Mattes's Musings by KC2GIK

Time passes quickly!! A few weeks ago I announced there was some debate over whether or not I should read the toast for my brother and his wife . Well it went right down to the wire, literally, my uncle was on standby just in case. However after escorting the Maid of Honor down the aisle, I figured the best man speech was in the bag. Let's recap the entire two day event up to the walk down the aisle and the toast. I read on multiple websites it's not right for the best man to upstage the bride and groom so I feel like I need to mention Chris. We drove down for the rehearsal dinner the night before which had an interesting twist. Every time we go somewhere it seems something always makes us late. My family decided it was me printing out copies of the toast AND NOT the accident that backed us up four an hou r. We made it to the church to find Chris pacing out front. I quickly exited the car and made my way to the back room, to sign the marriage certificate. Chris was very relax...

In case it hasn't been clear before I do have CerebralPalsy and if you did a serach for my name on Google or even looked through the pages of this blog you'll see while I don 't focus on the topic exclusively, I write about it when the time warran ts. It also gives me a little bit of a license to point out some misrepresentations the general public makes about folks with disabilities. I am also very harsh when people accuse my of usinjg my disability to get sympathy even thou gh I admit I do it on a very RARE OCCASION! I am also extremely critical of people who use it too often.........enter Michael J. Fox. Unlike most celeberties even before he came down with Parkison's, Fox was someone who people respected, I do too. I am saying not he is flawless nor am I idiolizing him, however he has always stayed somewhat above the fray when it came to mixing politics with fame. He's a devoted Democrat but doesn't think if you're a Republican you're going to Hell...

OK here's the scenario my brother made me his best man for his wedding. Two things immediately sprang into my mind, the bachelor party and the toast. Without going into too many details, I, with a lot of help from my uncle, got a group of guys out to Las Vegas. If you're wondering where's that particular entry, keep on looking because I'm sitting on it indefinitely. The second more pressing issue is the toast, not writing it but reading it out loud in front of everyone. It's my decision if I want to read it or not, but I'm getting a lot of external pressure to hand it off to my uncle. Now I have been grappling with this idea for weeks, one day I want him to read it, the next day I want to get up there on my own. Writing speeches is a lot different than writing articles because a speech is not a time to exercise my massive vocabulary or compose these complex sentences. The problem lies with the fact my relatives know how I can drag out my conversations and t...

Well in two of the entries in this online journal I have talked about getting on the air for Field Day which is the last weekend in June. Well after years of obstacles, Ifinally have setup a HF station at home. It consists of you guessed it, a dual band HF rig and my HP. I written about PSK-31 in two previous artciles, so I won't go into too much details aboutr that. However I will say knowing that I can jump on for a few hours during the band openings is a good thing> I even made contact from folks out in Minnesota which was a thrill and a half!! It's not always easy roping these contacts in, but it is sure rewarding when I confirm a contact. One of the extra bonuses is working "Special Event" stations where they give out special certificates when you make contact with them. It's just one of the many thrills of being a ham. After a week o f trying to get them to recognize my call, the answered. So now I have sent away for a certificate that should be here s...

I had this huge essay planned about September 11th. It would start out how my dad woke me out of a sound sleep and just ordered "Turn on your TV QUICK. I would write about how I) fumbled for the remote and saw the replay of the first plane striking the tower and how I stood there in total shock like the rest of the country. Then I went where I also go when I hear of an incident of such magnitude, my police scanner where I would proceed to listen to the events unfold. Altho ugh I have to say I didn't hear the first "MAYDAY" before the towers crumbled.........I'm glad I didn't hear it. The ham radio was tuned to the two ham repeaters used in an emergency in NYC. I just listened and prayed all day long, since I knew a few people who work in the towers, most of them made it out ok, one did not. Like many Americans that day I grieved both publicly and privately. I knew people who made it out alive, I knew people who didn't make it. However on that day I ju...

I know this summer I have neglected my writing a little, but I wil l maqke it up in one shot with a review of my travels this summer. Between two trips upto Lake George, a stint down in Atlantic City, going tp a graduation party in Connecticut, I think I can fit the definition of a "rolling stone". Well I should start by saying the job at Columbiaconcluded in Mid July leaving me with more than a little spending money. So with my second to last paychech in hand I quickly cashed it and went down to Atlantic City with Pete and Jason. They made out, I broke about even. I couldn't have had a better time The first trip upto Lake George was a bit shaky because it was Chris and Natile(have to put them together becau-se they aree getting married in November) Pete, Jen, some friends and myself. It got really interesting when one of Chris's friends, despite my warnings, setup a tent right in front of the townhouse. I) objected but it took s omeone else from th e homeowners a...

Thi=s post could only be written after midnight during a week in the summer. I won't label myself a complete "couch potato" because most of the time when I'm home I watch TV while doing something else, like writing or chatting with friends online. However I have seen the same damn commercials for Geico and it is driving me nuts. Ok you have to see the one wit h t he stupid lizard, that's baD enough. T:hen to make matters worse then have G eico commercials of celebeties talking about this stupid lizard. I doubt they are paid a lot of money, and even i0f they are, is their self-esteem really that low?" There was a TV commercial Hummer came out with that got my dad's blood boiling, this time I could sympathize. In the beginning of t he commercial, it had kids building soapbox racecars. Then it shows them lined up to race with one car bigger than the rest, obviously representing the Hummer. The race starts and you see all of the soapbox cars racing along w...