EP255: Our Home Became Tidier After Having Four Sons, Burrito Restaurant Offers Job To Burglar and The Wizard of Menlo Park

I'm always upgrading my car because I need to because I want to today it's custom rims for my ride tomorrow, it might be a new driver side seat cushion and eBay motors.com always has what I need. They got over 122 million car parts all at the right price that's perfect for me because I'm a car guy arrives killing the morning almost on okay I'm a car fanatic eBay motors.

Let's ride dramas you may know me from the recap on LA TV abdominal podcast life as a gringo, to every Tuesday and Thursday will be talking real and unapologetic about all things light and culture and everything in between. From someone who's never quite been listening to life as a gringo on the iHeartRadio app or web, you get podcast brought to you by State Farm like a good neighbor, State Farm is there dramatic pause, a dramatic pause says something without saying anything at all dramatic pause is a go to for podcast news presidents and radio voiceovers. It makes you look really smart. Even if you're not free to deserve a go to like that like hey do choose life. Comfy good to go to this is Lee Habib and Mrs. our American stories we tell stories about everything here on the show including your send them to our American stories.com. Some of our favorites are about to hear from Alexandra Frost. Alexandra is here to share how she and her husband figured out how to keep a spotless home with four son what they call the 10 things rule I know you're curious I am and I have one daughter.

Let's take a listen we have for signs. They are 7533 month old and people always ask us if we are trying for a girl and I might clearly data has shown that's not in the cards that were not sure where done having kids are going to have my mother having a lot of fun with her for signs. Their ages is there close together so there really good friends and they enjoyed hanging out each other and they also wrestle and you crazy at times, but I was some action going on right at the beginning of our marriage we had our first time and it was very chaotic. We had a lot of baby toys around. We had a dog and a cat at the time there were pet toys around so there is just crap all over the floor. Basically all the time, it was cast in the beginning but we knew we kind of wanted to live that way and have a lot of kids and a lot of commotion a lot of fun together. After the third when we lived in a smaller starter home and we had three people during the staff. Plus, my husband and myself everywhere and it just felt very cluttered.

My husband will admit he's got a touch of OCD for sure need a message like that toy messes didn't ever really bother me. I like we have a lot of kids they like to play there having fun enjoying their childhood but they would definitely get under his skin and he would feel stressed in his home environment which you know nobody wants to feel that way. So we had to get a little smarter with organizing. We try different things, like I would walk around at night and pick things up for everybody or my husband and I would do that and it does a lot for any one person to take care of all these people's things that didn't work out too well because you know we're all tired is 10 PM. We did want to clean the house.

I think, and it also wasn't really teaching the kids any sort of responsibility.

We also tried some of that minimalized in getting rid of staff which is helpful, but it wasn't still wasn't really solving the problem of just getting stuff off the floor and where they should be. Also, we were noticing we come home from something and feel like we are walking back into chaos as opposed to late coming home and having our house be this safe haven where is calm and relaxing. So we get home from something that was stressful because we had three or four kids at the time, and we wouldn't be able to just kinda relaxed so is a little overwhelming. We didn't really have the system for that many people in our house set up yet and we just kinda confused on how to proceed. So the 10 things rule came about because I was noticing at transitions between things that it was a natural time for us to kind of do a quick pickup instead of us leaving everything until the evening like we had before, so we'd be you know about to leave her soccer game and there was this kind of like five minutes were my older kids were just like running around not really helping do anything because I was getting the baby ready to go or we are packing lawn chairs or whatever it was, and so I noticed they could be kind of doing something at that point to help so we started the 10 things rule. Actually I don't think it started with 10 it might've been like five when they were real little, and I was just like a pickup five things on this playroom floor thinking having a little bit more help. Instead of doing a whole house clean all the time and also like 5 to 10 things was helpful for the real little kids like my two-year-old can pickup five things in life. The second did not work right away. They thought it was stupid. They did not want to try.

They wanted to just run around like little banshees and not not help that's kids. I mean, they definitely cheat the rule sometimes like one of my kids will slow player and while the other kids are picking up 10 things he's done like to. He's played with a few toys in the meantime and is kinda just rolling around on the floor looking busy so there's definitely some more competitive personalities and lazy personalities amongst them, but it was pretty normal for them to banter and see the fastest and then after a while I feel like it became part of their normal process and we just kept pushing it and it helped that it was multiple transition through the day so it wasn't just something we are trying once a week it would be before every meal before we left, and after a while they just kind of started doing it without me pushing them to do it or they would start racing each other and thought it was funny or they yell at one of their other siblings that wasn't helping his daily picked up two things so quickly. We realized three kids who can help.

That's 30 items and you think you don't have 30 items on the floor but if you have six people you definitely do like even if it's just a pillow that fell off the sofa or something like that. They started to do it other places said they would be like visiting their grandma or they be at the neighbors house and I started seeing some of their neighbor friends do it at our house, their friends that come over for a play date. Like they all know the 10 things rule two.

So the kids weren't very surprised that at the end we asked them to clean up the nail.

The 10 things though it was helpful because you weren't leaving play dates at our house or other places with the total disaster zone. You don't know your agitated because their stuff everywhere until you actually fix it and then you're like wow I feel so much lighter. We have so much less stuff. It's not on the work crazy. I'm actually looking at their player right now and there's there's one stuffed animal minion on the ground, but other than that there is literally nothing on the ground which is pretty impressive for how it used to be at least that something that people have that feeling like they are drowning in clutter or they can't just move around freely in their house because they're going to trip over like a toy dinosaur.

You know reality for a lot of people. I think that that rule could work for them.

I also really like that it teaches the kids responsibility for their own stuff taking care of putting them back is helping them just to appreciate their stuff more and also to be more independent kids and know that there is not someone around like picking up after them all the time so I like that aspect to I feel like there's convalescent and started helping me be more aware to. It's not just the kids like I leave stuff places so it help me to kind of watch myself to to be an example and a special thanks to Madison for the production… Andrew Alexandra Frost, go to www.Alexandria – most.com you're more fun stories and ideas about keeping serenity in your home by giving and having an organized home for many of us were OCD charge only has one could just make you happier to see some kind of fun with this in order. Imagine trying to do that with four boards. Kudos to Ginger and her husband Alexandra Frost story on our American story. Interview of the Great American storage until love America. What were asking you to become a part of the all-American stories from if you agree that America's retrenchment make a donation monthly gift of $70.76 is finished becoming a favorite option for support level American stories.com mail go to the donate button and help us keep the Great American stories, so American stories.com will continue with our storage and now we have one of the co-owners of Diablo Southwest Grill here to share this story – was started by Carl Wallace and brothers Brandon and Brimhall and adjuster George the reassuring history of how this business got started and how they operate locally for me.

You note through life. All of my successes come from challenges and what seems sometimes like really bad days actually set us up for the best days. My wife had lost her job with Verizon when they bought out another company and I've never cooked the day of my life.

So when she went back to work as a working business hours.

She started working retail hours and then that led me to have a cook for myself because she would get home to not 10 o'clock at night and then I realize I had a passion for cooking and so actually Diablos was was born out of loss of a job for her and I wanted to create a chain not just to someone else's dreams only to create my own dream.

So we created Diablos and grew from one store in a gusto to move for fixing open up our 15 store in about two months so the day before Easter Sunday, 330 4 o'clock in the morning we had a break in the individual smasher front glass. I gained entry into the restaurant and then went to the register immediately grabbed the register shook around snatched all the cords and wires made an absolute mess of all the register the changed work shook around realize there was no money in their throat to the ground, looked around the restaurant for about 10 more seconds. Realize there was no safe.

The site was hidden and actually ran right back out the restaurant as fast as he could get out the whole process was less than one minute we were awakened by security company calling us and letting us know so we get to the restaurant.

My business partner Brandon got there first you so that he let me know as a social media for Diablos United, what a postscript mob initial reaction was like we were going to have to put up a piece of plywood over the broken door just to get to the restaurant open and operating and it was also a challenge to get open by 11 o'clock with getting the register reset backup replaced.

You know that it was a big frustration and then again it was how I let the customers know that your first visit to Diablos and I got a plywood door. This looks really bad for business came out with a kind of a thing of PCR on Facebook VCR door looking hurricane fabless.

This is why and for some reason just because of the Easter weekend and just really thinking about the robbery. Like in that moment and what it happened to you in his life that he literally broke unit 330 in the morning into a reference. I'm not a morning person. I don't want to be anywhere at 330 in the morning. Here is 330 more breaking into restaurants risking his life. If the restaurant owner had been there at the police what showed up and it would've gone bad. In the altercation. So many things in the God didn't make one penny.

As I'm typing the Facebook message you note to let people know I just got shifted and was like you know what what would Jesus do in this moment, what would what would be his response to how this went down as I kept writing and typing it all the Facebook post. My heart just was the God and not decided that you look maybe we can be a mentor for this guy know it's of radical thought was a radical change and then, realize to while this is crazy that trying to be a little bit more helpful for somebody that's doing wrong in life is a radical change in direction. I had no clue that it was going to go viral. II was not trying to go viral with it. A lot of people long thought it was a trap and there was a company that did this is a trap, but my heart was in the right place and and if this guy was trying to put food on the on the table and he can't find a job for whatever reason I wanted to be there for that guy wanted to be the change in his life and again maybe a little bit from from the past of my life where you know some of my best days came out of my worst days. If this was the reason the that the guy had a different career path and we could mentor them only to be there for that person. The post ended up going viral pretty quickly on the local level and in the two local stations reached out and did new stories that Saturday and both reporter said this is a really really viral and and I laugh and think so and then the next morning Easter Sunday. I got a phone call from the UK national news and someone who made a meme on Reddit, Mima got up, voted on Reddit and then picked up by the new station and I was a national wire for the UK and then by the afternoon. CNN and called the today show. It called and we just were fielding phone calls from all over the world, Australia, and even was picked up on the Saudi Arabian news.

Unfortunately, the story doesn't have a happy ending.

We were tipped off to who the individual was from a friend of that individual who saw it on the national news knew that this Scott. This was his deal. He's been doing this for a long time in life and we believe that he was picked up in South Georgia for the same crimes. About a month ago. We don't know that for certain, but all the parameters of it. He was this individual was in a gusto that weekend that it happened but looks like you will be serving time in South Georgia for the same offenses.

He was called but there was so much attention brought to the story on on a national level and we had so many people reach out my cell number is in the Facebook post. It's very very simple to reach me had people reach out from all over the place and just stories of note letting us know how we inspired them to do better in their own life and I guess the end of the day if if it made a change in someone's life than everything was worth it through four days after the incident. I had a phone call around 5 o'clock in, and luckily my family was actually around with me got a phone call in the individual was in tears lives in Millersville Georgia and said that he had spent a lot of of his life in jail incarcerated for crimes and and he was really broken up in speeches he was trying to talk and he said I just will let you know that if the guy that are robbed would've had your response. Aldo spent the last 15 years free versus the last 15 years incarcerated Mesa. By the time I woke up in life and realized that I was being about human. I had a lot of dues left to pay to society. He said you know nobody does what you're doing today really touch me. That was no problem almost touching phone calls from everybody that had reached out. He said every time that they would throw me in the jail.

I come back out with more anger to do more wrong and he said somebody would've showed me some compassion. It would've thought I could stop my cycle of what I've done in life. You know he said you if you're ever in Millersville Georgia. Here's where I work, combined same yet.

I want to hug you and shake your hand in and tell you what a great person you are that that meant that meant everything to me. You know you're really making a difference in making a change in someone's life and I've always tried to live a life of respect and understanding.

One of the things that until my employees. We never know what's going on in someone's life. We'll know if there just having their worst day, our job is as a restaurant owners to serve you and to be there in an be a small part of your day. But what we don't know is what's going on in someone else's life a cross that line, you know you could've gotten fired from your job and you walked out, grab your stuff and what about your job and it was the best job you're had three minutes later you're inside my restaurant you note in the best thing we can do is be there with a smile in an just try to make your experience great but on the other side that person just just had his bad his worst day ever.

He's going to be a little upset he's going to be edgy and sometimes a project that against us. And what I told my staff is there not projecting it to you about you, it's what's going on in their life to put them in that situation. At that moment.

We've had some cases, customer complaint resolution found out that the woman was visiting the hospital, which is across street from one store was visiting the hospital. Her mother was passing away and she was literally spending the last moment to rely for their mother and she's going to be edgy with the staff and so her situation and what happened had nothing to do with my staff. It had more to do with where mine was in my own personal life. I try to be mindful of what everybody's going through in life and not everybody's having a great day. Listening to Carl Wallace to one half of the story about how kindness and mercy may work in ways you don't even know and in ways that are in direct and mysterious and beautiful when we come back more of Carl Wallace, who runs Diablo Southwest Grill chain of restaurants part of his American dream.

On our American stores and we continue with our American stories we been listening to the co-owner of Diablo Southwest Grill in Georgia share the story when a man broke into their store to steal money instead of going to find the perpetrator to press charges against them on the pro Wallace decided to take a different approach made a post on Facebook offering Amana resume and a conversation across great surprise. The post went viral.

Let's go back to Carl and again I just kept coming back to can't believe that this is viral that a strange approach to someone that is done you wrong is is guarding so much attention across America really across the world. It was a simple act and I guess anybody that gets robbed is going to have the initial reaction of anger or frustration, or if I called you in the act. I would've killed you.

They didn't harm my family I wasn't threatened, none of my employees were at risk. Nobody was at risk, and they didn't steal any money. I think a little frustrated if some money was taken but it wasn't absolutely other than a couple hundred dollars for broken glass door that was completely replaced the crazy flip side of it is the outpouring of support from the community. Our sales have been all probably 10% in our local market since that happened we gain so many new customers that it's been unbelievable that honey people came in the first couple days I was doing a an interview in a local radio personality. Share best came by and she just came by to pay it forward and wanted just she walked up to the register and paid for person's mule just because she's like I want to pay it forward and she walked in just paid for a families meal. The she didn't even know she's like you inspired me to pay it forward and she came by the restaurant to bless somebody else just little incidences like that that happened so many times over the next couple days. There's absolutely unbelievable that you know how the community reached out and supported us back in a we we been paid for that door hundred times over. You just don't think that a small act of kindness is going to reach that much attention to some of the comments online work had one lady say I wish I could marry Carl in thought it was hilarious. My wife didn't find it quite as funny but office he said will you come with more problems than you come with music. She gets the problems and end up in the good as well. You know none of us are perfect people. I was more amused than my wife was amused about it. Yeah it's just like that one little instance of of kindness and this person thinks that everybody thinks that your perfect person and nobody is a perfect person you just try to live life the best you can and do the best for people in so many text messages from people all over the world again. My mind cell number was on the Facebook post that went viral all over the world, so he didn't take the half a second type my number and into the text overridden and just tell me what your thoughts were on what I did a course I got a few that set I was crazy, but that's okay. I'm I'm fine with that note, that's my decision to do what I want. We are all have the right to lead our life the way we think is right were all gonna be judged. But if you're going to judge me bad for doing right that's a problem for you. Not a problem for me. I got a few text of your your what's wrong in this country. People should be locked up and people should be should pay for their crimes and then I was always happy to respond back and say will. If we don't break that cycle for somebody and we keep doing this, who if we fixed whom we helped in life. I don't know how we changed into a society that decides to judge others for what they feel is correct. I went viral for my kids a kicker 14 made a field goal and we got a lot of land and so I put it in the front yard made it to talk about instead, the best thing you can do as a parent of support is support your child, even if it means putting a field goal in the front yard in that went kind of viral tick-tock which then ESPN picked it up and so then ESPN posted to their Instagram and it says you know father builds gophers kid Bob Loblaw and so we had 525,000 likes, but in 5000 some comments in the crazy thing is for thousand of the comments were negative. You know that's an unfair advantage. You know, why would somebody do that. Why would someone you know like my kid doesn't have that opportunity then get some work little tongue-in-cheek. Imagine having a field goal and a dad. So now is right on top of it when it landed on ESPN's Instagram and I'm reading the first 30 comments and I'm just floored that I'm getting I'm getting negative you know like watch what happens. He's going to compete you know dad spent all that money and the kids going to quit Mike Mike my kids appointment, playing sports and four years old, but not so market cares about. That's all that's mock that's my kids passion is not going to quit. All this money and he's not going to go anywhere like lease. Currently, the fifth-ranked kicker in the country right now. Like I don't you know I don't understand the hate, but this but the sad part of it was is that that's where were at in society that you try to do something great for your child and give him and help him chase his dreams and that little bit of money that I spent the put a field goal up is really helped his success, but I never realized that that would contribute to hate because you're trying to just do what's right for your child and support your child in word out a part of society that is that is looked down upon because somebody else doesn't have the opportunity that it's not right for you to have that opportunity. One of my favorite things is employer's to be able to mentor some of my employees when they when they asked for help in and asked for business advice and I enjoyed being there form. That's one of my I love my paycheck but I love being able to help employees on their whatever the career path may be in life and whatever advice and I'm able to help them with not been very successful in life, and I've been very fortunate to have worked very hard for its own to other companies along with Diablos and one of things I'm still in moan kid is 14 is that you don't have to be the smartest kid. But if you're the hardest working kid, you'll probably survive in life, you'll probably do very very well.

I've had over the years some teachers, you want me to come back and do mentoring in class and give my testimony, so to speak to the kids and what my testimony is not that great. It saw didn't do well in school.

I was over 51 remedial just about everything but I applied myself in life and I worked hard and always had a vision in a dream and if you have a vision in a dream and you're working towards the visions and dreams, you're generally going to make it Lotta kid sometimes just don't have a dream. They just are going through life. I was fortunate to always have a dream of what I wanted to achieve, and something with Diablos. I wanted to create a regional chain of restaurants in an OB anywhere from 50 stores 200 stores in my banker set and looked at me and he said that's just about an unachievable task out of Augusta, Georgia, and we did it and we started franchising. We thought we been very blessed but nobody supports us like our local community does so were were happy to give back during the cove.

It weeded up feeding some homeless people and just doing what we could in the community.

We fed some kids that were no longer getting school meals and so we did what we could to support our community back in the special thanks to a few members of our team. Madison Robbie in faith for the great work on that story and how often you hear stories about businessmen in the movies in the mainstream media that sound like that. The good guys a real good guy and we will bring you stories invoices like this from all over the country you been listening to Carl Wallace.

I love what he said when he said some of my best days came from my worst days. That's how the cooking started, and then having that vision. I love that he confessed that he wasn't a very good student cares so many kids struggle through high school, college, but they have passions and talents go beyond we love telling the stories we love getting the stories from you. Send them to our American stories.com the some of our favorites the stories. If you have a story in your town and entrepreneur. Some like this are a random act of kindness which is all he did. It was a random act and look at the response. The story of Carl Wallace on our American story.

This is our American stories and we love to tell stories about just about everything, particularly innovation and invention and no country history has stomach like we have of next the story of light, and in particular how Thomas Edison got to the point of its first public display of life to help tell the stories our own Monty Montgomery and the folks at the Thomas Edison center not far from where I grew up Thomas Edison story began in the Midwest where astoundingly only had 12 weeks of formal education Kathleen Carlucci and Russ Gero of the Thomas Edison center at Menlo Park with more.

His mother basically taught hand and he had a love of reading and science is his favorite subject that he had a huge interest in literature and just learning about everything the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and so many new things popping encouraged by his parents and listen. He made a lot of burns down the family barn reading chemical experiments where that curiosity came from but it was like a hunger that he had a feed at the age of 21 he would create his first four of the recording machine no one line to buy it worked, but they didn't want to have quick voting. I was told by the legislature that machine to make voting go quicker. They needed to filibuster, discuss issues and try to win the other side onto their side, so it was a commercial failure.

At that time, Edison had put all of his resources into this invention and he quit his job because he wanted to just be an inventor and sell one of his friends offered him a job with the golden stock indicator company a division of Western Union in New York City sellout. By the time Edison got the funds together to take a steamship from Boston to New York job positions were no longer open, but very shortly thereafter, Edison would save the day and broken stock ticker would be repaired by the president of the company William Morton for hire him took a special interest in Thomas really saw something in him and really developed a strong belief that this gentleman is young man could really do things and go places so he had the idea that if you work for me.

Creating improvements on my telegraph systems are my stock ticker systems and supply you with the money demand.

The space and Edison thought that was a great idea because it always been his dream and so he would partner with his good friend that had invited them to come to New York, Franklin Pope and together they would create what we know today as the universal stock ticker and Edison would be offered quite a bit of money for that patent. He help, and Edison decided to venture out on his own and that that's basically how he came to New Jersey where he would found one of his major bases of operation Menlo Park, Menlo Park was actually a failed housing development will be his most prolific at Menlo Park, creating over 400 original patents with a team of workers and he would dump this site.

The invention factory and so Menlo Park would be no the birthplace of R&D and Edison would become known as the wizard of Menlo Park when he creates. Here is a team approach to research. He is a very gifted chemist, but he can't do everything. So he hires Kenneth he hires engineers blacksmith is assessed and they work together. Edison would say this is what I want to do me as a team in the laboratory and then they went right To the respective buildings that what they had to do it would come back together to think of ideas they created ideas put them into motion and then improved on so more or less Edison has the original innovation campus the likes of which you see it Google today and one of the biggest tasks working with incandescent light, which was in its infancy and dominated by the arc lighting meta-arc light was so bright it was put in. I had read that was put in the blue in Paris and the artist were appalled because it washed the color away from their paintings and they weren't as nice as they should have been a work, but they are in daylight and Edison sees that and it's like you know it's silly to save it like a light bulb goes off in his head he said I think I can. You're out with the problem is with this in three days.

Well he comes back to his laboratory.

Of course it doesn't take in three days or three months it takes in my ear between 18 and 21 months to work on it. Edison would test over 6000 different filaments until finding the best working one and on January 27, 1880, Edison would patent his lightbulb which fundamentally change things for the world to think about when he grew up you had candles and kerosene lanterns, then life basically shut down.

It when the sun went down and he opens up this whole world for people was and is polluting forget the big cities where there was a lot of industry and things was a lot of smog and this was caused by the boilers in the coal burning steam engines Edison's short past that any sort of electric trains would be the future.

He just sort of electricity could improve everyone's life. It was also pleasing to look at it like candle power and actually having major glow time is measured in candlepower. Just like people measure partisan horsepower.

Still today, and it was really quite beautiful. You know, we count in a lot of our visitors here think candle like you turn on the electric lighting off the candle burning on your table like around circle can't see under the table very well with that. You can't see behind furniture with that if you have one lightbulb in a room. On like the light is everywhere. It's a beautiful glow, but before Edison patented in 1880 he needed investors to make sure it was commercially viable. So Edison would have to put on display for the world to see and on December 31, 1879 would do just that.

Menlo Park what he needed investors. You know he wanted to light like a square mile of you know right around the Wall Street area so he could get investors to build this this the Edison electric company. He wanted to show that this was the future put out invitations through the newspaper sent out letters and people came here for from all over the world for even a few years after the first demonstration backers financial backers actually want him to demonstration on 79 because sometimes it wasn't working. You know all the time and they didn't want to show something and then it didn't work. Always a inventor, their worst nightmare faith in the system and just light you know like one building. He many buildings and an entire street history and it really captures the imagination. It was beautiful. It was like Edison turn night into day and created such a fever of people wanting to see that the Pennsylvania Railroad had an extra run so people could drive by your comments. See Menlo Park and it was such an anomaly and it was spectacular.

The daylight is something we often don't think much about his just there and today it might seem strange to us that for two years. People would take a train to Menlo Park just to see the light but you have to remember Edison truly lived in each of invention and the change that happened in his life was astounding to everybody.

One of my docents actually rest here is mentioned many times that when Edison was a young boy in Michigan watching the Conestoga wagon moving out to open up the West and then later Ron will be very good friends with the Wright brothers man fly me breath of innovation and invention.

During that time. His unbelievable great work is always one month to month term on the special thanks to Kathleen Carlucci and Ruskin are the story of Thomas Edison. The story of the first public display of what