Mattes's Musings by KC2GIK

Moving to Cape May has been quite an adjustment after 38+ years of living in Woodcliff Lake.  Even though I have adjusted well, made new friends, become a "local" I still every now and then think about what's happening up north. Even though getting around on my scooter is considerably easier, I still long for the drives to Fusco's for a root beer and chips or into Park Ridge to Park Pizza for a slice of pizza. Though now it's Westside Market in West Cape May and down to Jojo's or Mario's Pizza to satisfy my  craving. It's time I leave my final permanent connection behind, Bergenscanner.com. I listed on RadioReference that I wanted someone either However before I leave I want to take a trip[ down memory lane Listening to police scanners has given  me many many hours of pleasure. My first police scanner was a 10-channel Bearcat scanner I bought from Service Merchandise and I have been hooked ever since! When I first got the scanner I bought the big B...

My dad loves golf, he plays, watches it, breathes it, and  while I don't share his obsession, I enjoy the game. I know the Masters is played every April, I can name about 20 players on the tour. Last week my niece, nephew, my folks and I played at one of Cape May's finest courses, mini-golf courses. So I was more than in-tuned to Tiger's return  to the game after some physical and personal troubles. He played a remarkable round for what he has been through and is back on track to become one of the greatest golfers. He brought the game to the attention of young people, especially minorities. It's safe to say Tiger has more than made his mark on the game of golf This won' t be a Tiger "lovefest" but I want to show my support of what he did two  Sundays ago At the post-round interview Tiger Woods fielded the usual questions about his game a reporter asked about his feelings toward the Commander-in-Chief. Now Tiger has had dozens of interviews and been ...

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...

I turned 40 back on March 15 and have been reflecting a lot on my life. One of the treasure I have in life is a wonderful family and great friends. I wrote the piece below as part as the introduction to some writings I did in high school. Stephen Gold and I met in grade school .Even though we were the same age, the school held me back which was really the start of a very bumpy road for me. We separated for awhile and were reunited at Pascack Valley High School Stephen was born with MS. Doctors said he wouldn't see his fifth birthday, he lived triple that amount of time. He was one of the first, if not THE FIRST, children in Bergen County to break the bonds of special education. i don't know the background but even though he lived in River Vale, he went to Dorchester School  in Woodcliff Lake with Darren, another kid with CP, and myself. He graduated Pascack Valley in 1996 and was scheduled to attend Ramapo College that September. Stephen didn't make it, he succumbed  to his...

Like clockwork as soon as the news of the Texas killing happened, folks on both sides of the  gun control debate went to their respective battle stations. Both took their predictable tones and finger pointing while America collectively demanded once again our elected officials "do something". I am in that camp too, but I am not hopeful it will be done because nobody actually wants the cycle to break, that's how they'll get reelected, on both sides. Nobody actually wants to fix the problem properly because neither side wants to feel they are taking rights away, gun rights or privacy rights. The clear backpacks the Parkland students oppose would work better than the strongest gun control laws because it would detect guns. It would also stop knives, bombs which the killer in this incident had and tried to detonate and any other devices or tools that could be used as a weapon. That alone would solve the problem better than any other gun laws on the books, but I don't ...

After year of getting teased about having what was incorrectly always referredto as a "flip-phone", I leaped into the 21st century and got an iPhone 6S. Yes it's a double whammy because I am well-known for my anti-Apple  views on a number of levels. Maybe I'll come around some day. The hardest thing to do was setting up all my account s where I needed to- enter passwords which are a lot easier to enter on a laptop than a cellphone. My neck is still hurting from bending down and typing on the tiny keyboard. Although people remarked that my older phone had a smaller keyboard. Still trying the justify the reasoning behind it. One of the most amusing new habits I have is asking people for their wifi passwords. Although I am not  bashful about [just handing them my phone and asking them to type it in for me People say their phones are their computers, they do everything with them. From e-mail to eBay it seems they/'re not finding use for laptops or tablets, not me...

For those who have read this blog, browsed m y website or have seen my posts on Facebook, it's pretty common knowledge I have Cerebral Palsy. I have had it since birth because a doctor messed up.  I was a breech baby and the doctor  let my mother's labor progress causing a prolapsed umbilical cord, when he should have performed an emergency C-Section. For the sake of time and not getting off topic I won't go into details, however it was a pretty clear cut case of medical malpractice. I found the details of my delivery almost two decades later and filed a lawsuit against the doctor. The lawsuit settled out of court and I thought that would be the end of it....... After a few years after, there was a push t cap on what are called "non-economic" damages, that effect people who don't work, especially children and women. This was really a backdoor to lock people lock myself out of the justice system. Lawsuits like the one I filed against my doctor are extremely r...