.  At first I was a bit nervous but I soon got over the doubt and have made a few laps. The best thing is going on the beach mats provides a differemt perspective of Beach Avenue when I'm on the scooter.l Mayor Zack Mullock pushed the  beach mats on Facebook and a woman, Barbara Maurer ressponded saying her son Sean, who has Cerebral Palsy like me would be able to to enjoy bn eing closer to the water.  It's a new sense of freedom of people with mobility problems like Sean and myself. The four of us were interview by the Philadelphia CBS  news station. While I understood that due to my speech  giving long answers would be difficult I was impressed that  CBS...

       For a few months there has buzz around Cape May NJ that Bob Dylan was coming to America's Oldest Seaside Resort. No he wasn't playing a concert at Convention Hall. For most of this weeks parts of 2024 Cape May,NJ was transformed into 1965 Newport, RI. A Complete Unknown is a new film about Dylan's conversion from acoustic  to electric guitar starring Timothee Chalamet as Bob Dylan is in production and the location scouting team decided that  Cape May today looked like Newport back in '65. Bob Dylan debuted  his hit song Like a Rolling Stone   at t he Newport Folk Festival. They even transformed Perry Street  into Belevedere Avenue. Shops along the Washington Mall were temporarily renamed to match shops up in Newport.  The Victorian Motel was baptized then Viking Motel for the film  Days prior I started seeing filming equipment  being transported into town.       Like most o f the town I was hopi...

Like a few times before I  wrote a status update on Facebook that I thought was worthy of a cross-post on the blog. The post originally went up on the  Cape May Live Facebook page, ok I posted it. Unfortunately it was one of the few times I left  the phone home. Although on second thought other people outside the wedding were snapping pics and they looked so out of place. I I was doing my usual patrol around Cape May and came across an outdoor wedding ceremony about to start at the Inn of Cape May. I saw the groom waiting with his groomsmen and the music started. Something told me to stop! So I pulled up on the sidewalk trying not to spy too much, but other people were stopping, so I figured it was ok. Sure enough a few seconds later I_ heard the wedding march start and saw the beaming bride walking down the aisle besides her proud dad, surrounded by a close group of loved ones. I watched as the bride and groom exchanged the most poignant vows I have ever heard. Here I ...

  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 ...

I admittedly have not been blogging on here as much because like most of the country because the Corona Virus has me in somewhat of a lock down!!  I will not writing endless entries on how I wish this lock down will end, too many people have already opined on how the virus has affect them. . It seems I have  traded entries in the blog for Facebook.  Cape May needed to adjust like every  place else, the did it with some bumps in the road but  is fortunate in the fact they allowed the restaurants and bars to serve take out. When Governor Murphy allowed outdoor dining,  the  Cape May City Council, with the help of  our City Manager, outlined plans for restaurants to expand outdoor seating. They even closed down two  streets in the middle of the Washington Mall to allow additional outdoor seating. Everyone was gettin g used  to the "New normal" However when travelers started coming back into town an d things started bustling. It se...

 Dealing with loss at any time is difficult. Dealing with multiple losses in a short period of time is much  harder. Dealing with losses when you can't say a proper goodbye is downright devastating. I lost two friends, Bill Cole, N2CSA, a Cape May County ham radio operator and mentor and Mike  Ross, a member of the Cape May Veterans Home Association, two days apart. I knew them well enough to say they were friends. Like just about everything else these days, mourning takes on a whole new meaning, but I still mourn First to Bill I actually emailed him a few times before moving to Cape May because a mutual ham friend suggested I have a local contact if I needed help with anything radio related. Bill was also in charge of Cape May  County RACES, which was definitely a good sign. He informed me the City of Cape May didn't have a radio officer and someone from the county was driving to the Cape May firehouse o-nce a month to do the test. I asked him if I could assist B...

As I( mentioned before t he scanning in Cape May is difference than the scanning in Bergen County. Fist of all Bergen County is divided into seventy towns, each, expect Teterboro has their own fire department and they have about 20 separate dispatch frequencies while Cape May has a countywide dispatch with a few notable exceptions, namely Upper Township. I haven't managed to memorize all the stations so I have a quick cheat sheet. Sadly some of the towns have gone to newer NJICS statewide system, When I first moved my two base scanners down here. Let's do the simpler scanner first I originally wanted to use the BCT-15 just for scanning Cape May City and marine traffic only but then I remembered I had the NY, Boston and DC Air Traffic Control Centers in there from up north. It became clear that the public safety and marine traffic might be limited so I decided to keep the Centers in there,, I added the local airports. Which is all I need. When something happens in Cap...

I sent t he following e-mail to a select friends, then I realized I haven't written an entry in quite awhile!! Talk about killing two birds with one stone. It takes the place of about ten entries so if you're reading it have a happy and safe 2019! Justin Friends, Happy New Year-- 2019!! First and foremost this IS NOT a chain email! I'm not promising a million dollars for every time you forward this e-mail. Just want to wish all of you a happy new year and highlight what I have been up to in 2018. From getting my first article published about a fire here in Cape May, celebrating my 40th birthday with my dad, brothers, uncle and a handful of friends,to travelling with the family to Italy, it has been a wonder 2018. I won't dwell on each one too much but need to express both my gratitude  for th e past and hopes for the future As I turned 40 I realized I need to get into the 21st century so I traded in my LG SLIDE PHONE for an  Iphone 5S!! Yes ladies and gentleman ...

It has been a week the annual National Night Out, a community event sponsored by the city. They have games for the kids, even a big slide on the beach. The fire department sets up their trucks with the Coast Guard and even the Cape May County Police brought down their mobile command unit.  Something about getting on the air under less than ideal conditions always makes hams happy!  It's part of our training in emergency communications. Over my eighteen years I have operated from the base of lighthouses, in cars, from different emergency operation centers and last week I decided to try  from a Cape May icon, Convention Hall..  It was a bit trickier than I thought but it was something I wanted and needed to do on my own, ok ALMOST on my ow.  The first obstacle I didn't think about was Convention Hall is made of steel, not exactly great conditions for operating. Add to the fact  it is surrounded by buildings I wasn't happy with the signal.The reports int...

My makeshift 2 Meter setup besides my bed The antenna is a simple mag-mount on my bed One of the routines I missed most  when we  moved down to Cape May was talking on 2 meters. My old setup included an outdoor antenna  which did ok getting into the local repeaters and even doing a little simplex work. It worked great especially since my bedroom was on the second fl;oor! Although my signal was spotty at times. I did a lot of simplex work with local hams as well. It was a sad day when the 2 meter antenna came down in Woodcliff Lake. I had been off HF for a year already u p there because of all kinds of complications . Months after we settled in Cape May members from the Cape May County ARC came to try to get me on the air with a whip HF antenna, which annoyed my dad because the wire was hanging out the window and the antenna was hanging of the fence which is belongs to out neighbor. When I ask him ifd it was OK his reply was, "Do you plan to contact Mars?", I ...

Usually when I write about scanner related activity it has to do with a working fire or interesting police activity, but in Cape May the two biggest things are marine and aviation scanning. I'll address the marine scanning in another post maybne during the summer months when there's more activity on those frequencies, but it seems air scanning is always active. The planes are high in the sky so the signal goes a LOT further and Cape MaY has a lot less  RF interference than Bergen County so I can pick up signals way into Central Virginia on VHF air so I have tried programming the frequencies for all the ATCC down into Virginia. I listed the frequencies from north to south and have had a lot of success. I can still get a lot of the New York  ATCC as well! I also  have been doing some scanning via the Internet using the website LiveATC.net  which has almost all the ATCC frequencies across the country. I usually switch between the different centers but seem to listen to ...

Every year Cape May turns into a winter wonderland, the town really its back it it's roots. All the Victorian-era houses become cooler than usual because they light up for Christmas. From before Thanksgiving until after New Years the Nations Oldest Seaside Resort becomes one of the Oldest Christmas Resorts. The first Friday in December is dedicated to not one but two tree lightings, one at Rotary Park, the other at Congress Hall. I was lucky to catch both, but had better luck with the first lighting because I got close to- the tree. The tree lighting at Congress Hall was even more crowded than the one in Rotary Park so I didn't even try too hard to shoot it. I knew getting shots on the night of the tree lighting would be difficult but  I just wanted to see what I could shoot. Below is a blurry attempt but I promised myself that I wouldn't be disappointed if I didn't get the perfect shot. After all night shooting is a very difficult under perfect conditions. These w...

Before I get to the license plate meet itself I must, include a little background. Clark Wothe, who is in charge of ALPCA's eleven different regions has been trying to get to a meet in every region. He lives in Arizona and is always travelling for business and has like a million air miles. Since moving topCape May I have been attempting to invite anybody and everybody down to visit us.  I've have other ALPCA members stop by, even Gary Walker all the way from Australia!! However Clark was different. Every where he travels on business, he sends me a post card, I literally have cards from all over the country, the money he spends. Clark says he's "extreme" a few weekends ago.  I had a chance to  play "tour guide. We started out at where else but the Cape May Lighthouse. While it wasn't open to climb I took Clark on a tour of Cape May State Park Our tour then took us to   Atlantic City to meet Lucy the Elephant.  Oddly enough for all the times I have bee...

I FLY THE F LAG  I fly the flag on the back of my scooter because I stand with the men and women in ALL kinds of uniforms. I fly the flag   because I know even though I am no t always proud of my country, I am still proud t o be in this country I fly the flag in times of sorrow because it is a reassurance that everything will be alright I fly the flag during parades out of respect out of everyone who marches I fly the flag every time someone in the service gives his or her life so I can live mine I fly the flag out of respect for the military  police, fire, medical and other emergency workers who protect me and  people I love I fly the flag to remind myself no matter what comes my way I am blessed to have so many wonderful people who care about me I fly the flag because I pray every day those leading our nation find a way to make the country great for everyone. I fly the flag as a symbol of hope and a promise to never lose hope even in the dar...

I realize writing about a TV show is one step away from going days with out changing out of my pajamas and owning five cats, I hate cats but I'd have puppies that never leave my side.C'all it a part of the winter blues down in Cape May, which is a small price to pay for the wonderful summers down here. Writer's block seems to have kicked into full swing, that and the demise of my one laptop, yes  I'm still on mom's Toshiba.  One night mom and I were surfing Netflix  and came across a Canadian TV show called Heartland about  the Fleming family who owns a horse ranch in Alberta, Canada. The show stars  Amber Marshall who plays Amy Fleming who does am,azing things with injured and mistreated horses. This is a trait inherited from her deceased mother Marion, She lives on the ranch with her grandfather Jack, the patriarch of Heartland, her sister Lou, the business woman who later transforms cabins on the ranch into a semi- dude ranch getaway retreat.  The sho...

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...

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 frequencie...