Matt at Work: You Better Sit Down!

Day 12

No matter how good a job is there is always something. My last employment was not a terrible place to work at times But at least weekly there was something that just made you shake your head. Here is a perfect example:



I understand why he sent the e-mail. But requiring everyone to sit? We all wouldn't have been surprised at all if he installed video cameras to catch the perpetrators. And how was he going to enforce this rule?

The use of the bathroom apparently was very important here. One of the guys that I used to work with had an office directly underneath a bathroom and could hear everything. Smalls (not his real name; just an appropriate nickname from the movie "The Sandlot") came into his office and wondered if he ever checked his IM (Instant Messenger) to see who was "away" so he could tell who was in the bathroom. And he was much more serious than he was joking. It wouldn't have surprised us if suddenly he got assigned a task to keep track of which employees were using the bathroom and how long. Hopefully not what they were doing but I am sure Smalls would want to know that so he could micro-manage them more.

And the reason why I left that job was because I refused to sign what I dubbed the "Pee Pledge." Smalls wanted me to sign a document that I wrote which was to include why I value my job and that I would pledge to find someone to cover me while I peed. But that is a whole other story!

Remembrance Day

Day 11

Today is Veteran's Day in the United States but it will always be better known to me as Remembrance Day. Remembrance Day is observed on November 11th to recall the end of World War I on this date back in 1918. World War I ended officially at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 when Germany signed the Armistice.

I remember this day when I lived in Canada. We would have a special assembly and sang the national anthem and listened to speakers. We also were given plastic poppies to wear throughout the day. The significance of the Poppy and how it became tied to Remembrance Day is because of John McCrae's poem "In Flanders Fields." It was because of the poppies that bloomed on the battlefields of Flanders in World War I. The red color symbolizing the blood that was shed during the war, both Armed Forces and civilian casualties.



I am extremely thankful for all those that have chosen to fight so that I can enjoy my freedom. I can do what I want, I can worship how I want to worship, I can read comics, I can do anything because someone is protecting my freedom. It is a debt that I cannot possibly repay.

I have many members of my family that have served in the Armed Forces in way capacity or another and I would like to take some time to recognize them for their efforts. I feel bad because there is a lot I don't know about my family. But I have a goal to rectify this. I will be able to give a full report of my family that served. Thanks to my parents for giving me some information at such short notice.

George Platis (uncle): George served in the Pacific region during World War II. He was a 1st Leutinet in the Navy. He was in charge of bringing in material/supplies for the troops after they landed. His letters to his parents have been published in his book (which will be another column for this blog). He was part of the Invasion of Iwo-Jima. Because he was tall and wore an officer's uniform he was always a target of snipers. He passed away when I was very young.

John Platis (uncle): John joined the Navy late due to age. He spent most of time stationed in Hawaii. He was in the Navy. He was a flight instructor and luckily didn't see any action.

Nick Platis (uncle): Nick served in the Air Force in the Korean War. His main assignment was to be a side gunner on the B-29 Bomber. He flew more missions than the required amount the Air Force wanted. He was part of a very successful air campaign that caught the enemy by surprise. Unfortunately he and his crew were to fly that same mission and the enemy was prepared. Twelve planes went in on the attack and only one came out. The plane was severely damaged (only one wheel was available because the rest of the landing gear was destroyed) and he was injured when the plane crashed. His leg was hurt but he was happy he survived. He credited the Australian pilots (single fighter planes) that were attacking at the same time, they took most of the heat. Nick passed away just a few years ago.

Paul Platis (my dad): He was drafted into the Vietnam War. He didn't serve in Vietnam but served Veterinarian Corp for two years in Thailand.

Dean Platis (uncle): He was drafted into Vietnam War. Served stateside for two years in Texas. His assignment was various clerical positions at the Battalion HQ.

Roger Dean Carstens (cousin): He served recently in the Afghanistan conflict. He is a retired Army Special Forces Lieutenant Colonel.

Chris Toner (cousin): I believe he served as a Major in the Afghanistan conflict.

Theron Anhder (Grandfather): Served in World War II and the Korean War. He was on the ship I remember him showing me his Japanese sword and German Luger that he confiscated from the enemy. He was on the battleship Missouri when Japan officially surrendered in a ceremony. His brother Theo stormed the beach at Iwo-Jima and his other brother Lamoine was in Air Force during World War II.

Jerry Case (uncle): Served in the Vietnam War: SGT Reconnaissance Team Leader

Wes Goring (cousin): Served recently in the Afghanistan conflict.

I might have missed some family members or got some information correct. If you have more information please send me an e-mail. By Memorial Day, I will have a full accounting of my family's service in the Armed Forces.

On behalf of my family and I, we appreciate and value all of the people serving in the Armed Forces. Thank you for giving and securing us our freedom. Our thoughts and prayers are with those that currently serve.

Thank you!

School Daze: Sorry Shelley!

Day Ten

Writing about my dating experiences and courtship of Kristy reminded me of my love life (or lack thereof) prior to my wife. I didn't have many serious girlfriends aside from she-who-must-not-be-named whom I dated before Kristy. I had a small relationship with a girl right before my mission and I didn't have any girlfriends in high school. But my first official girlfriend came in seventh grade. Why do I call it official? Because she called me her boyfriend so I called her my girlfriend.

In seventh grade I attended what I called hell. Killarney Junior High School.



I am sure every time I write about ANY experience about Killarney I will say the exact same thing. It was hell. There are a few, very few bright spots about Killarney. The most obvious bright spot being that I only attended one year before I moved to Utah. Unfortunately the hell continued there.

But I was fortunate enough that I helped this new kid with his school work and he turned into the cool kid of the class. His name was Rob and I was happy to know him, this meager friendship protected me from some of the harsh realities of going to hell, I mean, Killarney.



His girlfriend Sandi had a friend named Shelley and she liked me. So I liked her in return. I didn't really like her, I liked the benefits that came with being her "boyfriend". My protection shield was raised even more. I remember one incident in particular. We were watching a play at a school assembly and some dork (must have been you Russell or James!) was sitting behind me kicking my chair. Rob told them to stop since I was sitting beside Shelley. "Don't bug them, they are in love." Yeah, I was in love, not with Shelley but with the protection I got from her!

Twenty years later and I still feel sorry for taking advantage of her. So I humbly and publicly apologize to Shelley for taking advantage of her feelings. I'm sorry Shelley.

Towards the end of the hideous school year, I became friends with a new girl in class named Lori. Luckily for me she liked me too and was friends with the "cool" people as well. Now Lori I liked. In fact, she was the first girl I kissed. On the cheek and on the last day of school.

The Write Stuff

Day Nine

It has only been nine days into November and I feel like I have written over a million words. I have around about twenty columns all ready to go, I just have to do some tweaking. While I am not writing for this blog (or reading other blogs) I am furiuously writing my NaNoWriMo novel. What is this you say? This is a fantastic writing experience. You start a novel November 1st and write 50,000 words by end of that month. This is my second time and I am really excited with the amount of content I have been pulling out. I encourage you to check out the site. If you want to be a writer this the perfect way to practice. They have a great support group, lots of fun articles and a way for people to interact. I decided to join up on a message board to get to know some people and to share experiences. Check out their site for more info: NaNoWriMo

Last Saturday afternoon some of the board members decided to meet up at Borders. We were short in number but it was well worth attending. There were six people and we all shared our word count and what our stories are all about. There are two murder mystery/crime novels, two fantasy books and one comic book novel. Can you guess which one was I? Yup, I am all about the superheros. Every author was passionate about thier work which in turn makes me more excited to get some typing done.


Left to Right: Tyler, Kyrie, Destiny, Justin and Liz.

We plan on meeting once a week to share ideas, get feedback, express frustrations and of course to write! I think this will be a rewarding experience for me and everyone involved. It will be neat to see how our work improves.

Staying motivated and on target is not as easy as one thinks. Even if you feel like you were born to write it can be difficult to keep up. So what keeps me going? Here are 3 things that help me write. You may find these helpful.

1) Surround yourself with writing:
Hearing other writers talk about writing really motivates me to do my own writing. That is the biggest reason I decided to go to the meetup. Having someone share your passion and goals help. You can also find interviews or read/watch biographies of your favorite writer. One of my favorite quotes comes from the musical Evita: "Sometimes it's very difficult to keep momentum, if it's you that you are following."

2) Write what you want, when you want.
Now this doesn't necessariliy help too much if you are writing for NaNoWriMo, when time is a factor but the principals apply. I write what interests me at the moment. If you hit a writing wall and become stuck, write a different scene. Even if that scene is far in the future of your current point. Act the scene out if you have to. Want to know my little secret? Sometimes when I get stuck I talk the dialogue through to myself but what helps me the most is one of my old GI Joe action figures. I will dig him out and pose him out and use him to play out the story. I often repeat scenes as well, so I get the perfect dialogue. I cannot believe I just admitted that! But it works. Also take time out to brainstorm. If nothing works and you are stuck, forget about the word count. Take the day off and brainstorm. You can easily make up what you lost.

3) Music.
Music really helps me pump out the words. I try to avoid songs that have singing in them because I usually end up singing along and not typing. I listen to a lot of movie soundtracks. Especially if I am writing an action sequence. I have a playlist on my iPod that is my favorite soundtrack songs and I put that on repeat. Lately I have been into E.S. Posthumus's Cartographer and Elliot Goldenthal's Alien 3. Both fantastic soundtracks, Alien 3 is very underrated. Any music that makes you write is good, you don't have to listen to stuff that I do. Anything that helps you get in the zone!



You can click on the pic above if you are curious to see what I listen to.

Hopefully this makes you want to complete your novel or to keep up with the 365 Blog Challenge. Now I better get going and crank out some content for my novel.

Sunday Confessional: Get Your Jersey On!

I have a confession to make. I have a few actually. So here is my first in a series of confessions.

There are some people think it is white trash to wear sports jerseys. Some people think it is okay to wear them ONLY at games. I am not one of those guys. I am a big NFL fan and I admit that I have a ton of jerseys. Most of them I have worn out in public. Now bear in mind, I only wear them during the NFL season. And I am picky about which ones I wear and on what day. If one of my teams is playing, I will be wearing a jersey. And usually under that I have some sort of team shirt on too. And if it is cold, I have a sweater or jacket with the team logo on it. Every Sunday, even if I am going to church, I have either a jersey or team shirt under my suit. No one can see it, only I know it is there. And yes, there is football on today and I am wearing a jersey while writing this. But I will take it off when for family pictures this afternoon.


Logan and I snuggling watching football. Notice the team blankets? I have a Jets one on and there is a Ravens one next to it.

Am I superstitious? A little bit, even though it doesn't really work anyway. My teams rarely have success unfortunately. But I will do my best by supporting my team by wearing their colors and jerseys proudly! So how many jerseys do I have? You might be surprised. The New York Jets are my favorite team followed by the Green Bay Packers, Baltimore Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Jets and Ravens I will follow no matter what. The Chiefs and Packers were all about players that played on their teams. Sterling Sharpe and Brett Favre were my favorite Packer players but I will not support the Packers again until Favre officially retires. I guess that means until he dies. Tony Gonzales and the great Joe Montana made me Chief fans and even though they are not there anymore, I still vote for them. I really mostly like the Chiefs because of my dislike of the Broncos. So believe it or not, here is a list of jerseys that I own:

NY JETS: #19 Keyshawn Johnson (bought this in New York)
NY JETS: #7 Boomer Esiason
NY JETS: #28 Curtis Martin
NY JETS: #51 Jonathon Vilma (I still like Vilma but since he left for the Saints I removed his nameplate so I have a blank #51. I also got this for free for entering a sweepstakes on Amazon)
NY JETS: #4 Brett Favre (white away jersey)

GB PACKERS: #4 Brett Favre (home jersey)
GB PACKERS: #4 Brett Favre (yellow alternate jersey)
GB PACKERS: #84 Sterling Sharpe (favorite wide receiver)
I also have an official Cheese-head that my mom's friend got for me when she visited Green Bay on a business trip. She carried it on her lap the whole flight home. Thanks Julie!

BALTIMORE RAVENS: #52 Ray Lewis (I got this jersey the year before they went to the SuperBowl)

KC CHIEFS: #89 Andre Rison (I liked Rison and it was only $20)
KC CHIEFS: #19 Joe Montana (why I became a Chiefs fan)

I used to get a new jersey every other football season but they have gotten ridiculously pricey. They used to be around $45 for a replica now they are close to $90! There are a few more retro jerseys I would love to have and I will browse eBay every once in awhile looking for some. Now I am more interested in getting some more shirts. I would love some socks too, they look so comfortable.


And I have passed this tradition on to my son Logan very early in life. We watched out first Jets game (we beat the Pats) just a few hours after his birth.


He actually wanted to wear it for this picture and who am I to complain?


I am such a proud poppa!

When Kristy Met Matt: The Conclusion

Kristy was now home for summer in West Jordan, a couple of hours south of where I was. At this time I was taking an acting class and we had to go to Salt Lake City every other Thursday to work on our acting portfolio for the Eastman Agency. Salt Lake was not far from West Jordan at all so I had the perfect opportunity to see her and visit her family as well.

She would come up on the weekend to visit her sister Lynn (it was just an excuse to see me though) and she also had a wedding reception for her former roommate Heidi. I was grilled by all of our roommates about what was taking so long. I told them that while I am only going 3MPH (miles per hour) I would still get there!

We saw each other at least weekly, with her either coming up or me going down and it was a lot of fun. But I wanted to know for sure if having a relationship with her was something she wanted too. Our next date was the one where I would figure this all out. I got tickets to see Les Miserables down in Salt Lake so I drove down and picked her up. We ate dinner at the Training Table (a yummy Utah stable) and we parked the car and walked to the Capital Theatre. We should have brought some tissue, not because that the musical was sad (and it did have its moments) but because we had bloody noses because our seats were so far up! The musical was just as good as I remembered it (I saw it already in New York) And Kristy really liked it too. After the play we walked back to the car and I took her hand. I was bringing her back to Logan so we went back to her parent's house and she packed and got ready. The drive home was great. I told her how much I loved being with her and I wanted to know if we should continue. She nodded (too shy I guess) and I took her hand again and told her she was the best thing that has happened to me.





Kristy had to come up for another weekend for a Track meeting at Utah State so we planned a date for that weekend. My friend Lared got a date himself (Carrissa) and we planned something fun. I called Kristy and I told her to dress all in white if possible. I dressed in purple, Lared dressed in green and Carrissa dressed in blue. Why? Because we went and played Clue at the mall and got Orange Julius for drinks. We were supposed to be dressed like our characters. We played a couple of board games at the mall. The mall people let us stay while they cleaned up and closed the mall. We took them home later that evening and told then that we would be back tomorrow night. We had another strange date planned.

One of my favorite date ideas to do with Lared was to take the girls to a grocery store and have them pick an item that they would be willing to eat. No condiments and nothing raw were the only rules. Lared and I would also pick out something too but we knew what was going on, they didn't. Kristy picked out sugar cookie dough, Lared and I picked out some Mixed Fruit Jello and Carrissa picked out a sausage. We went and paid for them and then headed to the local ice cream shop, Charlie's. We gave the waitresses the items and told them to make a shake for each one of them. And we had to eat them since we all said we were willing to eat them. I was so glad that I tipped Kristy off to get something sweet. The Jello one was not that great but the sausage one was horrible! But we finished them. You think that is gross? Wait till you find out what items were chosen when we did it last time! Kristy had a great sense of humor and I was finding myself much more comfortable being around her.

The next day I went and met Lared and we picked up Missy and Kristy and we headed to Hailey, Idaho to visit their roommate Angela. That was a pretty long road trip but it was fun singing and cracking jokes. We got to Angela's house and met her parents. Her mom was so excited to meet me. "Oh your Matt! The one dating Kristy!" I guess that made it official. "You know Angela has not had date one since she has been home!" Such a funny lady. It was during this trip that everything was all out in the open. Kristy and I were dating officially and I never dated another girl.

Hailey is a pretty place nestled in a canyon. We took a tour of the city with Angela and we saw Arnold Schwarzenegger's summer mansion. It was so big! I could probably live there and he would have no idea it was so big. We all went to the park and fed some ducks and birds. Lared was the Bird King. He sat down in a chair and all these birds surrounded him and he gently fed the birds. Kristy and I on the other hand were a little more fearful (as you can see in the picture below). I don't care for birds chasing me around and pecking at my feet. I was feeding the ducks talking to Missy when suddenly we hear this small yell. It was Kristy. We turned and saw her run away from the lake and right behind her was this large goose. She didn't think it was funny but Missy and I certainly did. The drive home was fun. It was nice to have the relationship all in the open now. Missy and Lared were certainly grumpy all the way home. I accidentally took a wrong turn and we drove past Snake River and we saw a beautiful canyon. The walls that surrounded the river were so high. But Missy and Lared didn't care, all they did was complain like little children!



We dated for about a year or so when I finally popped the question. But that is another column.

List-Mania: The Atari 2600

DAY 6 List-Mania Friday!

I apologize to those that were eagerly awaiting the conclusion to my 'When Kristy Met Matt' series of columns. It will come back Saturday. I have decided that every Friday will be List-Mania! Since I like making lists I thought it would be fun to have a weekly column devoted to the list.

The topic this week is one of the greatest toys ever invented, the old Atari 2600. When I look back on Christmas, I really remember the one where my sister and I scored the Atari 2600. We each got a game with it too. I still have the old system and it still works. Years later I replaced it with the Atari 7800. That system had a few cool games on it but the best thing is that it was backwards compatible. Every once in a while I will dig out the old Atari and play the all the games. The only game that I didn't have as a kid that I wanted real bad was Frogger. One day I will snag this game for myself.

So here are my Top 5 Atari games from when I was a kid.

5) Ghostbusters
I'm not sure why I liked this game so much but even now I will dig it out and play it out to the finish. Catching those ghosts can be frustrating and some of the logistics were silly. I mean really, you defeat the big Stay Puft Marshmallow Man by walking underneath him? It still made a fun game. Oh, and make sure you spend the money to pick up the vacuum to suck up the ghosts when you drive from warehouse to warehouse.

4) Vanguard
Getting to the main bad guy was hard but beating the last guy, not so much. I think the reason why I liked it so much was that you can shoot from all directions. There were a variety of bad guys and pitfalls to avoid. But the ending was horrible. One shot killed the bad guy. But you got to play it again, this time faster! I played this for hours and hours.

3) Pitfall
My sister Jennifer got this game for Christmas when we got the Atari. This game certainly had its charm although crossing the crocodiles was very frustrating. I only made it the full twenty minutes only once and always failed in getting all the treasures. It seems that the silver bars were the most rare. But what frustrated me more was when I would go down the ladder and hop over that stupid scorpion and end up trapped by a brick wall!

2) Ms. Pac-man
I got this game for Christmas when we got the Atari and this was a fantastic game. Much better than the horrible Pac-Man, this actually felt like the arcade game. It had its own mazes and you can change the difficulty so you could get rid of that pesky red ghost!



1) Joust
I loved/hated the arcade game. Loved it because it was different and fun but hated it because I sucked at it. My parents thought it was cute how the ostrich would screech with its feet when it came to a stop after a run so they bought the Atari version. I spent hours and hours trying to get the highest score (and I think it was around 800,000 or so) and the levels became just all those fast blue birds. And hitting that stupid pterodactyl right on the nose was next to impossible.

Man, this totally makes me want to dig out the Atari and play some games. I had a ton of games but unfortunately I didn't have the M*A*S*H* Atari game. I borrowed it from a friend and had it for two weeks and I played it non-stop. I visited our local game store and they had one but it cost $9.99. Not sure I want to pay that much for an Atari game.

If you want to go back in time and revisit the golden age of video games, I highly recommend this site: The Atari Age. The scans I used for this blog come from this site.