Mattes's Madness by KC2GIK

Google today only

2009-04-27T14:03:00.002-04:00

I haven't posted anything ham radio related here on justinmattes.com in awhile so I figured it was time. The entries have been kind of lengthy so this is short and sweet. Today is Samuel F.B. Morse's birthday so Google wanted to honor him the best they could. I actually did a report on Morse in school once, back then we didn't HAVE Google so that stunk!! ?Anyway it's a cool way to celebrate

"Swing Vote" and the ALPCA Elections

2009-04-11T12:26:00.004-04:00

While I have talked about both politics and ALPCA, I have never addressed ALPCA politics on this blog.......until I watched the movie Swing Vote. While the elections of officers of a license plate collector's Club don't even come close to the President of the United States, I went to bed staring at the 2009 ALPCA elections form. I took away from the movie what everyone else did, every votes

Trip to CT-- Branchville School visit Part III

2009-03-29T21:32:00.006-04:00

People tell me not to dwell or harp so three entries about the visit to the Branchville Elementary School might be pushing it. However the closer I get to going up there, the more I have the urge to write about it! Call it a way of comprehending what is going to happen. I have told everyone I know about this trip which makes it seem like I am going up there for more than a day. Although the is

Trip to CT-- Branchville School visit Part II

2009-03-27T12:21:00.008-04:00

First of all I want to make a few things clear about this visit upto Kurt's school. Tim's biggest selling point to Principal McKinnon was my writing. Does anyone notice a theme here? Anyway I want to outline my day on Tuesday. Well it actually starts out Monday afternoon when Tim and Kurt drive down to pick me up. We'll then drive back to Connecticut and maybe help setup for the following day.I

Trip to CT-- Branchville School visit Part I

2009-03-26T10:18:00.011-04:00

This should be a very interesting post because originally I was going to write about my trip to Connecticut after it happened but since my writing is part of my presentation, I was asked by the people who invited me to write something of a preview prior to going up there so I could show the kids some of my writing. It all started with an e-mail from Tim Stentiford, a license plate collector

Ones that get away,but a cooler head prevailed

2009-03-08T21:21:00.005-04:00

I have won and lost my share of auctions but this one will sting for quite awhile. For those of you you don't know NJ license plates, the pair shown above are 1928 New Jersey Courtesy license plates I have been follow this auction on eBay since it came out but decided to wait until the fourth day to throw a bid in and it was for $60 which is high for me to jump in but this pair was sweet. Four

31 Statements about Justin Mattes

2009-02-26T14:34:00.004-05:00

Jeff had a version of this posted on his face book page and I thought I would publi0sh here too. Let's face it it is indeed of of my better writngs. Even though I don't turn 31 for a few weeks, I 1. I am proud to say I am the only one in my immediately family who was born in Bergen County (Valley Hospital in Ridgewood.) This really means I am a Bergen County Guy. Although when I was born I was

Surviving Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T22:38:00.004-05:00

In fine JM tradition I have been waiting all day to write this entry. As a matter of fact I went out last night so I could stay home tonight and write. These last few Valentine's Day I have been more sensitive maybe because I have yet to ihave a girlfriend myself. I go through stages at times I'm thankful I still single, I couldn't really afford one right now anyway. Although part of me just

Kicks on Route 66-ham radio style

2009-02-03T18:32:00.014-05:00

Alright I have been a little behind on posting to this blog but I thought I would do a little backtracking. Every September a few hams setup stations along old Route 66. Now given my love for license plates and cars this obgviously is right up my alley. This past Sempteber was the first time I was able to participate with my new setup! The stations use special 1X1 callsign ranging from W6A to

One Contact - Five Lighthouses--W9C

2009-01-05T16:21:00.010-05:00

Back in the summer I wrote an entry in here about my Lighthouse phone contact with Bill,N8ET, so now I had to top that with a five lighthouse PSK contact in Wisconsin! I was orginally going to wait until I got the card like my other contacts but I think at this stage of the game you can take my word for it. This contact was with a husband and wife team also known as "Team Cheese"--WI9TC (I love

Remembering Allendale

2008-12-22T23:40:00.005-05:00

A little while ago I was reminded of a dark memory......the death of my grandfather a few years ago. It seems someone is losing their father the same way, and out of respect I won't mention who, don't ask. However upon hearing this news I remembered how my grandfather suffered throughout the holidays. I remember the last Christmas he spent with us, his spot on the couch was replaced by a medical

They did nothing about it

2008-12-11T13:53:00.009-05:00

You folks know by now I tend to comment on politics from a truly non-partisan approach and I definitely condemn the IL Governor, he evens LOOKS like a sleezebag from the picturs and videos I have seen. The guy virtually has zero allies, I mean even President Bush still has he Cabinet and a handful of Congresspeople defending him. Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich can't expect even one ounce of

A chance encounter--Part II

2008-12-08T17:39:00.009-05:00

Continued from A Chance Encounter---Part IAs we made our way out to her car in the back of my mind I had some major flshbacks from the almost nineteen year when I enter the Woodcliff School System. I thought about the times the kids used to tease m e on a daily basis. I thought ho no matter what I did or how much I tried I simply could not fit in. I had a couple of kids who talked to me but

A chance encounter-- Part I

2008-12-07T12:14:00.011-05:00

It all started with a "reluctant"| trip to TJ Maxx with my mom in Westwood. We were nearby and she just conned me with "just a quick peek". We were roaming around and suddenly an old friend from Woodcliff Middle School walk through the doors......Allison. She was another member of the Wodcliff Lake Bunch that didn't go over to Pascack Hills. Now I won't going into complete details but th e

PV Class of 1998 Reunion

2008-11-30T22:51:00.007-05:00

Alright followers of this blog must be doing a double take because about a year ago I wrote about the 1997 Class reunion. Well a little background. If you read the June 24 th you'll figure out I did high school in five years instead of four. Well both the Class of 97 and the Class of 98 made me one of their own so I went to two junior and two senior proms, going to two ten year reunions seemed

1st Garden State License Plate Meet

2008-11-17T21:44:00.008-05:00

I posted this to the ALPCA and Yahoo lists about the license plate meet that occured this past Saturday the above photos were taken by Jim Moini and Justin MattesOk usually I'd come up with something very clever to say about this meet but all I can manage at this time is WOW! This day made all the hard work worth it. I swear Marco and I kept reminding ourselves this was our FIRST meet, I

The White House Meeting

2008-11-06T19:55:00.002-05:00

Ok Ok Barack Obama and Joe Biden won fair and square so President Bush and the VP Dick Cheney invite them for lunch at the White House. Now for all the bad things Bush has done these eight years he still is a gracious host. He shows Obama around the White House, they tour the Rose Garden , Bush gives Obama his first ride on Marine One, even offers to help=

Time to replace those bumper stickers

2008-11-06T17:57:00.002-05:00

This was just too funny NOT to post!!

Post-election reality

2008-11-05T23:18:00.005-05:00

I am not back-peddling here, the previous post was written to make people think I would vote one way when I really voted another. People read what I wrote and assumed I automatically would for McCain, not this time. Like I did with John Kerry I took a long look at George Bush and even though I still don't believe John McCain is a "Bush Clone" I was concerned about McCain's health and I just

A preview of Election Day

2008-11-03T20:10:00.006-05:00

Question to the group: Are you tired of all t he election day coverage already? The good thing is it's finally over. Now I'm not trying to minimize the importance of this election, it is indeed extremely crucial. However if you haven't made up your mind, I appreciate your position, as a matter of fact I am one of you. In this campaign I always said I could never vote for Fred Thompson, Mitt

Forget Joe "the plumber" ......here's Justin "the writer"

2008-10-23T21:33:00.014-04:00

Alright I had to jump on the bandwagon basically because I am ticked that some "plumber" , who it has proven to be not even registered to vote, is get all this attention over taxes, while the health care issue takes second fiddle. Now OK both Obama and McCain have talked about other issues plenty, but they haven't found one "every day American" to represent all the people concerned about health

No SASE required

2008-10-14T12:51:00.012-04:00

Alright if you're a ham you know the deal with QSLing. Usually the deal is when you make a contact eac h ham sends out a QSL card, paying the postage and everyone is happy. There's no better way to end a contact than to recieve an envelope in the ma il with your callsign on the front. It is a thrill that never get old, at least to me. It's not really a secret that for me qsling is a bit tricky

Hilghighting comments/reader stats

2008-10-07T11:59:00.014-04:00

The entry on June 24 th highlighting a journal I was working on back when I graduated high school has gotten some pretty spirited feedback. No doubt since the PV Class of 1998 Reunion is coming up noext month and my fellow classmates have definitely Googled "Pascack Valley High School 1998 10 year Reunion" or something along those lines and they stumble upon This Journal Entry. Now two of my

2008 Grip Dip Results

2008-09-09T17:22:00.007-04:00

An interting e-mail arrived in my inbox this afternoon. Mixed in with the usual stuff about license plates and lighthouse come the Grid Dip results. This was the first PSK contest I actively participated in meaning I sent in my logs. It wasn't really to score points, but just like everything else on ham radio I decided to just go for it. Imagine my surprise when I found out 28 QSO'S was good

CQ Lighthouse--N8ET/mm

2008-09-05T14:10:00.007-04:00

A few weeks ago was the annual Lighthouses on the Air Event. In previous years I just listened to the contact on SSB mainly because I was only working QRP. Combine that with my speech contacts would be impossible!! Now I have been a member of the ARLHS for a few years, but haven't had that much success with lighthouse contacts. Usually when people activate lighthouses there's a massive pile-up.