01:53
Do you smell what the rock is cooking?
01:58
I mean, if people don't know, yeah.
01:59
That's going to be the opening for the podcast.
02:16
What is up, everyone?
02:18
This is Hard Parking, brought to you
02:19
by Right Honored and Right Toyota out of Scottsdale, Arizona.
02:23
Coming up on today's show,
02:24
Orohei Akino of the Tormenting Tarmac podcast,
02:28
which is local here to me in Arizona and Phoenix area.
02:31
Actually, no, we're not competitors.
02:33
We're actually friends.
02:34
We both represent the car community
02:36
and uniquely get fun in entertaining,
02:39
engageable, different ways.
02:40
I was recently on his podcast, had a great time.
02:42
I'm going to link that in the description.
02:44
And after this quick word from our sponsor,
02:47
I had to do this like 10 times to start over,
02:49
but after this quick word from our sponsor,
02:51
Marcus Foundry, Orohei Akino.
02:57
So a quick story for you.
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03:46
Jorge Aquino, welcome to hard parking, man.
03:50
Dude, I'm so stoked to be here.
03:52
I'm glad you're here because we did,
03:54
I did your show a couple months ago, right?
03:56
So we're filming this on September 3rd
04:00
and I know that because September 4th is my anniversary.
04:03
Oh, really? Congratulations, bro, awesome.
04:06
The 21 years, 21 years that woman, that Puerto Rican.
04:10
And we're here, bro.
04:11
Downstairs, let's go.
04:14
So let's kind of go into the people, the viewers of this,
04:19
hopefully they're gonna be people
04:20
that are used to listening to Torming Tarmac,
04:24
but we know they're gonna be people
04:25
that are used to listening to hard parking.
04:27
And at least one of the things that I said
04:30
about when I was on your show
04:32
is when I'm on somebody else's show,
04:34
that's when people really get to know who I am.
04:36
When I listen to your show, I know you love cars.
04:39
Like you love cars.
04:40
You love giving shout-outs.
04:43
I do look, I do look.
04:45
Well, you know what, people put me on.
04:46
So I might as well,
04:47
I always gotta give the love back, absolutely.
04:50
But I wanna know a lot about you.
04:52
So we've discovered in our pre-talk,
04:54
you're Puerto Rican, which is pretty cool.
04:57
What can you share with us about that?
05:00
I mean, I was born in Puerto Rico, 1989.
05:07
Sorry, amen, it's all right.
05:07
Yeah, no, no, I'm coming to terms with it.
05:10
Well, here's the deal.
05:11
I believe I'll get with a participation trophy.
05:14
Ah, all right, fair enough, fair enough.
05:17
But like, you know, I came over to Arizona
05:22
when I was about three years old.
05:23
I grew up in Tucson, actually.
05:26
And Tucson's still home to this day.
05:29
It's so funny because it's, I love Phoenix
05:30
and I've been in Phoenix now since 2018,
05:33
but Tucson and Phoenix,
05:34
even though they're 90 miles apart,
05:37
they are so different in a variety of different ways,
05:40
not just the landscape, but just the flow of everything.
05:44
Like when I came to Phoenix,
05:45
I was like, man, it's a lot quicker here
05:47
and everything like this.
05:48
It's a full on big city.
05:49
And Tucson's grown a ton over the last 30 years,
05:52
but I still feel like it's got this hominess to it.
05:56
It kind of makes itself be like this small town
05:59
when I'm like, you can't really be a small town
06:01
when you got 500,000 people.
06:02
But I, cool, Tucson, I see you regardless.
06:05
But I grew up there.
06:07
I came over when I was three because my dad,
06:10
shout out to my dad.
06:12
He got, there you go.
06:13
I do shout out to people all the time.
06:15
It's all good, man.
06:15
Shout out to my dad.
06:16
May he rest in peace.
06:17
Like, you know, I love him
06:20
and he was just an amazing individual.
06:24
You know, I wouldn't be the man that I am
06:26
without him in any way, shape, or form,
06:28
even though I lost him when I was relatively young.
06:30
But like, you know, I still,
06:32
there are times that I go ahead and tell myself,
06:33
okay, what would my,
06:35
how would my dad go about things in one?
06:37
I have those conversations in my head all the time.
06:40
That's a good thing.
06:41
And you know, I miss him every day.
06:43
And I'm just really, really blessed
06:44
that I got to spend some time with him and everything.
06:47
But he went to go to U of A and Tucson for his PhD.
06:52
And so him and my mom were already married, obviously.
06:54
And so I went ahead and came along
06:56
and everything like that.
06:57
So that's kind of how that started.
06:59
My sister and I were both five years apart.
07:02
So my sister was born here in Tucson,
07:04
but we both had the opportunity
07:05
to go ahead and live in Puerto Rico multiple times,
07:07
which was honestly one of my favorite things
07:09
is when you come over to the States,
07:13
it's not very often you get a chance to go live back
07:15
unless you're an adult.
07:16
And I got the opportunity to go ahead and live there
07:19
as a kid and as a teenager on two different occasions
07:23
before coming back one more time.
07:24
And I've basically been here really since I was 13.
07:27
So what, what took you back twice
07:30
before the age of 13?
07:32
The first time was once my father finished up
07:35
his PhD at the U of A.
07:37
We went back myself, my mom, my sister and my dad
07:42
and he got a job there at the University of Puerto Rico
07:45
He was into animal sciences and everything like that.
07:48
And so yeah, he worked there for a while
07:52
and then in 98 he unfortunately passed.
07:56
And so for those like first few months after he passed,
08:00
you know, my mom really was trying to go ahead
08:02
and figure out what she wanted to go ahead and do.
08:04
And so in about late 98, she went ahead and decided,
08:08
you know what, I kind of want to restart over.
08:11
I think it's best for me and the kids, me and my sister,
08:16
Tucson was a place that we really called home.
08:18
It was a place that we really enjoyed ourself
08:19
for those few years while my dad was in school.
08:21
And so it was a decision that to this day
08:25
I always commend her for
08:27
because we could have stayed in PR
08:28
and everything like that and it would have been great.
08:30
But you know, I grew to do so many things here
08:35
and everything like that.
08:36
A lot more opportunity on the mainland.
08:37
A lot more opportunity, 100% and everything.
08:40
So I came back when I was in, what would have been,
08:43
third grade, yeah, third grade.
08:47
That was the first time.
08:47
That was the first time I came back, correct?
08:49
And then I was here up until sixth grade.
08:52
So you're a 13 year old first grade.
08:54
Yeah, you matured now, but yeah.
08:57
Imagine, no, but the second time we went back was
08:59
because my grandmother, my mom's mom was diagnosed
09:04
with breast cancer for the first time.
09:05
So my mom wanted to go ahead and be close to her,
09:07
be with her and everything.
09:08
So in 2002, after my sixth grade, my year of sixth grade,
09:14
we went back to Puerto Rico for a year.
09:15
So I went to school in Puerto Rico over there
09:16
in private school and everything.
09:19
What was that like?
09:20
Man, that was a trip because like, it's weird.
09:25
You ever seen the movie Selena?
09:27
I actually haven't.
09:28
No, okay, for anybody who hasn't,
09:29
you need to watch it.
09:30
That's JLo's breakout role and everything like that.
09:34
There's a scene with her and Edward James Olmos
09:37
where he's talking about the fact that for the Mexicans,
09:41
you can never be, you're never Mexican enough,
09:44
but then for the white people,
09:45
you can never be American enough.
09:47
It's kind of the same thing then.
09:49
I go to Puerto Rico and they're like,
09:52
man, you're Americanized and stuff like that.
09:54
I'm like, what the fuck does that mean?
09:55
Americanized, right?
09:57
And then when I'm here, they're like,
09:59
well, you know, you're brown.
10:00
I'm like, what is dumb, brown?
10:02
But you know what I mean?
10:03
So it's like, it's always this balance of like,
10:07
Oh dude, don't even get me started.
10:08
I love my Mexican people as much as anybody,
10:11
but back when I was growing up in high school,
10:13
people always said, oh, you're Mexican.
10:15
I'm like, no, man, I'm Puerto Rican actually.
10:17
It's like, oh, it's the same thing.
10:20
And I used to get offended back then,
10:23
but as I grew older-
10:24
It's a Puerto Rican thing.
10:25
It is a Puerto Rican.
10:26
It's a prideful thing to do.
10:26
Let me tell you something, man.
10:27
Puerto Ricans out there,
10:28
y'all know who we're listening to right now.
10:30
We are the most prideful people walking God's green earth.
10:34
Only us and Dominicans and Cubans
10:36
can be walking around anywhere
10:38
and just be wanting to carry our flags
10:40
and then be okay with it like normal and stuff like that.
10:42
Even though we're these like tiny small islands
10:46
It's hilarious, but you know what?
10:49
But back then it bothered me.
10:51
Now as I've grown up,
10:53
I'm such a fan of being Latino,
10:55
not just Puerto Rican.
10:57
Like I'm, I try to rep all my Latino people.
11:03
Like my wife is Mexican,
11:04
my sons have the beautifulness of being
11:07
half Puerto Rican, half Mexican and American.
11:09
You know, and Puerto Ricans are Americans.
11:12
Obviously we're U.S. citizens, but you get my point.
11:15
Yeah, there's a lot of people that don't realize that.
11:16
That's for anybody out there.
11:18
Anybody who wants to know Puerto Rico.
11:22
It's the commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
11:24
We are all U.S. citizens
11:26
and we use the currency of the United States dollar.
11:30
For anybody who wanted to know.
11:32
But so I'm very proud of that.
11:34
But back when I was 14 in high school,
11:35
I was like, man, it would bother the shit out of me, Jay.
11:39
But so anyways, when I was 13, going back to PR,
11:44
like it was really, it was tough.
11:46
And I spoke Spanish very well.
11:49
Still speak it to this day.
11:50
I'm bilingual and everything like that.
11:52
And I still have my Puerto Rican accent
11:53
when you talk to me in Spanish.
11:55
It slips out, right?
11:55
It slips out all the time.
11:57
But people would be like, you know,
12:00
there were some words that they would go ahead and say
12:02
that I had to go ahead and ask my cousin.
12:03
I was like, what does this mean?
12:05
I had to relearn the linguo and everything.
12:09
But what I've learned is there's some shared words
12:12
but not shared definition to it.
12:15
And they can be complete opposite.
12:17
Like my mother-in-law who's Mexican,
12:20
she grew up, originally her career,
12:24
she was a teacher and everything like that.
12:27
And so she in Spanish,
12:30
learned la real lengua española,
12:39
She's Mexican, but like that's what she,
12:41
in order to teach it.
12:42
And so sometimes to this day,
12:44
like I'll go ahead and say some words
12:45
and she'll correct me.
12:46
And I'm like, you know what?
12:47
Mother-in-law who my love and adore
12:49
and I appreciate, stop it.
12:51
I'm a 35 year old grown man.
12:53
And then she'll be like, well, speak like one.
12:55
I'm like, that, oh my God.
12:57
All right, whatever.
12:57
So I have to go ahead and take some time
13:00
and I'll come back and then I'll give her a hug
13:01
until I love her and then move on with my life.
13:03
But yeah, she'll still correct me to this day.
13:05
My mother corrects me on things to this day,
13:07
which doesn't really come as a surprise.
13:09
So I love both my mother-in-law
13:12
and my mother very, very much.
13:14
But yeah, so I spent a year in Puerto Rico
13:17
and then came back from my eighth grade year
13:20
back to Tucson, back to my same middle school.
13:22
So I got a chance to go ahead and see all my friends again.
13:25
They were like, where were you for the last year?
13:26
I was like, I was in PR and what not.
13:28
And thankfully my grandmother was able to go ahead
13:31
and beat cancer the first time, which was great.
13:33
And speak, my grandparents have all passed
13:38
and everything like that, it's life and whatnot.
13:41
But the cool thing was that my grandmother,
13:44
my mom's mom, I'll never,
13:47
this is a story I like to tell
13:48
because she got breast cancer again the second time.
13:51
And I wasn't sure she'd be able
13:53
to go ahead and make it to my wedding.
13:55
And then my sister happened to have graduated high school
13:58
two and a half weeks before my wedding.
14:01
So 2013 May to June was like real tough on my mom, bro.
14:05
Her oldest son is getting married.
14:07
Her youngest daughter is graduating high school.
14:09
She was not well, but she was very happy
14:13
and very overwhelmed at the same time.
14:15
But my grandmother flew from Puerto Rico here
14:18
with my aunt and actually made it
14:20
to both my sister's graduation, stayed for my wedding.
14:25
Got a chance to go ahead and meet my wife,
14:26
which to this day is beautiful and everything like that.
14:29
And then as her cancer progressed,
14:31
she passed away a couple of years later in 2015.
14:34
But I still, that's a core memory of mine
14:36
because she was actually able to go ahead and come
14:38
and see me get married and see my sister
14:41
graduate high school and get ready for college.
14:44
And so that's a cool, beautiful memory.
14:48
And I'm always grateful that I had that time
14:50
with her and everything.
14:52
Have you been back since?
14:53
I haven't been back since 2010, which is way too long.
15:00
I can tell you the infrastructure still sucks.
15:03
Everything about it sucks.
15:05
The water is beautiful.
15:06
Yeah, I mean, the island itself is beautiful.
15:08
For anybody, I say that it sucks,
15:09
but I always plead with people,
15:12
if you have the opportunity to go to PR,
15:14
if you have the opportunity to go anywhere in the Caribbean,
15:18
Cause it's such a beautiful part of the world.
15:21
People always talk about like, oh, I'm gonna go to Hawaii.
15:23
It's like, Hawaii is cool.
15:27
Trust me, it's nice.
15:28
Yeah, but like the same time, Puerto Rico.
15:31
Puerto Rico is nice.
15:31
Puerto Rico is nicer.
15:34
The Dominican Republic is beautiful.
15:37
You know, Cuba's right there.
15:38
Shout out to my Haitian people.
15:39
Shout out to the Jamaicans.
15:40
Like all that, like the U.S. Virgin Islands,
15:43
everything, the Bermuda Triangle
15:45
is a beautiful part of the world
15:47
that needs to go ahead and be appreciated a little bit more.
15:49
And if you have the opportunity to go as a tourist,
15:53
please go because it actually helps my island
15:56
continue to remain relevant.
15:58
And the tourism helps in a time where, you know,
16:02
the hurricanes just keep getting stronger down there.
16:04
Natural disasters aren't the greatest.
16:06
The government sucks.
16:08
The government in Puerto Rico sucks.
16:13
We've talked about buying a house there
16:16
because we went a couple of years ago.
16:17
So once you go somewhere, you're like,
16:18
hey, should we buy a house?
16:20
We never got past maybe 15, 20% seriousness,
16:24
if even that, but we still kind of think about,
16:26
man, that'd be nice.
16:27
We're actually may go like spring
16:29
to take my mother-in-law there
16:30
to see her, one of her sisters.
16:32
Because she's ill, but yeah, I can't wait to go back
16:34
because that water is so nice.
16:36
And the people are so nice.
16:38
You know, the people of Puerto Rico,
16:41
they are some of the most hospitable human beings
16:44
walking God's green earth.
16:45
And I'm not just saying that, like,
16:47
you'll ask for directions.
16:48
I'm sure you've asked for directions
16:50
or your wife has asked for directions for something.
16:53
Yeah, I have no problem asking for directions.
16:54
Homie, the way that they go ahead and give you the directions.
16:55
Time is money, dude.
16:57
I'm not gonna, no, I got this.
17:00
No, but the way that they give the directions is like,
17:03
the full on essay presentation,
17:05
the way that they go ahead and try
17:06
and explain directions to you, like,
17:07
if you get lost in PR after those directions,
17:10
like, you shouldn't be driving.
17:12
You know what I'm saying?
17:12
Because like, they're so good
17:13
and they want to help you and everything like that.
17:18
And people may be talking or saying out loud about,
17:21
well, now there's ways and there's stuff like that.
17:23
I'm here to tell you, being there a couple of years ago,
17:26
the map system is kinda screwy.
17:27
I don't know if this goes for close to the equator.
17:29
I don't know what, but it's,
17:30
you'll be on a road and it'll tell you to exit.
17:32
And you're like, I'm pretty sure
17:33
we're supposed to go straight.
17:35
You'll exit, go through a parking lot
17:37
and go right back on the same road.
17:38
That happened to us half a dozen times
17:40
That's just the roads, but then I'll-
17:41
That's just the roads.
17:42
Then you'll also figure out the fact that like-
17:44
You're trying to find a house like an Airbnb?
17:47
Staying here impossible.
17:49
I haven't done an Airbnb,
17:51
but I can only imagine how you live there.
17:53
Like, and you know, and then you have like the,
17:56
the cool thing about Puerto Rico on top of the fact
17:58
that it's amazing is for such a small island,
18:01
the different geography that surrounds this
18:04
three million to four million inhabitant person,
18:07
the island, like you've got the,
18:10
you've got your typical beaches and stuff like that.
18:12
But then you go to the center of the island
18:15
and it's like mountains, you know?
18:17
My mom's, my mom and dad, yeah.
18:19
My dad built a house back in 1988,
18:23
which my mom still owns to this day.
18:25
And she's been trying to go ahead and sell for a long time,
18:27
but like it's right there in this little town.
18:29
Actually, I say this little town,
18:30
geography wise, I think it's one of the biggest towns
18:32
in all of Puerto Rico,
18:33
but it's not that really inhabited.
18:36
It's called Utoado and it's right there
18:37
in the middle of the island, very mountainous.
18:41
But then you go to like the northeast,
18:42
just south of San Juan and south of the metro area
18:45
and you go to El Junque, right?
18:46
Which is this beautiful rainforest that we have there,
18:49
world renowned and everything like that.
18:51
You're like, hold on, man.
18:52
So I went from this mountains
18:53
and then you've got all this like island type vibes
18:57
and stuff like that.
18:58
And you got a rainforest in the middle of like
18:59
this small island, like that's kind of crazy.
19:02
And then you get to like Ponce on the south end,
19:04
everything is super dry, but still a beach.
19:07
So it's like for something so small,
19:09
the fact that the geography is that wide,
19:12
it's kind of amazing.
19:14
And you get that various different places in the Caribbean,
19:18
which is super cool.
19:19
But yeah, I speak of Puerto Rico so glowingly
19:24
because it's a part of me, so.
19:27
So when I was on your podcast,
19:28
we talked about sports and I'm a big football guy,
19:32
you're a big baseball guy.
19:33
Where does your love of baseball come from?
19:36
Yeah, being Puerto Rican basically.
19:38
No, no, no, but honestly, you know,
19:40
I played Little League, I wasn't very good at it at all.
19:43
My biggest sports memory of me was I took a pitch
19:48
to the shoulder once in Little League,
19:50
you know what I'm saying?
19:53
Yeah, and I was like, even in Little League,
19:56
you got hit with a pitch, it's still gonna hurt.
19:58
It hit me right here on my right shoulder,
20:00
And so my mom was like, she was worried.
20:03
I'm like, ma, I'm okay.
20:05
Just got hit in the shoulder with a baseball.
20:07
No, thankfully not because what happened next
20:09
was the only cool sports memory
20:11
that I could really vouch for for myself
20:13
other than two other instances playing basketball.
20:16
But I make it to first base
20:18
and all of a sudden the pitcher throws a wild pitch
20:21
so I'm able to go ahead and steal a second.
20:22
And then as I'm on my way to second,
20:24
the catcher throws it wild
20:27
past the second baseman in the shortstop.
20:29
So I go ahead and I slide all the way to third, bro.
20:32
And all of a sudden batter hits it, pow.
20:35
And I run all the way home,
20:37
some greatest sports memory of my life, bro.
20:39
I remember it to this day, it's the only time,
20:41
never got a hit, struck out too much.
20:43
Pretty sure I remember a catcher hit me in the head
20:46
while I was wearing my helmet, everything.
20:48
That's the one core memory that I remember.
20:49
I was like, I did something cool, but I love baseball.
20:54
It's, I love the sport, you know,
20:55
I'm a big fan of both the Diamondbacks and the Yankees.
20:58
I grew up a Yankee fan.
20:59
And then when I moved.
21:00
Well, you have to grow up a Yankee fan.
21:02
You're exactly, shout out to my New Year's Recon people.
21:05
So I grew up a Yankees fan, but then I, you know,
21:08
I love Arizona so much.
21:10
And I've loved the Diamondbacks
21:11
since they became a team here.
21:13
So I love them both.
21:16
And I just love following the sport as best as I can.
21:20
Every year the playoffs are on.
21:21
If the Diamondbacks don't make it,
21:22
I'm still watching the playoffs.
21:24
The Yankees are out in the first round,
21:25
which has happened way too many times.
21:27
I'm watching it last year.
21:29
I was watching the World Series
21:30
the best of my abilities.
21:31
When Freddie Freeman hit that walk-off in game one J,
21:35
I didn't want to talk to anybody for like several days.
21:38
And when we lost game five after being up,
21:41
I think five, nothing.
21:44
My friend Ross happens to be a Dodgers fan.
21:47
And so I told, we had talked earlier and said,
21:52
hey man, when I lose, we're cool.
21:55
Let's now rub it in each other's faces though.
21:57
Let's be respectful.
21:59
Let's just give each other some space.
22:01
I'm happy for you if you win.
22:03
You'll be happy for me if I win.
22:06
I'm like, all right, cool.
22:08
I tried to go ahead and keep my composure,
22:10
but you know, and I did it for the most part.
22:12
And he called me within 20 minutes after the game five ended.
22:16
And I picked up and was like, listen Ross,
22:19
I'm not, I don't want to do this right now.
22:21
And then he proceeded to rub it in my face.
22:23
And I was like, okay, go fuck off.
22:26
So I've heard, I've heard,
22:28
and maybe Yankee fan takes this,
22:30
but it seems like Dodger fan
22:34
might be more insufferable than like Dallas Cowboys fan.
22:39
So Dodger fan at baseball.
22:42
Is it Yankee or Dodger?
22:44
That's a good question.
22:45
Because I remember where I was last year
22:49
because I don't think anyone realistically expected
22:52
what happened in the World Series.
22:53
It happened the way it happened.
22:54
I thought I genuinely thought it would go
22:56
at least six games.
22:57
I knew one of them would have the capability
22:59
of beating the other.
23:00
I didn't think that the Yankees would lose in five though.
23:03
Yeah, we were in Dallas watching game one at an outdoor,
23:06
kind of like a half bar thing in S expo.
23:08
And I remember sitting there
23:10
because certain members of the club wanted to watch the game.
23:13
So we walked across the street and watched the game.
23:15
You know, it's one of those weird things
23:17
that's your memory gets triggered by sports
23:19
or sports triggers your memories.
23:21
Dude, they're both insufferable in their own ways.
23:24
I think as a Yankee fan,
23:25
I honestly think that it might be us.
23:28
Because like when they stripped the ball
23:31
out of Mookie Betts glove
23:34
in what would have been game four or game five last year.
23:36
I think it was pretty sure it was game four.
23:38
I was like, oh God, why are you such bitches?
23:42
Like I was at that moment,
23:43
I was so ashamed of my fan base.
23:46
Cause I was like, what are you doing, man?
23:47
Like it was, he clearly caught the ball.
23:49
And here they are like stripping out of his hand.
23:51
I'm like, what are you doing?
23:52
It's not like we all saw it.
23:54
There's cameras all over this 56,000 seat stadium, you know?
23:59
And not only did they get kicked out,
24:01
but I'm pretty sure they got banned for a really long time.
24:04
Because of stuff like that, I think to myself,
24:06
yeah, we're pretty freaking unbearable to be quite honest.
24:09
But that shouldn't take away from the fact
24:10
that Dodger's fans can be very unbearable.
24:13
Who's the names on the tip of my tongue?
24:16
And you would know it maybe this has to do
24:18
with kind of the root of your love also for the game.
24:20
But there's a very, I honestly want something.
24:24
There's a very prominent Puerto Rican baseball player
24:28
The one for me is always Roberto Clemente.
24:31
That's it, Roberto Clemente.
24:32
He's got a huge mural in San Juan outside of a sports club.
24:36
He's to me, everybody talks about like who's the goat?
24:40
Like, you know, people mentioned Hank Aaron.
24:42
They mentioned the babe, obviously.
24:43
You know, Willie, you know.
24:48
Well, there's Juan Gonzalez too.
24:49
Well, but I know it's not Juan Gonzalez.
24:51
Juan is your typical Spanish name.
24:53
Roberto Clemente, to me, is my goat.
24:57
And to me, to this day, I never got a chance to see him play,
25:01
obviously, because he not only did he pass away,
25:03
but he also retired way before I was born.
25:07
But his impact, it even has,
25:11
it gives me this like small inkling of like,
25:14
I want the pirates to do well
25:15
because of his history and everything like that.
25:18
But his impact on the game goes on.
25:23
It's almost unmeasurable.
25:25
Every single Puerto Rican player that comes in the league
25:27
tries to emulate him in some way, shape, or form,
25:29
regardless of the position that they play,
25:31
which is kind of crazy considering that
25:34
there's nine different positions in baseball.
25:37
And he's, to me, every single time I see something about him,
25:41
also the impact that he just had on Major League Baseball,
25:44
not just on the country or Puerto Rico,
25:45
but just on the game itself.
25:47
Like the fact that he's still so well-honored
25:49
to this day by Major League Baseball,
25:52
like you can't beat that, bro.
25:54
He's so incredible.
25:55
As I hear you talk about these details,
25:57
were you just like a super whiz in school?
26:01
Cause one thing I've noticed about you
26:03
is you have an amazing memory for the fine details.
26:06
You remember everyone's name
26:09
and you know all these details about all these super cars,
26:14
old school exotics, new exotics.
26:16
Where does that come from?
26:17
I mean, that's gotta be some sort of a hard coding
26:21
I think it has to do with me
26:22
just being passionate about certain things, Jay.
26:24
I think that's really what it is.
26:26
Because I wouldn't consider myself a whiz
26:29
in any way, shape, or form.
26:32
I did well in school for a particular time,
26:36
but then as you get older,
26:38
you start to get a little bit lazier
26:39
in some things that you don't like.
26:40
But that's you, not your mind.
26:42
That's correct, yeah.
26:43
And I appreciate it.
26:44
That's actually a very kind compliment and thank you.
26:49
I think it's the passion that I have for certain things
26:53
that makes me just give, that makes me care.
26:56
So you mentioned that I remember people
26:58
in particular and whatnot,
26:59
well one of my, I just love meeting people.
27:01
I love getting the opportunity to do it.
27:06
I think most people can't remember anyone's name.
27:08
You know their face, but you're just like name.
27:10
I do my best to try and remember them.
27:12
I really do because,
27:14
especially if you make a really good impression on me,
27:15
but simultaneously, I don't know.
27:20
I just like talking to people.
27:21
So because of that, if I find you interesting
27:24
and I hope that doesn't come across disrespectfully,
27:26
but if I find you, but if I find you interesting,
27:28
I'm definitely gonna remember you.
27:29
You made an enormous impression on me
27:31
and I'm going to remember that, right?
27:33
Same thing with cars and same thing with sports
27:35
and same thing with anything else.
27:36
Like if I find a great passion in it,
27:39
it just kind of gets instilled in me
27:41
and I want to either learn more about it
27:43
or because it got so instilled in me,
27:45
it's kind of hard to forget.
27:47
Like I remember, you know, you mentioned cars.
27:50
So like if anybody knows me,
27:52
everybody knows that two of my favorite cars of all time
27:54
happen to be a Lamborghini Merci and a McLaren SLR.
27:58
And so I remember seeing those two cars
28:00
in a variety of different magazines
28:01
and I remember seeing the numbers for that car
28:04
and both those cars and like,
28:06
because they still to this day,
28:09
hold this like craziness inside my brain,
28:12
I will never forget what they represented back then
28:16
and the numbers that they had.
28:17
And then just, I don't know, man,
28:19
like I think also the influence,
28:23
when you're a car enthusiast,
28:24
you have your particular influences and stuff like that.
28:28
some people you watch for the passion,
28:30
some people you watch for the numbers.
28:31
And like, I don't know,
28:33
I think I've taken a variety of different things
28:35
and made it into my own coding, as you said.
28:39
So why the SLR and the Mercia Lago
28:41
because they're two completely different visual.
28:45
Makes, I mean, they're both exotics.
28:49
They're both, I would say the SLR is a little more
28:51
unattainable than a Mercia Lago.
28:54
You can buy one if you got the money
28:56
and there's always some out there.
28:57
We have half a dozen here in the area.
28:59
Why those two cars?
29:00
First of all, fuck my new coach pin.
29:04
My man, that that homeboy bought like nine of them.
29:06
It's like, now all of a sudden they're like
29:09
I'm like, my guy, what are you doing?
29:11
He's controlling the market.
29:12
God, man, it's really, it's really frustrating.
29:16
Not that I have 500 grand lying around,
29:18
but you can get the point.
29:21
Well, the Mercia, the Mercia is pretty easy
29:23
because I think that even if you're not a Lambo fan,
29:26
everybody loves a Lambo of some sort.
29:29
So for example, like, you know, you being a Gen Xer,
29:32
you probably are more of a Kuntascha.
29:34
Not saying that you are,
29:35
but like more than likely you're probably a Kuntascha.
29:37
Yeah, that was, that is a poster car.
29:41
Most people around my age.
29:42
Us millennials, and even like early Gen Xers,
29:46
we had the opportunity and the privilege
29:51
of having two poster cars.
29:53
Well, it's funny because you had wallpaper cars.
29:55
Yes, true, but like we had both Diablo and Mercia.
30:00
And I love those both almost equally and everything.
30:03
And so, but I always went a little bit more
30:08
towards the Mercia, but just a smidge.
30:10
And even then sometimes it kind of flipped
30:11
between them, but mostly the Mercia.
30:13
And so, you know, the shape of it,
30:16
obviously Lambo doors, you know, this insane V12
30:19
that revs to like 7,500 at the time.
30:22
Or if you get an LP640, it revs to like 82 or whatever it is.
30:26
And it's any car that spits flames
30:28
is better than a car that doesn't spit flames.
30:29
I think we all know that, right?
30:31
As long as it's supposed to.
30:33
Yeah, shout out to any Koenigsegg owners
30:35
who's got the weapon flames
30:36
when they're not supposed to.
30:38
But so that was, that's the reason
30:41
why I fell in love with the Mercia.
30:42
Sound of it, just the coolness of it.
30:44
The Busta Rhymes video really helped out for sure.
30:47
You know what I mean?
30:49
And then with the SLR, that happens to just be,
30:52
to me, one of the great,
30:53
one of the best looking grand Tory cars we've ever seen.
30:58
I'm a sucker for any, for a lot of SLs.
31:01
I love Mercedes and shout out to AMG Josh.
31:04
Obviously he's like our,
31:05
he's kind of like our Mercedes connoisseur here
31:07
in the Phoenix area.
31:08
Shout out to him in the house of Euro.
31:10
But so like with the Mercedes SLR,
31:13
like when I first saw that,
31:15
I think I saw it on the cover of Dupont Registry.
31:17
Like, man, I was like, you know,
31:19
that's a hot car right there, man.
31:22
And so that, like that car,
31:24
the only thing wrong with it
31:25
is I don't like that five-speed automatic,
31:27
but like who, at the end of the day,
31:30
I feel like I've gotten to a point in my life
31:32
that I don't care anymore.
31:34
And you can look at it all day.
31:36
And then like, you know, like you,
31:39
we grew up watching Top Gear, right?
31:40
So they always talked about like, you know,
31:42
taking a blast from like London to like Monaco
31:45
or something like that.
31:46
What car would you like to take?
31:47
Why wouldn't I want to take a freaking SLR?
31:52
Cause it's awesome.
31:53
And not to mention you can fit stuff in the trunk.
31:56
My wife is fine as hell.
31:57
She'd be riding Chaco in me out.
31:58
I'd be living my best life, bro.
32:00
And so that's, I think that's what it is
32:03
about the SLR that does it for me.
32:05
And then this, it has this particular snarl
32:09
that none of the regular V8 Mercedes have
32:15
and none of the V12 SL like 60s or SL 600s
32:18
or 65s or anything like that have.
32:20
It's just, it's really guttural almost.
32:24
And like, man, that's a cool noise that it makes.
32:26
And it makes my heart flutter quite a bit.
32:29
So the passion is like bleeding.
32:31
It's like leaking out of you.
32:33
You know, like they say when people are sweating,
32:35
they're leaking awesome if they're a cool person.
32:38
So like the passion is leaking out of you right now.
32:41
Tell people your Nissan story.
32:43
Because people familiar with their podcasts
32:47
Wow, people familiar with mine don't.
32:49
Because you're talking about these super high end
32:52
badass exotics, by the way,
32:54
but grounded wise, we all have our normal dream cars
32:58
or normal daily cars.
32:59
So things we've always wanted when we're a little kid
33:01
that maybe it's our first car or whatnot.
33:03
Tell us about your Nissan journey.
33:05
And for anybody who wants to know,
33:06
I did pull up in a Kia Sorento this evening,
33:09
which is, that's, you know, dad life.
33:12
Like that's the car I got to pull up in these days.
33:14
It could have been a Chrysler Pacifica.
33:17
It could have been a Kia Carnival.
33:20
By the way, for anybody out there
33:21
that Chrysler Pacifica with like the Hellcat treatment
33:24
that might be coming or like,
33:25
I think it's like stance or not stance.
33:27
What are we talking about?
33:28
I know what you're talking about.
33:30
I'm like, yo, if Chrysler makes that,
33:31
if SRT builds that, thank God, I'm in.
33:35
That's the best rental car.
33:37
The best rental car for me with a lot of people
33:39
is the Chrysler Pacifica.
33:41
I'm just throwing it out there, but.
33:43
It's got so much room and they're quick
33:45
with the penistars.
33:46
Yeah, they're great.
33:47
But for me, the Z32 300ZX is one of the best-looking
33:54
sports cars of all time.
33:56
Doesn't hurt that it's got Lamborghini Diablo headlights
33:59
as everybody knows,
34:00
but that wasn't the reason why I even fell in love
34:04
I found that fact out afterwards.
34:07
I was going to Pima Community College back in 2008, 2009,
34:13
and my first car, my mom bought me as a graduation
34:16
if she bought me a 1990 Honda Accord.
34:20
You're an accurate guy.
34:23
And so I had that car for like 40,000 miles
34:25
or something like that.
34:28
It never steered me wrong.
34:31
It didn't have AC and instead,
34:34
because instead of me fixing the AC,
34:36
I put two 10-inch subwoofers as one should
34:38
in the year of 2008.
34:40
As an 18-year-old, that's what I did.
34:41
And so I owned that car for a year.
34:43
And so I mentioned that I was at Pima
34:45
because one day this person is like rolling around
34:49
in like a 08 or 09 Altima S-E-R,
34:53
which were really, really dope cars back then.
34:56
Not very common either.
34:58
S-E-R is definitely not.
35:00
Altima obviously is.
35:01
Altima is, and we all know
35:02
Altima drivers these days, right?
35:04
And I remember seeing that car.
35:06
I was like, oh man, that's so sick.
35:07
Because I had a like D-Tune 350Z motor
35:09
and everything like that was really dope.
35:12
And so at the time, I was like,
35:14
I'm gonna go to my local Nissan dealership
35:16
or just throw a Nissan down in Tucson
35:17
and I'm gonna go ahead and look at one.
35:19
No, full and well, I cannot afford this car
35:22
because that would have been like a $27,000, $28,000 car
35:25
Probably been like a high $40,000 car these days, right?
35:28
A few and just for inflation.
35:29
So I'd go and they didn't have one on the lot
35:32
and I was like, whatever.
35:33
But for whatever reason, they took me to the used lot
35:37
and I find this like dark green 300ZX
35:41
and I was like, hey yo, what in tarnations is this?
35:46
You know, like I knew of 300ZX's
35:49
but like seeing one in that particular color
35:52
it was like a tan interior.
35:54
It was not a twin turbo, it was an NA
35:55
and it was a four speed automatic.
35:57
At the time, I would have preferred,
36:00
I still prefer a twin turbo to this day.
36:02
I don't think anyone wants a four speed automatic.
36:05
I have one in the garage, so exciting.
36:06
But at the same time, I'm looking at this car
36:09
and I'm looking at the shape of a J
36:10
and I'm like, that's hot, man.
36:12
Like that is uber sick.
36:14
I wouldn't have cared, honestly, but in 2025.
36:19
Like I'm telling you right now,
36:21
so right hand drive 300ZX's are kind of popping.
36:24
Like they actually, you can buy them
36:25
at a really, really good price
36:27
but you get them at the four speed automatic
36:28
and then you realize, oh, that's why they're so inexpensive.
36:31
At the same time, you're like, I don't know,
36:33
it's kind of a good move to make,
36:35
but you know, to each their own.
36:38
But yes, absolutely, I couldn't agree with you more.
36:40
At the time, I didn't care.
36:42
Also had the T-tops, it was sick.
36:44
I was like, man, I need this car.
36:47
And so I go home and I tell my mom like,
36:49
ma, I found this really cool car.
36:52
I really want to buy it.
36:53
She's like, she laughed at me.
36:54
She's like, we're not, you're not buying that car.
36:57
You're 19, you're not buying this car.
36:59
I was like, I have, apparently sometimes
37:01
I can have very good persuasion tactics.
37:04
And this, for whatever reason, worked on my mother.
37:08
And so we come back a couple of days later,
37:11
it was still on the lot
37:13
and I think they were able to get it down
37:14
to like about seven grand.
37:16
So it was a 1994, had just to take
37:19
almost 100,000 miles on it.
37:21
And so this would have been 09,
37:22
so the car, 15 years old.
37:24
And I was able to, my mom cosigned for me on the loan for it.
37:29
And I bought this ZJ and I was like,
37:32
I should not be having this car right now,
37:38
You know, you know, had to pay insurance on it,
37:40
had to go ahead and make monthly payments on it.
37:42
I was a late a couple of times,
37:43
I never had my car repo, thank God.
37:45
Been there, done that.
37:46
You know what I mean?
37:47
No repo either, but still.
37:48
You know how it is, bro.
37:49
And dude, I owned it for three years.
37:52
And it was amazing.
37:55
I put 100,000 plus miles on that car
37:58
in three years of ownership.
37:59
Why'd you get rid of it?
38:00
I didn't get rid of it.
38:02
What happened was, yeah, I did not crash it.
38:05
I did not crash it.
38:07
So January 31st into February 1st
38:10
of the year of our Lord, 2013.
38:13
February 1st is my wife's birthday.
38:16
So shout out to my wife.
38:18
And so we were like about five.
38:21
We would have been four and a half months
38:23
from getting married.
38:24
And so I was working.
38:26
I was still living at my mom's
38:27
because we were looking for a house and everything.
38:29
And so I parked in my usual spot
38:31
at my mom's apartment complex.
38:33
Get out, you know, whatever.
38:36
I say goodnight to my fiance at the time
38:40
And all of a sudden like,
38:41
I don't know about,
38:42
it's called two o'clock in the morning.
38:43
My mom hears us like, boom.
38:46
She comes and wakes me up and she's like,
38:48
what? Hey, I heard this boom outside.
38:50
I was like, oh, cool.
38:51
And then I also realized that I forgot to call Natalie
38:54
to wish her a happy birthday at midnight.
38:56
So I tried calling her, but she was like,
38:58
Zong, she was gone.
38:59
And so I was like, whatever.
39:00
And then all of a sudden,
39:02
I go outside to go ahead and check.
39:03
And like, so in this apartment complex,
39:06
it's on the corner.
39:07
It's on the Southeast corner.
39:10
All of a sudden I see this like enormous gulf of fire, Jay.
39:14
I was like, yo, what's going on?
39:16
So I put on my jacket because it's kind of cold.
39:19
And I kind of start running,
39:20
walking over there just to kind of see what's going on.
39:23
Just curiosity, yeah.
39:23
And then I start to realize,
39:25
oh man, my car's parked really close to that.
39:27
I'm like, oh boy, I got to go check on my car
39:29
and make sure that it's okay.
39:34
The Gulf of Flame was coming
39:36
from two particular things.
39:37
I thought it was a trash can.
39:38
It wasn't, it was this 2013 Ram 1500
39:42
that went up in flames.
39:45
And my little Z was parked right next to it.
39:49
And the entire driver's side was Gonzo, bro.
39:54
So what happened was,
39:56
so anyways, we call 911, everything.
40:02
an individual that lived in the apartments,
40:05
her estranged ex-husband made some type of homemade bomb.
40:09
And they were going through a nasty divorce
40:12
and he lit her truck on fire.
40:14
And upon second explosion,
40:17
so literally they're parked right next to one another.
40:19
Upon second explosion, my car completely caught in,
40:22
like I completely caught in flames.
40:24
I saw the firefighters hacking at my hood, bro,
40:29
to try and put the car out so it didn't pop.
40:32
So it didn't blow up,
40:33
but the whole driver's side was gone.
40:36
I think I still have pictures of it.
40:37
I'll send it to you afterwards,
40:38
so you can go ahead and see.
40:39
I cried, I genuinely cried.
40:42
Yeah, it was brutal.
40:44
Shout out to that Z.
40:45
Yeah man, I love that car to this day.
40:49
I'd love to get another one.
40:50
What's he gonna say?
40:51
How come you haven't replaced it?
40:52
Oh, you know, life.
40:55
My wife and I got married a few months after that
40:58
and we bought a car.
41:00
We bought our first new car,
41:02
which was a 2014 Nissan Sentra.
41:04
Like after a few months after our wedding,
41:07
which was good to me.
41:12
we're thinking about starting a family
41:13
and everything like that.
41:14
So I ended up buying a 2014 Focus ST,
41:18
which I owned for about two years
41:19
and put about 50,000 miles.
41:21
So that was, you know,
41:22
another venture in to enthusiasm,
41:26
It was fine for what it was.
41:27
I had a love of hate relationship with it
41:30
because it was like,
41:31
when you were on the right roads,
41:33
But like as a commuter car,
41:34
boy does that thing suck, bro.
41:36
Like I had like an 11,
41:37
I felt like I had like the tiniest tank of all time
41:39
and you would fill it up and tell you
41:41
you have 300 miles on it
41:42
and then you'd get like 260
41:43
and then you had like nine miles before empty.
41:45
And I'm like, hey, yo, this is not 300 miles.
41:49
And it took premium on top of that.
41:50
I'm like, it's a four banger,
41:52
but you know, turbo,
41:53
what are you gonna do?
41:55
Let's talk about tormenting Tarmac.
41:57
That's your podcast.
41:59
I'm telling you like you don't know.
42:01
Enthusiast never die, baby.
42:02
Enthusiast never die.
42:04
I think I've said before,
42:07
the enthusiast never dies.
42:11
Why tormenting Tarmac?
42:12
Tell the viewers and listeners
42:14
your tormenting Tarmac story.
42:16
You know, TT has been a passion project
42:18
for even before it really actually started.
42:21
I used to do a wrestling podcast.
42:23
I'm a big professional wrestling fan
42:24
for anybody out there, you know.
42:27
Shout out to the travel chief, Roman Reigns.
42:28
Seen the rock lately.
42:31
I hope it's not always epic.
42:33
Well, they say it's for a role,
42:35
I don't want to speculate.
42:37
Well, he's got the smashing machine coming out.
42:40
He looks bigger in the smashing machine.
42:43
He might be maybe he's just slimming down
42:44
for a different role.
42:47
Hopefully everything's good for him.
42:51
He may have been juicing up
42:52
and maybe he's just laying off of it.
42:53
He's like, he's in his mid fifties now.
42:55
Maybe he's just laying off of it now.
42:56
Yeah, that's what a lot of people think.
42:58
and good on him if that's the case.
43:01
I've been a fan of the rock for like 25 years.
43:04
So is the other Puerto Rican downstairs?
43:05
Oh, no way, really?
43:06
Yeah, she loves that dude.
43:07
I don't know what it is, man,
43:08
but that's our guy.
43:09
He's our guy, you know.
43:10
You smell what the rock is cooking.
43:15
I mean, if people didn't know, yeah.
43:16
That's gonna be the opening for the podcast.
43:21
So I used to do this wrestling podcast,
43:22
but in the depths of my soul,
43:25
I always wanted to do a car podcast
43:27
and everything like that.
43:28
And I kept on asking my,
43:29
one of my very good friends,
43:31
he lives in Detroit.
43:32
He's an automotive engineer over at General Motors.
43:34
Shout out to Ron Morris.
43:36
I hope he listens to this one
43:37
because that's one of,
43:37
he's one of my best friends.
43:39
We went to high school together.
43:40
And he's, you owe me.
43:41
You co-founded the podcast, man.
43:44
And so I always wanted to do the show with him.
43:47
And he never wanted to,
43:49
he did, but he always felt like a little uneasy
43:52
just because of his job and stuff like that.
43:54
I was like, bro, if I promise you
43:57
that we can go ahead and make this podcast,
43:59
like not get you in trouble,
44:00
would you be willing to do it?
44:02
He's like, okay, we'll give it a shot.
44:04
And so, but it took me still a couple of years
44:06
to really kind of reel him in.
44:08
And I'm in Fort Worth, Texas in 2021
44:11
on a vacation visiting my sister-in-law.
44:13
And all of a sudden I'm like, you know what?
44:17
For craps and giggles,
44:18
I'm just gonna start the Instagram account for TT
44:20
with knowing the fact I'm gonna start a podcast regardless.
44:24
So I started TT on the Instagram account,
44:28
And I was like, man, it's either now or never.
44:30
And I love this, I love car culture.
44:33
And I wanna see, I wanna rep it as best as I can.
44:37
So I wanna go ahead and yap with other people, right?
44:40
And so I told Ron, I was like, Ron, let's just start it.
44:44
We'll see where it goes from there.
44:45
And he's like, all right, cool.
44:46
So we recorded a few episodes starting in September.
44:49
We didn't release anything until January.
44:50
So we had six episodes in the tank.
44:54
And it's funny because we recorded the review
44:57
of the Formula One 2021 season
44:59
with the legendary scenes in between Lewis and Max
45:03
in December that ended up being the first one
45:05
that dropped along with our first episode,
45:08
knowing the fact that we had six months of worth
45:10
of other shows that are gonna come right after that.
45:13
People are gonna be like, you know, the time
45:14
is like really off.
45:17
And we knew that, but it was like, you know what?
45:18
It's just two friends having a great conversation
45:22
And I launched it, you know,
45:24
I didn't know what was gonna happen.
45:26
Some people listened and it was cool.
45:28
And actually some people here from the Phoenix community
45:30
because I'd already started trying to follow people,
45:32
trying to kind of garner a relationship with them
45:36
And some of them listened.
45:38
I was like, okay, cool.
45:39
And it was him and I, but I was like,
45:43
we're never gonna really get anywhere
45:44
unless I really get entrenched into this community here.
45:48
And God knows we have one of the most amazing
45:49
car communities in the country, right?
45:53
And so I don't know what it was,
45:56
but I remember two particular people,
46:00
they were photographers and I saw their photography
46:03
and I was like, I gotta talk to these people, man.
46:05
Like, because they just seem to be really amazing individuals
46:09
who have their head on right,
46:11
but are also just doing cool stuff.
46:13
And that was Alex Skudlow and Caitlin Clink,
46:15
automotive Alex and KRC Auto and shout out to them
46:19
because they've been rocking with me ever since.
46:21
And it was originally gonna be like,
46:23
oh, interview automotive Alex first.
46:25
And then I'll interview Caitlin Clink a different time.
46:29
And it happened to be that KRC was back in town.
46:32
And I was like, you know, would it be wild
46:34
if I just got them on both?
46:35
They happened to be really good friends.
46:38
So you had three of them?
46:39
Actually, yeah, that's wild.
46:41
But yeah, we had a great conversation actually
46:44
and Steven, automotive Alex is now fiance.
46:49
Shout out to automotive Alex
46:50
and congratulations on your engagement.
46:51
Yeah, she just got engaged.
46:52
Yeah, that's awesome.
46:54
He joined on the podcast too.
46:57
So you had a four play?
46:58
Basically, shout out to four till four.
47:01
Until Sloan was gonna be entrenched there.
47:03
That's a wild thing.
47:04
But anyways, you know, we had a great conversation.
47:07
And for some odd reason, people really love the fact
47:11
that those two individuals got a chance to go
47:13
and really speak on behalf of the Phoenix car community.
47:16
And they were the ones that I feel like
47:19
I'll always give them credit for this.
47:20
They're the ones that kind of put me
47:21
on the map here in Phoenix.
47:24
And I'll always appreciate them for that.
47:25
And they're very good friends of mine
47:27
and I respect them so much.
47:29
And it always kind of went from there.
47:31
And from when I talked to them
47:33
and then I met other friends, you know,
47:35
I met friends in Florida who work at DuPont Registry.
47:38
I've become really good friends of mine
47:40
just cause I liked what they were doing
47:43
and they respected me.
47:44
And I was like, well, that's awesome.
47:47
And it kind of went from there
47:49
where I started to talk to a lot
47:50
of the different photographers.
47:52
And then they appreciated that I was giving them a voice.
47:55
And I was like, well, I'm not giving you a voice
47:56
cause you're a photographer.
47:57
I'm giving you a voice cause I think you're dope as fuck.
48:00
And that to me was always the key.
48:02
And that's always going to be the key.
48:04
I want to give you a voice on TT,
48:05
not because of what you do,
48:07
but because I think you're a dope ass individual.
48:09
And that's to me always been the thing.
48:14
If you come on TT is cause I think
48:15
you're doing something amazing.
48:17
You know what I mean?
48:18
And that's, that to me is I think
48:21
what makes Tormenting Tarmac so special,
48:23
at least to me is I'm giving a voice
48:25
to people to go ahead and share stories
48:28
that some other people might not give them.
48:30
You allow people to share stories, right?
48:32
And that's kind of what we love.
48:33
It's the same thing for me.
48:34
I want people to go ahead and get the opportunity
48:36
to go ahead and be heard.
48:39
What do you want to do with it?
48:41
I just want to keep pushing it as best as I can, man.
48:46
My wife the other day was like,
48:47
oh, it's just a hobby.
48:48
It's like Natalie, it's more than a hobby.
48:50
It's more than a hobby.
48:51
It's more than a passion project.
48:52
Like it's almost like a piece of me now, Jay.
48:57
That sounds really cringy and I'm not meaning for it to.
49:01
It's part of your identity.
49:03
I'm Papa Tarmac, man.
49:05
You know what I mean?
49:06
I don't have any cool names like that.
49:07
That was the shout out to my boy, Lodgy.
49:10
Brendan Lodge called me Papa one day
49:12
and all of a sudden Papa Tarmac kind of stuck
49:14
and that's kind of how it's been.
49:16
But yeah, man, it's a part of my identity now.
49:19
And that's what's allowed me
49:21
to be so entrenched in the scene, if you will.
49:25
And I want to just continue to push it.
49:27
I want to continue to allow people to go ahead
49:29
and tell their stories.
49:30
And I feel like it's allowing me to create my own,
49:34
if you will, or at least continue to evolve my story,
49:37
whatever that may be.
49:41
And I don't want to stop doing it
49:42
unless I'd stop doing it.
49:44
You know what I mean?
49:45
What's been the most challenging for you
49:47
Shoot, getting sound quality right.
49:51
Because I know, I mean, getting guest
49:53
doesn't appear to be a challenge of yours at all.
49:57
Every week you're, as of right now,
49:59
you, I think you just did episode 156 of Chad.
50:02
156, shout out to Chad, our boy, yeah.
50:06
I mean, you're like, you're about to catch me
50:11
No, I don't know about that, man.
50:12
I said, I told you on our podcast
50:13
and I'll tell you again,
50:14
I feel like you're the godfather
50:15
and I'm riding on your coattails, man.
50:17
And that's always going to be the case
50:18
until the end of it, bro.
50:20
And if I go ahead and catch up to you,
50:21
I'm rocking with you.
50:22
I'm not, you know, I want us to both succeed
50:24
and that's what I love.
50:27
But I think that the hardest thing is now,
50:32
it still can be like getting people to like realize,
50:36
hey, trust me on that, people get nervous.
50:42
You know what I mean?
50:44
oh, I don't know about that much about cars
50:46
or I don't, I don't know if I am that interesting.
50:48
And I'm like, as I said,
50:50
I wouldn't be reaching out to you
50:51
if I didn't think you were interesting.
50:53
there's a ton of other people
50:54
that I feel are interesting.
50:55
I just haven't reached out to them yet.
50:57
I don't think you're not interesting.
50:58
I'm going to get to you.
51:00
I just don't, maybe I don't know what to do.
51:02
There's the people who say,
51:03
yeah, man, I'll do it.
51:05
And then you chase them and chase them.
51:07
You're like, you know what, we're done.
51:10
I also don't want people to go ahead
51:10
and take advantage of our platform
51:12
for the wrong reasons.
51:14
I don't want you to go ahead
51:15
and come on TT to try and sell.
51:20
Sell yourself as an individual being dope.
51:22
Don't go ahead and try and sell.
51:23
Like I want it to be organic.
51:25
TT is always about originality
51:27
and it being organic.
51:28
And if I want you to go ahead and rep something,
51:30
I really want you to rep it because I believe in it.
51:33
I don't want you to go ahead and come to me
51:34
and try and say, I really want to sell something.
51:36
Because that's weird.
51:38
It's kind of odd, right?
51:40
So I think convincing people of trust me,
51:45
I know that you could have a story
51:46
and I want you to be able to tell it
51:48
because I think you're cool.
51:51
And I've successfully been able to do that
51:53
with some people and whatnot.
51:54
And I think that to me makes
51:56
the most interesting conversations.
51:58
Another thing that I find challenging at times
52:01
is finding the time.
52:04
Yeah, that can be a big one.
52:06
And hence the reason I got six pods
52:08
in the can right now.
52:10
Yeah, which is cool.
52:11
But at the same time, I'm like, man,
52:12
I got six pods in the can.
52:14
And I continue to go ahead and like, you know,
52:16
I'm still needing to go ahead and interview people
52:18
or set up more interviews.
52:19
I'm like, I gotta slow down
52:21
because then I'm not gonna have any time
52:24
The biggest thing is balancing the time
52:26
for my family and the pod.
52:29
Cause I don't ever want the pod
52:31
to go ahead and take over my family.
52:34
But I also want to continue to push it as best as I can
52:37
and take it as far as I possibly can.
52:39
So that's been the biggest challenge.
52:41
Well, everyone's gonna find out, right?
52:44
Eventually watching it.
52:46
As I continue to go ahead
52:47
and get a better camera set up like you, yes.
52:50
You know, the content is there
52:53
and content equals quality.
52:57
So you're doing a good thing.
52:59
I want to thank you for coming by Hard Parking Studios.
53:01
It was my pleasure, man.
53:02
Mr. Tormini Tarmac himself.
53:04
No, this means a lot to me.
53:06
It's not every day that people reach out to me
53:09
and they want me to go ahead and do their show.
53:11
I'm usually the one that's doing it
53:12
the other way around.
53:13
So when you messaged me the other day
53:16
and you were like, I want you to do this show,
53:17
I was like, Jay's reaching out to me?
53:20
I know I've done something.
53:22
And I mean, I'm not just,
53:23
I'm not saying that because I'm in your studio.
53:24
I genuinely mean it, bro.
53:26
So on behalf of everybody who listens
53:29
and on the behalf of everybody who rocks with you,
53:32
I got nothing but love for you
53:33
and I appreciate you having me on
53:34
and just to anybody that's watching,
53:38
we have a very, very special community
53:40
in this entire metropolitan area.
53:43
And it's an absolute privilege to be a part of it,
53:45
a very, very, very small part of it.
53:47
I hope people come away from listening to this
53:50
and watching this and learning more about you
53:52
than they would have in listening to your show.
53:56
Because you have your own story to tell.
54:00
It's been an absolute pleasure, bro.
54:02
Well, another month, another closing.
54:04
If you like what you heard today
54:05
or like what you watched today,
54:06
if you're watching this on YouTube or Spotify,
54:08
make sure you go ahead and hit that subscribe button
54:10
to make sure you go and tell a friend all about it.
54:12
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54:23
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54:34
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54:37
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54:38
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54:40
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54:41
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54:44
There's a buy me a coffee option there.
54:46
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54:47
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54:49
Why not support it?
54:50
Special thanks to Mark Stoneman, Catherine Cox,
54:52
Eddie Ramos, Drifted Grainsbyer, Joe, Bo-Jung,
54:54
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54:56
Questions, comments, and concerns,
54:58
leave a comment below or email the show info at hardparking.
55:01
Follow the show on Instagram at hardparkingpod.
55:03
Make sure you're subscribed to this YouTube channel
55:05
if you're watching on YouTube.
55:06
And I will see you guys next week.
55:09
Now it's stripping time.
55:10
Hey, nobody got time for that.