Mattes's Musings by KC2GIK

Sometimes  the best things are left to chance and I couldn't have better proof than the event that happened last evening. My folks went out to dinner with friends and with nothing good on TV I decided to take a trip to the Cornerstone. Usually I go there only on Thursday nights to  hang out with my friends, but the Coronas and shots of Jack Daniels were calling. I got dressed and called up Westwood Taxi, I was sitting at the bar by a little after 9PM. Usually there's a DJ playing dance music  way too loud, however when I entered the bar that evening much to my delight I saw a drum set being setup in one of the side rooms. The owner who just knows me as "J"  caught me sneaking glimpses and said it was something new at the Cornerstone. They would host a band one or two Saturdays each month, the first band  in this "concert series" was The Brian Dougherty Band . I was very impressed that my "local bar" was starting to host  bands!! Th...

After taking September off to collect my thoughts and really focus  on getting my head straight, I figured October should bring some decent writing......I wasn't disappointed. It  started with the trip  out to Hershey, like I have been doing with the Field Dayarticles, I decided to spruce up the journal entry on here and submit it to the Frog Holl Tag Trader edited by Lynda Walker. Hopefully that will appear in their December issue. Secodly, and more of a political tone, just in time for the elections, I was writing in defense of former  Councilwoman Joanne Howely, who in my opinion really got smeared for minor problems.While in the end she wasn't exactly innocent, I felt she needed to know someone out  there supported her. I also found ir was a way to keep my batting average  up! It also proved to add to my popularity in town, in good and bad ways! Third and definitely the most rewarding from a writing standpoint, after a couple years absence I...

I know the title sounds like it should be written in December and not October, but give me achance to explain.  A few years ago I composed the Hershey Review 2005   about going to the worlds largest car show with my folks  and Uncle Chuck. Well I hadn't been there since, admittedlyI have had other destinations that I have written about  previously. The trip was planned by Bill Dickerson, a long time ALPCA friend and mentor.  As with a lot of northeast collectors didn't make it down to the ALPCA Convention down in Arlington, so they opted for the next best thing Hershey. Anyone who has been there knows the show has two parts, the actual car showand a huge flea  market. The last time my folks, Uncle Chuck and I focused our one good weather day (it ALWAYS rains one of  the days in Hershey during the car show) on the car show, this trip was for theflea market because that's primarly where the ALPCA members hang out. Like we did for a license...

The hot topic of the day is the proposed  Mosque at Ground Zero. One the one side you havew people whining about freedom of religion, most of whom want to take the phrase "One nation under God" out of the pledge of allegence.  On the other side you have people claiming building the mosque steps from Ground Zero supporting the religion that the terrorists used to justify  the murder more than 3,000 Americans, some of the Muslim. Truthfully I still believe the ladder,  on the other hand I won't sitting here and claim the people who support  the Mosque are insensitive to the families of the victims. Something has been going through my head something I don't think anybody has brought up. To me the obvious reason not to build a Mosque steps from the most devastating attack on American soil in history is one of vengeance. While Muslims tend to inflate the "hatred"* they get from fellow Americans, I can understand howmost Americans view the religion in a negative ...

Ok I wanted to post something positive after all the troubled writings I have posted and wanted to stay on the travelling theme for summer, so the family week in Delaware seemed like a perfect fit. Also this adds to the mobile posting series that started with Pete's apartment last September and continued evry so often. We're in Delaware with mom and dad, my brother Chris and his wife Natalie, my brother Pete and his girlfriend Sue and our Unclev Chuck. This was part of my mom's 60th and Uncle Chuck birthday celebration which included a joint party a few weeks ago, this trip and a few other surprises. The rentals  down here in Delaware are a bit different, instead of renting from a Saturday to a Saturday or Sunday to Sunday, the renters start and endon a Thrusday but it works out pretty ok. The house is located in a community that's footsteps from the beach One of the  best features about the house we're occupying is not only are we steps from the beach, there is...

I have been collecting license plates for fifteen years and have heard the war stories of  people getting screwed out of plates. Every now and then some piece of trash gives collectors the real run around andit's mostly annoying. However nothing prepared me for what I was getting into when I first starting talking to Juan Esperenza. Like  all new collectors he wanted every plate under the sun and started  "friending" people on Facebook. Of course since I was friends with fellow ALPCA members I accepted, pretty soon the nightmare began. Juan started making bad deals and bidding on plates with no intention of buying them. This obviously ticked a lot ofpeople off, so he was running out of people who would want to deal with him. He then started messaging me on Facebook because I had thrown a few plates, that wer never for for sale Every single plate I  put on my Facebook page he asked if  it was for trade, I said no. Finally after months of harrasment I told him I h...

Below is a post I sent to the PLATES Listserve. I plan to write something on the other activities like I did for the Erie trip last year. Bottom line despite the numerous troubles I ran into,  overall I had a blast. Well I have been reading all the reports and figured it was time I pass one along. The convention honestly ranked one of the worst I've been to and before everyone gets on the defensively accuses me of not appreciating all the hard  work the Board put into this convention let me preface I had a great time at the actual convention but between having my flight diverted, I was traveling alone this year, and the hotel treating me like a second class person that didn't understand what I was talking about. First of yes I know you can't control planes from diverting and the flight crew WAS GREAT, but they overreacted when I started showing signs of nervousness/ My flight was diverted to Austin for two hours because of the storms in Dallas. I  couldn't help but b...