My name’s Terry Platt. I live on the western edge of Mobile Alabama in the United States.
I have worked in a variety of jobs and never stayed with one occupation for very long if it confined me or bored me. I started working as a deckhand on a shrimp boat when I was about twelve and during my early teens I worked on fishing vessels around Mobile Alabama and Panama City Florida. When I graduated from high school at 17, I purchased a charter boat in Panama City but had to hire a captain to run it since the Coast Guard would not license me until I was 18. From age 18 until I was 21, I ran a charter boat service. I also lived on the boat and would “crank up and sail away” when I became bored. When there were few tourist in the winter, I would round up a crew and we would commercial fish in the Gulf of Mexico, usually down the west coast of Florida or the east coast of Mexico.
My father died when I was 21 and my family needed to sell the boat. I was pretty much without any direction at that point. I had worked on the water for over half of my life and I was only 21. The local police department decided that if they could talk me into being a cop, they would have less work to do and could even use me to round up the drunk and roudy fishermen on the waterfront. They sent me to the police academy and I became a cop and I loved it. I went from city policeman, to county deputy, to Florida Marine Police. It was fun and the confinement lessened as I went up the line.
I left the Marine Police and Florida and returned to Mobile about ten years later. After moving back to Mobile, I once again found employment in the maritime industry and took of for the Louisiana and Texas oil fields and started carrying oil field supplies around the Gulf of Mexico for the next ten years or so. I eventually had my own ship and crew and I spent my last year at sea running supplies between New Orleans Louisiana and Coatzacoalcos Mexico.
My wife finally got jealous of me having all the fun while she raised the kids. She put a stop to it about 1985. A real bummer! What am I going to do now?
I had always had an interest in electronics and communications. I got my first amateur radio license when I was 12 and I worked as broadcast engineer at a FM broadcast station and was co-creator of our college TV station, WGCC. Knowing this, my sister recommended that I apply for a position at a relatively new high tech outfit not more than a couple of miles from my house. I did not know what the company did or even where they were located. That’s because only my wife and kids really lived in Mobile; I had been living somewhere between New Orleans and Coatzacoalcos! I interviewed on a Thursday and was at work the following Monday.
I started to learn about corporate life and “team playing” and learned that when a job was posted on the company bulletin board it did not mean that they were “really” looking to fill the position with anyone. I was pretty often told that I did not have the degree necessary for the position. I obtained three degrees while working at that company before I finally realized that the person they wanted to fill the job had already been selected but they had to post the job to make it look like everything was on the up-and-up! The word “gullible” comes to mind. I don’t feel bad about it now; they did pay for three degrees!
A serious illness in the family necessitated my resignation at that company and shortly afterwards I took a short term assignment with the US Government that I cannot discuss.
I guess it was pretty much around this time that I decided that I was basically unemployable and I decided to never again “look for a job”. I started a software mail-order business that went very well until technology moved away from floppy disks and similar types of magnetic media. I then went into computer repair, networking, internet programming, web site design and hosting and all the new things. It too was pretty good to us but I got bored in about five years.
I sold the web design and hosting accounts I had to a competitor and launched a few e-commerce sites for myself. I launched several web business ventures and was maintaining a number of websites (at one time I had 140 web sites).
It was during this time of intense web activity that I started finding tidbits of information about a business called the “field services business”. It became a serious challenge since there was so little information to find and I could get no one to talk to me about it. That set me on a quest!
After about six months of investigation, hundreds of hours of research and hundreds of phone calls, I accepted my first job in the field services industry. I agreed to drive 400 miles round trip and spend several hours on site for a total compensation of $85. Am I brilliant or what? That’s how I started. I did not have a clue what to do but I did finally figure it out.
One day a thought came to my head (that’s rare) that I had been in this business for years. Then years later a thought came into my head again – you’ve been doing this for a long time! As it turns out, I have been in the field services business possibly longer than anything else I have ever done. I have some interests that have been around longer but I’ve never worked at anything for this amount of time. I finally had to ask myself “Does this mean that I like this business?” It most be so because I’m still here.
I’m quite a creative person, though often lack the talent or patience to follow through on even my best ideas. I have a keen interest in photography, boating (surprise), dogs, books, reading, writing, programming, astronomy, and I enjoy living wide open. If I had to narrow it down, it would come down to a tie between my love for creating (writing, programming) and my love of interacting with people. Often I can identify my main passion swaying towards the creative side.
About The Site
I created this site (and a few others) for two reasons and only two reasons:
#1 – I intend to counteract some of the things going on in the business that I feel are counterproductive to the advancement and the goodwill of the industry
#2 – I intend to make money doing it
It took a while for me to determine that a blog would be the best way for me to share my daily activities, my concerns, my views and maybe a few stories and articles. The blog also allows you to comment and interact with me. Please do, there’s nothing I like better than meeting and talking with new people. (writing and programming excluded)
So feel free to wander around my site. Visit the links I may recommend, comment on my posts, or just hang out, if that’s your thing.
The site is not finished yet, and will probably prove to be more of an ongoing project, with constant little improvements as and when, either from user feedback, or some crazy notion I got.
The reason for this site’s existence is to offer an inside daily view of the field services business and to promote my e-book about the business.
I try to post my daily activities so you can follow along, or ride with me so to speak.
For years I have been contacted by individuals interested in the business and wanting more information. The hardest part has always been describing a typical day in the business. Hopefully, you will not only enjoy my posts but also learn what the realities of the business are on a day to day basis.
Mortgage Field Services is a unique web site — a blog focused on the field services industry. I’ve spent many years working in the field services industry and I thought it would be entertaining to write about my experiences and what I see going on in the industry.
No one that I know of besides myself is really talking about the street level side of the business, so this site gets a lot of curious visitors every day. As the site attracts more and more attention, I occasionally try to remind my visitors that the purpose of the site is to tell about my day and give my opinion of the field services industry. What does that mean? It means that if you don’t like what I say, then don’t read the blog.
My opinion of the industry can often hit the bull’s eye. It can also be dead wrong. Your decision to use the information this site provides means you assume all risk for relying on anything I’ve decided to write here — while I do my best to make sure my information is as accurate as possible, I make no warranties, express or implied, regarding the veracity of my opinions expressed within.
I also do not assume any responsibility for the content of reader’s comments, although I may at my discretion edit or remove offensive material. Your decision to rely on the information contained within the comments on a particular story is just that — your decision alone!
I thank each of you for visiting and your contact with me. Please continue to do both and let’s continue to make this a fun and profitable business.
As always, if you would like to contact me, please use the email address of terry at terryplatt.com
Live for Today!
P.S.
A lot has changed since I wrote this original biography. I still do field service work but my wife Vickie now runs the business and I work for her! She tries to work me only a few days a week so I can concentrate on my writing and programming. Most of my time is now spent helping other inspectors promote their business on the internet. Take a look at www.TerryPlatt.com for more info.
One thing is still the same:
Live for Today!