Plate 72 - BET T WHT (Betty White) with Thomas Dillingham III from Ohio

Plate 72 - BET T WHT (Betty White) with Thomas Dillingham III from Ohio

Transcript of Full Episode

BET T WHT

[00:00:00] Trista, Host: Trista polo with this week's plate story. We will spend some time this week with Thomas Dillingham. The third. Thomas is the owner of the detailed garage in Ohio and his plate. BET T WHT pays tribute to an American hero who we lost, just shy of her hundredth birthday. Thomas has loved Betty White since he watched the golden girls with his mom as a kid, he still watches the reruns today with his own family. He also loves cars, a, love he has passed on to one of his children. Thomas shares his experience with the foster system and how he went from being single to married with two children in just a handful of months. That was six years ago. And while it was Rocky at first, he wouldn't change a thing. But first in plate story news, 

The famous ASSMAN from Seinfeld has passed away as well. Lou Cutell who played many character actor roles in his career, including a proctologist on the hundred and seventh episode of Seinfeld passed away at 91 on November 21st, 2021. In this Seinfeld episode, Kramer gets his license plates from the DMV, which read ASSMAN. 

He suspects, they belong to a proctologist, which is confirmed when he takes Frank Costanza to see Dr. "ASSMAN" Cooperman played by Cutell. Cooperman confirms they are his vanity plates while treating Frank Costanza for the Fusilli Jerry, he has stuck in his butt.Cutell was also known for his role as big Larry on Pee-wee Herman's Big Adventure in the eighties. Our condolences go out to family, friends and fans of Cutell. May he rest in peace. Now let's go meet Thomas who chose to honor the late great Betty White with his vanity plate. 

This episode is being aired for the first time, just days after Betty White's passing, which was just weeks before her hundredth birthday. We send our condolences as well to the White family friends. And fans. She was and will always be America's golden girl. 

so excited to have Thomas Dillingham ham with me today. His license plate is BET T WHT. He's from Ohio, born and raised in Lincoln Heights, Cincinnati and he's living in Dayton. Welcome Thomas. It's great to have you on this. Now your license plate was one that I saw roaming around the internet and I just absolutely loved it. It was one of my favorites. It's B E T space T and then w H T. And so even though it's. consolidated, it's clear what it is. It's Betty White, which I love, but I was, interested in the story behind it.

So why did you choose Betty White as your license plate? 

[00:02:55] Thomas Dillingham III: it just kind of, what is one of those I've had license plates before that were just that hinted at things? I have another car that the license plate was a bud light. Because the car is in infinity, kinda made people think, and they were like, well, why did you do that?

So, and, and then I grew up kind of watching golden girls as a child. And then, Betty White, it just, I think in awesome individual. So I was like, and my car is white and it's a station wagon. And I was like, cool that he was. 

[00:03:32] Trista, Host: I love it. Now you told me when we talked before you sometimes get looks, when you get out of your car, having that license plate.

Tell me a little about that. 

[00:03:41] Thomas Dillingham III: Yeah. well it's one, it's a BMW station wagon. It's lowered. It's only probably maybe an inch and a half, two inches off the ground. And I am a six, four, almost 300 pounds black dates. So it was so big. We were like, why does he have Betty White in the back of his car? He's not even though he's probably not even old enough to remember the golden girl.

I'm like, yeah, And I did watch it and I still watch it to this day, but yeah, it's, it's one of those, it's just like, it's kind of not, I guess, an oxymoron, if that's the correct term for it. 

[00:04:22] Trista, Host: I love it. I think that's great. Do people ever ask you about it 

[00:04:26] Thomas Dillingham III: every now and then? but I, I don't know. so I don't know if people, they just see it and they just look and they just kind of do like a double take and they're like, or they'll drive by and wave and say, and like point like that's, that's cool or whatever.

So, yeah, but I don't drive a car that often. So, when I get it out, that's when I get the.

[00:04:50] Trista, Host: Yes. Well, I see a lot of license plates out there, both when I'm driving around and on the internet, as you can imagine, people sharing with me all the time, having a podcast like this, and that's one of the more fun ones that I've seen. now golden girls watching that as a little kid.

That seems like maybe you would've watched other stuff that would have been more, you know, aimed at you. That was like a lot of retired ladies living in Florida. What had you watching that as a kid? 

[00:05:18] Thomas Dillingham III: well, because there was an attempt to really watch and my parents were not together, but, my mom, there was one TV at my mom's house.

And well, growing up there was one TV. So it was a, well, you have to watch what I watch and that was it. whatever, whatever was golden girls and then whatever she watched after that. So that's what we had to watch. And if you wanted to watch TV, it was golden girls and, Dukes of hazard or whatever was on golf,

whatever was on the TV at the time. 

[00:05:50] Trista, Host: It's a little different than today, where there's a TV in every single room of the house. Right. Then watch TV on your phone now. 

[00:05:57] Thomas Dillingham III: Absolutely. 

[00:06:00] Trista, Host: Awesome. So now you're a business owner. You have a detailing company. Tell me about your, your business. 

[00:06:08] Thomas Dillingham III: I own what's called the detail garage been detailing for, I would say almost 20 years, I guess. I mean, Cleaning cars, you know, as a teenager. And then as I got older, I started actually realizing what detailing was. and then it turned into a business. I turned it into a business about five years in February. before that 

[00:06:35] Trista, Host: that's an important milestone. Yes they say, right? Like the 95% of businesses fail in the first five years. So congratulations on that. Awesome milestone. 

[00:06:46] Thomas Dillingham III: Thank you. Thank you. it's been a side hustle. and then I decided to turn it into a business, and then next year we're moving forward with, with some other things and things are starting to fall into place. So, that, but, it's always been. I have a full-time job plus this full-time job. So I've always, always been a balancing act, trying to keep both of the, you know, keep my sanity with my day job and then also try to run a business and it, it can be hectic sometimes, but it's 

[00:07:22] Trista, Host: absolutely, and you're a family man too.

So in addition to your full-time job and your business, you also have a family. 

[00:07:30] Thomas Dillingham III: Yes. married two girls, my wife and I adopted two girls officially next year will be three years, but we've had them so crazy story. My wife and I got together, we were together. We've been married for six years and we were only together like two and a half, three months before I proposed.

But they, after I proposed, she got a phone call saying, Hey, we need you to do a kinship placement for what? What is her cousin?

So instead of it, the, her, my daughter, our daughter, going into the system, they, they try to find a family member to take the child prior to them going into foster care or foster care system. So they do a kinship. Literally the day after I proposed, she gets a phone call. We had the weekend to get the house together and it was, it was all instant family from that point. about a month after that case, now we have a caseworker caseworker calls and says, Hey, the birth mother is pregnant. We're not going to let her keep the child. Do you guys. I want to take her. We're like, absolutely not. We can't do it. I mean, we literally have had my oldest for a month and I'm like, I don't know if we could do a newborn.

So January rolls around. She's like, Hey, I have to get her out of the. The house, the foster house, that foster home that she's in. She's just not, she's not being mistreated, but it was just not a good situation. she texted my wife. I'm like, okay. So my wife had decided to take, take, bring in Heather.

I'm like, alright, cool. I have three adopted siblings. And I'm like, I can't let this girl grow up without her sister. So she showed us, brings her over. You know, I think it was a Tuesday by the following Tuesday, we had a four month old, so I'm like, oh, and we were getting married in six weeks later. So I'm like, oh man, this is, this is a, so yeah, that, that it's been that ever since.

[00:10:09] Trista, Host: Wow. So you just jumped right into the deep end. 

[00:10:13] Thomas Dillingham III: Oh yeah, no, no, no, no, no. Berkeley water just let's go. 

[00:10:20] Trista, Host: That's right. And how has it been? How long ago was that? 

[00:10:25] Thomas Dillingham III: That was so July, July of 2014 is when we got the oldest. January of (20) 15 is when we got my youngest. And then we got married March of 2015 on PI day 3/14/15. wow. And then we adopted them for Memorial day weekend to two years ago. 

[00:10:56] Trista, Host: Wow. That's a rollercoaster ride. So how has it been for you guys? I mean, you just kinda jumped in you, you, you did that thing. Would they say, jump off the cliff and figure out the parachute on the way down.

Right? 

[00:11:11] Thomas Dillingham III: Mission impossible type stuff. So 

[00:11:15] Trista, Host: how is it just for you as a family? 

[00:11:19] Thomas Dillingham III: I mean, for me, it was, I come from a big family. I come from a family that, you know, I have an older brother it's me. And then my mom had triplets. and then my dad and my stepmom decided they weren't able to physically have children.

So they adopted, ended up adopting 3. So I'm 15. And then I have a sister that's 13, two sisters that are 13 years younger than me and then a brother that's 15 years younger than me. so yeah, and I'm just not one to try to,

we may not have had the means at the time, but I wasn't going to let two sisters. One girl up in the system in one, not grow up in the system. It's just not, that's not, I know I've seen what the system can do to, to kids if they're not taken care of. and that's not a fault of the system because they don't have the resources.

 I mean, it's, it's a hard, and a lot of these people don't get the praise or pay or resources to help them do what they need to do. And that sucks. So then I was like, well, if I can alleviate some pressure from that then 

[00:12:44] Trista, Host: I want to acknowledge you and your wife for taking two children in like, even before you were married yourselves. So you hadn't even really started your life together and now you have a family to raise and you could have easily said no, either time.

And the fact that you said yes is really commendable. If people want to help, if they want to support, do they volunteer? Do they give money? Do they offer to foster? Like what does the system need to do? 

[00:13:14] Thomas Dillingham III: I think more so it's it's they need good foster parents. There are not saying that all foster parents are bad, but I have noticed that there are some who will just take kids because there's a lot of money in it. I don't, yes, there is a lot of money in the foster care system. There is a lot of money in the, in the adoption. But there are people who take advantage of it and we'll use those funds to live as opposed to actually taking care of the children that they have, or they'll take in more than what they can handle.

And then, then you get into a situation. I think that what we ran into was that this lady had. She was a good foster parent. They needed a placement, they got the placement, but she also had like two or three special needs kids in her home. And now she has a newborn and it was like, she needed to get out of that situation.

So, I mean, of course it worked out in our favor because it was her half sister. , my youngest, her, her biological father was a kid who aged out of the system.

He was in the system his entire life never really had a home. So it led down a path of somewhat destruction in his life. I could tell he was a good kid, but it just, nothing was clicking. He wanted to do well, but then he would go off and do something stupid and it was like,

yeah, and the birth mother was, she wasn't a bad person, but she was also in the system partially for her part of her life. And it was just not neither. One of them had the opportunity to grow and become better people because of whatever family trauma that happened prior to them having these kids.

So. 

[00:15:18] Trista, Host: Wow. It's, it's a tough conversation. Thank you for sharing that part of your life with me. I really appreciate it. , what are your favorite things to do? Is family activities. 

[00:15:30] Thomas Dillingham III: I think that their biggest thing is that my kids, my in-laws live in rural Tennessee, so they love going down to, my in-laws. They have, they live close to the Tennessee river, so they go out and river guard and upon to build jet skis, all that stuff. That's what they'd love books. And.

My youngest really is into cars. Like I am my oldest. She couldn't could care less about a car about anything. she's books and. If it doesn't have to do with reading a book or watching, watching something on TV, she no interest, but my youngest she's, if I'm in the garage, working on the car, she wants to be right next to me and a soak it up.

[00:16:16] Trista, Host: You're not just detailing. You're really into cars, right? You're in a car club. You host car events.

[00:16:22] Thomas Dillingham III: Well, I was told if I buy another vehicle this year, that I'd be in trouble. but, yeah, I have, I host a cars and coffee event, in the neighboring city where I actually spent a good portion of my life, in Springfield, Ohio. and then, I have. My core group of friends about there's about 15 or 20 of us that we all kind of get together.

And then obviously the extended car community, that I'm in. But yeah, it's, it's, I do a lot with cars, work on them, clean them. I'm actually working on my sister's Jeep right now. We just got the wheels and tires down. She's in Germany for the next E 2023. She comes back. she extended her leave or not her, her, her tour.

But, so yeah, I'm working on it, working on my own vehicles, probably getting her to tear down my infinity, which is 22 years old. and do, do a complete kind of restoration type thing on it because it was, it's a car that I can't get rid of. It means nothing to anybody else except for me. And it's probably worth make to anybody else's maybe worth a thousand dollars, but to me it has no value.

So 

[00:17:44] Trista, Host: it's priceless. Right? Is that the buzz light year car? 

[00:17:47] Thomas Dillingham III: Yes, that is the buzz light year car. 

[00:17:50] Trista, Host: To infinity and beyond. 

[00:17:52] Thomas Dillingham III: Absolutely. Absolutely. It took some people when they read that plate. They're like what, why buzz light year? Yeah. Well, because a lot of people don't know it's a, it's a infinity sedan from 1999.

They don't, it wasn't a very popular car. It's not, it, it was. Infinity version of a Nissan Maxima. So they're like, oh, is that a maximum? I'm like, no, it's an infinity. But, it was also the last car that I brought my step-mom home in before she passed away from cancer. So for me, it is, I, I can't get rid of the car. asked him what sentimental value.

So, yeah, it's just one of those,

just one of those things. I think any car guy has that one car that they can't get rid of. or if they get rid of, they, they try to find it immediately after they've sold it. 

[00:18:47] Trista, Host: Yeah, I get that. I am. I'm working on another podcast with an intuitive. So I dunno if you believe in any of that, but I bet she could see a lot from that car based on your connection to it.

[00:19:03] Thomas Dillingham III: I'm sure. I'm sure that definitely. I believe in the energies and then, and karma, and what goes around comes around because you know, energy is, is not, doesn't go away. It just transfers. So, you know, I just kinda, 

I'm trying to put out good energy. not every, and I'm not going to wake up every day in the best mood, but as long as I can try to put something good in the world, I, at some point it's going to come back to you then maybe not tomorrow, maybe not a year from now 10 years now, something, you know, or if I can help somebody provide good energy or be a good energy.

[00:19:43] Trista, Host: I love that. So there's one more question. I always like to ask all of my guests, how has self-worth played a role in your life?

[00:19:54] Thomas Dillingham III: yeah, I think everybody has to know what they mean to another person .

Everybody has worthiness whether you're providing whatever you do and you do it well, somebody finds value in what, who you are and what you did.

We, as people may not be able to see that very often, or we may not be able to know that we're providing that, that, that worthiness to whether it is your work or your kids or your spouse or your, your sisters and brothers and, you know, your parent, like everybody's worthy. For me, and then. I guess, everybody goes through a point where they don't, or they may not feel that they are worthy of something or they don't deserve something, but just know that, you are worthy of, what you have. I oftentimes find myself feeling that I don't deserve what I have because of, I guess my upbringing, I didn't, I, I didn't, I didn't have a bad upbringing, but I didn't grew up in the best neighborhood. but I saw people to not make it out from where kind of where I grew up and it was.

I kind of feel bad because I'm like, well, I have this, but they don't have it. And they should, but, and I want them to, but I can't work for them. So I don't know if that makes any sense at all. 

[00:21:39] Trista, Host: Yeah, it does. 

[00:21:41] Thomas Dillingham III: And then it's like, the other part of being worthy is wanting to get to the next level and always feeling like you, like, you're always you're right at the precipice. And then it's like, oh, the ball keeps rolling. The ball rolls back down to hill and it's like, ah, I gotta push this thing back up the hill.

So I feel like I'm in that middle point in my. In my life where I'm, I'm happy for what I have. I don't want to, I don't want people to think that I'm not content with what I have, because at some point I want to be able to give back more, do more , you know, and I can't do that until I'm in a better position.

And I want to be in that better position. I want to be in that position now. It's not going to happen tomorrow. It's not. Yeah. So, I want to get to the point to where I can be of service, or, or more service to other people. I just want to 

[00:22:43] Trista, Host: get there. Yeah. Well, I'll tell you it, achievement is a funny thing because you're clearly achievement oriented, right?

You always got two jobs or two businesses or two income streams, at least coming in, you're growing something. You're yourself generating you're entrepreneurial. When you're that kind of achievement mindset, no matter what you achieve, there's always more to achieve. We'll hit this goal and you'll say, all right, well, that's great, but I'm not satisfied because I'm still achievement oriented.

I still am reaching for how good can I have it? How much can I contribute? What's the next level I can get to. So you'll have a lifetime of achievement and there will always be more to achieve.

[00:23:34] Thomas Dillingham III: Everybody wants to be Besos. Everybody wants to be Elon Musk. Everybody wants to. I mean, I, I don't think that I'll ever get to that point because I didn't create Amazon or, but, I, I want to be. Y income level, like that type of person to be 

[00:23:55] Trista, Host: billionaires looking to be a billionaire, 

[00:23:59] Thomas Dillingham III: I would love I'll be a billionaire, but, 

[00:24:01] Trista, Host: yeah, you know, those people don't have a lot of free time.

Right.

I heard, I don't know if you know, clubhouse the social media app, but I heard him speak on clubhouse, Elan Musk. And somebody asked about the, day in the life of Elon Musk. Like this guy, he's the one taking us to space. He's the one that's going to get us to Mars. He's the one that's now created the electric car movement.

He's the pioneer of all this new forwarding technology. And he's probably a billionaire. And he said his whole day is just meeting after meeting, after meeting, after meeting, after meeting, he's like nobody would, if you saw my schedule, you wouldn't want my life. Because all it is is just for meeting to meeting, to meeting.

And I just, I, that struck me because, you know, the grass is always greener and yes, he can have whatever house he wants, whatever cars he wants, whatever trips he wants, he can have anything cause he has unlimited his bowl. But at what cost, you know, like you talked about balance or, and I think balance is the key.

To anything, including achievement. So, I mean, I you're welcome to, I mean, the sky's the limit, right? Like you can create anything, especially these days. The, the typical millennial will tell you that you need seven income streams to be a millionaire. And there's right. And there's plenty of plenty of ways to create income streams these days with real estate and, and so many different things.

But I applaud your achievement oriented mindset. Cause I'm the same way. I've thought a lot about it, which is why I have so much to say about it.

But that's awesome. Well, it's really been great to have you on Thomas I've so appreciated our time. And I always like to turn the tables. Yeah. I like to turn the tables at the end of the interview. See if you have a question for me, is there a question you'd like to ask me before we wrap up? 

[00:26:07] Thomas Dillingham III: Yeah, I've thought about it.

I know. I was thinking like, well, you know, I'm a car guy. Like if there were. Any road in America that you would like to drive? Where is it

for a road trip you would like to take something like that? 

[00:26:28] Trista, Host: Yeah, that's a great question. I have always thought it would. I live in New York in the Hudson. Okay. I, I there's two road trips. I think I would love to do, but I've always thought it would be fun to do the fall foliage trip. So you start up in Canada in the fall and you follow the foliage, the leaves change.

It's called like a leaf peeper tour or something like that, but there's a specific, it goes with the weather, like as you get further south and it kind of ends around here, or at least we're at least we're on the trail. I don't know if we're the end of it. so that would be great to do. I think that would be super fun to do, just to kind of follow the foliage down throughout of, of a road trip and the other one I've never looked into the actual.

But I always thought it would be fun to take a road trip to Vegas. Now, of course, when you look at how long it would take from New York, it's like, nevermind, I'll fly. Right. But I thought like going to be a fun road trip, like where Vegas. Only destination, it's the final destination. Right. You know, and then you have all the stops you could create along the way.

So those would be the two top road trips I think I would enjoy doing when I, if I had the penchant to do 

[00:27:49] Thomas Dillingham III: so. Yeah. That was that. I think those are pretty cool. Yeah. The Vegas one, I mean, that's a Kansas after Kansas, Esther, Missouri, that's through. Wow. That's, there's a lot of nothing in between there.

[00:28:08] Trista, Host: Well, but that's never been kind of to the center of the country. I have a,

[00:28:18] Thomas Dillingham III: I mean, I live, I mean, I live in the Midwest and so any, anything past, like,

Oh, I want to say I've driven through Missouri and it is sheer misery. there's nothing there. but then once you get. Even continuing further west on , which I live right at the, essentially right at the junction of 70 and 75, which are the two major highways in the, in the country. But once you get out west, it is flat and there's, I mean, I'm sure there's some cool stuff out there, but it is mind numbing.

The, the, just. Flat cornfields everywhere. Cool to see from above on the plant, the crop circles and stuff like that. But until you get to like Colorado, it is, it is, it is it's rough and that's something I've always wanted to. And it's something I've always wanted to do as well as go from drive the country.

But I don't know if I'll take the Northern route. Or the Southern route. I did just, I don't know if I can drive straight through the middle of the country. 

[00:29:24] Trista, Host: Yeah. Well, it's something to look into. It's a definitely it's I wouldn't call it a bucket list item, but it's one of those things like, oh, I should look into how long that would take.

You know how I would actually plan it out, but that was a great question. And one that no one has ever asked me in like 67 episodes. 

[00:29:47] Thomas Dillingham III: Nice. Good job. 

[00:29:53] Trista, Host: That's awesome. Thomas, it's been amazing spending some time with you. Thanks for sharing your plate story and your life story. I wish you all the best. Yeah, absolutely.

Have a good day.

Thanks for listening. Please subscribe to Trista's plate story podcast, share it, or leave a review. If you would like to nominate a license plate to be featured in a future episode or you have an interesting plate story news item to share with me, leave us a comment or visit plate story.com. That's P L number 8. story.com and give me all the details. 

This is Trista polo wishing you well on the road to your next adventure.