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S&YE209 - Slo Subies
About this episode
Jeff, known as Slow Subis, shares his journey with Subaru vehicles, starting with a 2001 Forester and now driving a 2020 Impreza. He discusses his passion for the Subaru community, which keeps him engaged more than the cars themselves. Jeff also talks about his Slow Subis business creating 3D-printed Subaru-themed badges, the challenges of balancing it with his full-time job, and his love for road trips and car meets like 48 Hours of Tri-State and Boxerfest. Additionally, he opens up about his career as a police lieutenant at the U.S. Mint and reflects on hobbies, aging, and the importance of community.
Topics:
subaru ownership history
slow subis business
3d printing
subaru community
car meets and events
vehicle maintenance issues
personal hobbies and road trips
law enforcement career
aging and life philosophy
car technology preferences
Jeff hops on the mic this week to talk about three years of Slo Subies, how it got started, and where he is at today. He also talks about his Impreza.
Links from the show, links to sponsors and discount partners, and ways to support the podcast:
Slo Subies
https://www.instagram.com/slo.subies/
Website
YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@slosubies4845
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Technical
Too Afraid to Ask
Car
Alfa Romeo Julia
"But there was this one guy he's been on the trip a few times. He brings a all-wheel drive Alfa Romeo, Julia. Oh, nice. Beautiful car."
Car
Ford Explorer
"...She bought a, uh, she was having trouble with her explorer. It was starting to nick on dimus and everything."
Car
Subaru Outback
"... see it. And eventually I traded, I traded in the Outback for a 2019 in Presa sedan because it was 2019."
Car
Volkswagen Gti
"...for the community, I'd probably be driving like a GTI or something right now."
Select text to request an explanation
Hey, this is Jeff with Slow Subis, and you can find me on Instagram at slow.subis.
You're listening to episode 209 of the Subia New Podcast.
Hello there, Subi Fam.
Hope everybody is doing well.
We are back with another episode.
We are here with Jeff who goes by, Bligh, who goes by Slow Subis, and he's going to talk
about Slow Subis as a sort of a business, and then also he's going to talk about his impresa.
So we get into a good conversation, and it was great to have him on the podcast for
an official episode, because he has been on the podcast several bonus episodes, really.
So it was great to have him on, finally.
And so yeah, so we'll get into this conversation here in a bit, but first, a word from our sponsor.
The Subi and You podcast is brought to you by Accentric Designs.
For those of you who don't know, Accentric Designs is a small, community-driven business
that offers custom-fit vinyl overlays for most Subaru models.
This includes various designs for the rear reflectors, tail lights, and side tail lights.
I also offer fun, detailed designs like the popular fender stripes and stickers.
To find designs for your Subi, head on over to AccentricDesigns.com.
There's always more projects in the works, so be sure to follow at Accentric.designs on
Instagram.
Thank you, as always, Accentric Designs for sponsoring the Subi and You podcast.
Be sure to go give her a follow, and keep an eye on her Instagram page, because
she has some new products and items coming out soon.
So keep an eye on that, and whenever they're ready, you can go snag some from her.
So thanks again, I really, really appreciate it.
I'm really excited for this week, because on Thursday evening, I will be taking a late
night flight out to Denver, Colorado.
And then from the airport, I'm going to drive up to Loveland, Colorado, which is
where they're going to have Overland Expo Mountain West.
So I'm really excited about that.
It's going to be great to see some people again and meet some new people for the
first time.
And Overland Expo is just a great event as it is.
And so it'll be interesting to see how this is set up compared to the PNW and
compared to Flagstaff since I went to both of those locations.
And it'll be nice to get some new people on the podcast for a bonus episode from
Mountain West Overland Expo.
So if you're going to be there, swing by the Subaru Space Oasis and say hello,
and we can hop on the mic and get a little recording done.
There should also be something new at the Subaru Oasis.
And so I'll be sure to post photos of that.
I'm hoping that's going to happen with this one.
It's definitely going to happen, I think, with the last location in Virginia.
But you'll see what I'm talking about whenever I get there this time.
So hopefully we can make it happen.
And I can show everybody.
This episode is also brought to you by SubiMods.
I want to thank SubiMods for sponsoring the podcast.
Also, you can find SubiMods at the remaining Subifest events.
I know that Boxerfest is coming up and then we'll have Subifest, Texas,
Subifest, California, Subifest, Midwest.
So look for the big giant SubiMods tent or display
that they have set up and go say hi to the guys over there.
Be sure to talk to them about their membership program.
And if you want to learn more about the membership program as well,
you can listen to the episodes that I've had previously with SubiMods
because they explained it a little bit more.
But it's a great way to earn points to save money on your purchases
and also get some free shipping if you join the Diamond Club membership.
So go check out SubiMods on Instagram.
Go follow them there if you're not already doing so.
And go check out their website because they have a lot of really great products
for Subarus that you can find over there when you go browse their site.
So thank you so much, SubiMods, for sponsoring the Subi and you podcast.
Also, this is a few days afterwards, but I want to give a shout out to my son,
Luke, because he celebrated his 19th birthday on August 14th.
And that was really cool because I got to spend some time with him.
We went out, went to my mom's house to spend some time with her.
Then we went out to dinner and had some sushi, which was vegan sushi,
which was really nice.
It was really, really good.
But also got him a primitive racing engine skid plate for his outback
because he's been needing one for a while just to give that extra protection
because when we bought the car, it didn't have anything under there,
not even the plastic quote unquote skid plate because it has been modified
and then torn apart and then modified torn apart by the guy that we bought it from.
So he definitely needs a skid plate.
Eventually, we'll have to get him and my daughter a transmission skid plate
because when we were putting the skid plate on the engine skid plate
on my daughter's Crosstrek, I saw how exposed and vulnerable
the transmission skid plate is.
And I was like really shocked because I didn't realize that
because when I put my skid plate on, I have an engine skid plate.
I have a full set of skid plates from Primitive Racing,
but I don't really need one for the transmission because I have a manual
and it's so you don't really need it for that.
But it's great to have one anyway and just have it on there.
So looking at mine and then looking at hers,
I could see how exposed her automatic transmission pan is.
So definitely they definitely come in handy.
So if you don't have any skid plates, I highly recommend getting some
because it'll give you that peace of mind and maybe help you
go a little more crazy and send it a little bit more on the trails.
But I highly recommend Primitive Racing.
They make really, really great products and I've been loving mine.
Mine's a little beat up and hopefully we'll get some other ones
beat up here at some point.
But yeah, go check them out.
Also want to give a huge shout out to my other sponsor, Subaru Gear.com.
If you haven't shopped Subaru Gear.com, what are you even doing with your life?
Go check out Subaru Gear.com, browse the site.
Also right now during the month of August, they will donate,
Subaru will donate $10 to adoptaclassroom.org for every Urban Peak Wilderness
waterproof 12 can cooler sold in August on Subaru Gear.com.
And they will donate up to the maximum of $3,000.
You can also save 20% on your purchase, even of this,
by using the code SUBIENU25.
So go check that out.
Go fill up your cart and if your total is over $50 after the 20% discount,
you will automatically get free shipping, which is a really, really great deal.
So go check out SubaruGear.com, browse the site.
Check out all the collections and the different areas.
They've got a lot of really great stuff.
So thank you so much SubaruGear.com for sponsoring the SUBIENU podcast
and bringing these great offers to our listeners.
Lastly, before we get into this conversation with Jeff,
I want to give a shout out to my buddy Ben from Lifted Subarus on Instagram.
He also has a website called Lifted Imports.
And he is doing the Dirt Subarus podcast.
He's had a lot of really great guests on there.
He released episodes every, or he releases episodes every Wednesday.
So be on the lookout for that.
Go check it out.
Give it a listen and show some SUBI love for the new Dirt Subarus podcast.
So with that, we will get into this episode with Jeff.
Hey, Jeff, welcome back to the podcast.
Oh yeah, I keep forgetting I've been on for like four times for little special events and stuff.
Yeah, yeah.
And I want to start off by saying, I know this is a while back,
but thanks again so much for hosting and everything that you did for 48 hours of tri-state
and putting the decal on the side of your car.
Just it was such a great trip and you made it very memorable.
And it was a lot of fun to like ride with you and record in your car.
And even though we knocked one of the mics off for a while.
Well, we found it.
It was still in the car.
Yeah, yeah.
That was funny.
And then like every time I get in the car now and do any kind of content,
I'm like got to make sure I don't pull my seatbelt off and then have the mic go flying.
You just need a lanyard for it.
Yeah, I do have a lanyard.
But I mean, that works out well, but.
Yeah, but no, that was a good time.
I mean, I went on the 48 hours again this past year.
And yeah, it was kind of lonely in the car.
Yeah, where did y'all end up going this past year for this like the special location?
Where did we go?
Trying to remember.
We stayed in the same hotel for two nights.
I want to say it was West Virginia, maybe.
OK, I think I remember it.
Well, I just remember vividly the last day that Sunday coming back
across Pennsylvania, it was just a horrific snowstorm.
Oh, wow, way back like we were doing back roads and a couple of people.
I want to say bailed.
But there was like I'm bad with names.
So I'm not I'm not going to drop any names just like I am you.
But there was this one guy he's been on the trip a few times.
He brings a all-wheel drive Alfa Romeo, Julia.
Oh, nice. Beautiful car.
I think he's got a shop, I think, so they they have that and a couple others.
But it's all wheel drive.
So he brings that.
I think he has Subaru's too.
But he had that and we were we were going through the snowstorm
on a back road that paralleled the Pennsylvania term pipe
coming from Western Pennsylvania East back for the closing dinner.
And at some point he was way ahead with another group.
And then he I saw him coming back and found out later.
He he was just sliding all over the place on that back road.
Oh, wow.
And he said later it's because the Alfa Romeo,
even though it's all wheel drive, has a rear wheel drive bias.
So it's more horsepower.
So when he's getting on the gas just a little bit,
the back end wanted to come around on him a lot.
Yeah, it's not as modest.
No, of course.
Pyzons on the right like get symmetrical all wheel drive.
Yeah.
But there was a couple of spots where we really,
even on snow tires and everything, we had to crawl down hills.
Oh, wow.
Because they were just covered in ice, covered in a sheet of snow.
You know, we're coming up over this one pass and there's trucks
spun out, delivery van spun out, state troopers trying to get through.
I'm sure that was an interesting site.
Yeah, and there's 25 Subaru's just going through it all.
Yeah, we get it.
Don't worry, y'all can just hang out there on the side of the road.
As far as I know, we didn't have any incidents.
I don't think anybody crashed.
But then eventually we got back on the turnpike and it was again,
it was maybe like a lane and a half open.
Wow.
Like there was there was one lane and then there was a little bit of room
to pass here and there.
But it was like, it was, you know, three, four inches of snow
on the highway the whole time.
Plus it was just coming down constantly for hours.
I had to pull over and just get it, get all the snow off my headlights
off the grill.
I mean, it was just getting caked on everywhere.
It was crazy.
Yeah, you would have liked it.
Oh, yeah, I would have loved that.
I was about to say, I've never experienced anything like that.
I mean, when I went out to Nevada and to Lake Tahoe area for my birthday,
we had some, we were driving around and it was snowing some
and it was coming down pretty good, but not, not like that.
But yeah, snow is, I know snow can be a pain, but it's also,
when you, when you're from Houston and you don't ever experience it
and you get to go experience it, it's a lot of fun.
Yeah, it was a lot of fun.
Luckily, you know, the 48 hours is a group of responsible drivers.
They all know what they're doing.
They're familiar with their cars and everything.
And everybody just, you know, sedate pace.
Everybody was safe, kept our distance.
The worst part was the other drivers on the road.
Yeah, of course.
Yeah.
You know, you got people in the jeeps and stuff that
think they're invincible.
They're the ones spinning out.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, I know I've asked this question before, but since this is
your official episode, I have to ask this question for your episode.
But do you prefer waffles or pancakes?
I think I've actually answered this on an episode before,
but I'll officially answer it.
So I don't think anybody can like one and not like the other.
I agree.
Kind of the kind of simpler foods.
So my short answer is pancakes.
All right.
However, I'll explain.
I do eat waffles more often and I'll compare it to the waffles
are like the daily driver.
Yeah.
Right.
They're easy.
They're easy to make.
They're easy to get into.
Very true.
Mostly frozen waffles.
You just throw them in the toaster and you're good to go.
But pancakes, I like the pancakes better because they're usually
it's a special treat.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Right.
I usually don't make pancakes myself.
So I only eat them when I go out and I'll go places where I like
the way they make them.
And like, you know, that little brown crust around on the edges.
Oh, yeah.
That's the best, man.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Just maybe even slightly burnt a little bit.
Yeah.
I'll take that.
But yeah, so I say pancakes because it's a special treat.
Yeah.
I got it.
That's a good one.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So, uh, yeah, it's good to get you on and, uh, we know that, you
know, you're Subaru that you drive and you're in Preza.
But is this, was that your, I can't remember.
Is that your first Subaru?
No, it's actually, if you count my wife's, well, I, yeah, if
you count my wife's cars, which one of them I took over for a
while, uh, it's actually my fifth Subaru.
Okay.
And what are the other ones?
So what does your wife have?
And then what were the other ones that you've owned?
So, well, I'll go through it sequentially.
I started in 2006.
I bought a 2001 Forester.
Okay.
I was, I was looking forward to small SUV, ended up, uh, this
dealership, used dealership point at me towards the Forester.
And it was a five speed.
It was smaller than the SUVs.
I was looking at that, uh, a better gas mileage.
It was just fun to drive because it was on the
Presa chassis.
Yeah.
So I don't like a little.
Yeah.
And I handle like a little sports car.
So I was like, this is even better.
So I got that.
Excuse me.
And then, uh, well, my wife and I got married.
She bought a, uh, she was having trouble with her explorer.
It was starting to nick on dimus and everything.
So she traded that in, got a 2001, um, Outback, the
LLB in addition with the, with the six cylinder.
Nice.
And the leather interior, that was really nice.
Uh, so then that car ended up, I ended up driving
that car later because we bought her a 2015 Forester brand new.
Okay.
Um, and then, let's see it.
And eventually I traded, I traded in the Outback for a
2019 in Presa sedan because it was 2019.
And I'm like, why am I driving, I, I'm
driving an 18 year old car.
Yeah.
I'm like, I'm like, this car can buy cigarettes.
And I make, I make plenty of money.
I can buy a new car.
So I started looking and Subaru had like low finance rates
that year.
So I was like, let me just go get a new car.
And then, uh, that ended up getting wrecked in about
eight months while I was sitting at a traffic light.
Uh, I was just stopping at light on the way, on the
way home from work and somebody pulls up behind me
and the person behind them just loud into them at 60
miles an hour.
Oh my gosh.
Yeah.
So I hit the mini van behind me into me and then pushed
me into the back of a Jeep.
The Jeep had no damage.
Oh, of course they're, uh, I hit the spare, the
spare wheel on the back and it just crumpled my hood.
So I had damage front and rear.
Geez.
Total did, I'm sure.
Oh yeah.
And they're not the cheapest, but shout out to Geico.
By the time I was done on the scene, they already
had my rental car set up.
Uh, they already looked at the photos and said, yeah,
it's probably going to be totaled.
I was buying my, my current car the 2020, the next day.
Oh, wow.
Yeah.
That's quick work.
Like I even go back and I was like, Hey, are you
sure it's going to be total?
Cause I don't need to be in two car payments right now.
He, exactly.
And he's like, yeah, he's like looking at the photos
here, it's going to be totaled.
I'm like, okay, I'm going to go buy another car.
All right.
Thank you.
And then I've had this one for, since what, the end
of May and 2020.
So yeah, a little over five years and it's
got a hundred and I just hit 115,000 miles.
Yeah.
So not, not quite your number.
I know mine's newer and I have more miles.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm working on it.
Yeah.
Come on, man.
Catch up.
So what got you interested in Subaru in the
first place, like when you bought that first
forest or did you, did you know about Subaru?
Were you interested in Subaru?
Or were you just looking for a small SUV?
I had no idea beyond the, the Australian Subaru
commercials, right?
Well, who is his name?
Is that Paul Hogan?
Was that the?
I think so.
Yeah.
But he did the Outback commercials.
That's all I knew about.
Subaru's was seeing the commercials through
the 80s and 90s.
And when I was in high school, buddy of mine
had like an 82 GL and we knew it worked all
wheel drive work great in the ice and all.
But other than that, I hadn't really paid
attention to Subaru.
I knew there was something different
about them.
Found out later, you know, it's the
boxer engine, the symmetric all wheel drive.
Safety.
Right.
Right.
So it wasn't until I drove that 2001
forester that I was even not all interested.
And then once I got it, it was probably
a year later, I was like, let me start
searching online for stuff to do at this
car, maybe, you know, car meets.
I had no idea about the community at all.
Like I was just learning about the car.
I went searching for stuff about the
car, ended up on the Naziak website.
Oh, yeah, the old school message board.
And that's why I found the local 40 or
not 48, the tri-state forums, which
that's where the 48 hours of tri-state
comes from.
And they were having some local meats
and stuff.
And I started going to that stuff.
And that's how I found the community.
And now, I guess I'm a brand loyalist
mostly because of the community.
Yeah, I know you got that one.
And then you've had nothing but
Subaru since then.
Yeah.
And my brother's a Volkswagen guy.
Yeah, I remember that.
If it wasn't for the community, I'd
probably be driving like a GTI or
something right now.
Yeah, those are fun.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, my wife has a Jetta.
She likes the Subaru's too, but, you
know, she wanted something a little
different.
Yeah.
So she's driving a Jetta, which I
like the Jetta too.
But yeah, the Jettas are nice.
My, you don't see Volkswagen
communities coming out like that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
My, my daughter has a 2013 Jetta.
I think it's, I bought it from my
brother and it was after her first
year of college.
She came home and she, she, she
kind of needed a car.
So I bought it for her and it was
nice because then she was able to
get around campus easier.
She had some, some long walks or
bike rides from either different
classes or her dorm to where the
music building was and going that
distance in the rain and in the
cold because it got cold up there.
It was, you know, kind of getting
old. Plus it was nice for her having
her own car.
She could come back and forth, you
know, home from school.
So that, that worked out well.
But she said they still have the
Jetta.
So it's still doing well.
I think it's got like 140 something
thousand miles on it.
Wow.
Yeah.
My brother went through a whole,
a whole bunch of older Jettas.
And past couple of years, he's
had a 2017 all track, the Golf
all track, the wagon.
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
But that's got, it's got a turbo.
He put a bigger turbo and a
downpipe and a tune and everything.
And he's, he's probably pushing like
300 horsepower through that thing.
Nice.
Yeah, it sounds nice.
Yeah, they're cool.
But yeah, it's, it's the community
that I can't, I can't see buying
a different brand.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But the same, but the same time I
keep getting these ads that trade
in my impresa, you know, while
it's still worth something.
And I'm like.
For a newer, for a newer Subaru.
Yeah.
Yeah, me too.
There's really, there's really
nothing I want to spend the money
on right now.
I mean, I like the Crosstrek, but
I don't really need one.
Yeah.
And I really don't need anything
bigger while I'm still commuting
into the city.
I'm not going off-roading
anytime soon.
Maybe once I retire or when we
move down south or something.
Yeah.
We have more opportunities, but
right now there's really no
reason, even for a newer
impresa, they changed the trim
models.
Like I would have to get the
RS just to get everything that's
in my sport.
Yeah.
Your sport's nice.
It was nice riding it.
I mean, it's got everything.
It's got the Harman Kardon
stereo.
It's got the heated seats.
It's got the big sunroof.
Yeah.
It's got pretty much all the
options in it.
And the current sport
doesn't.
Yeah.
Yeah.
All that stuff, you got to
go up a trim level.
Yeah.
No reason to trade it in.
No.
And in fact, the new ones,
mine still has a handbrake
or the other side of the
halt.
They went to an electronic
brake.
Yeah.
Handbrake is nice.
It's it's a personal preference,
but I like it.
Yeah, I like the I mean,
I've got the base model
cross-track and I like all of
the old dials,
you know, for AC
and everything.
I'm not a big fan of that big
screen either.
I mean,
it's I drove a legacy
with it and I'm like,
it's just they move the
controls onto the screen.
Yeah.
So your map is not any bigger.
Yeah.
Like this is huge screen,
but the text
and all that on the map
is the same size as on my radio.
Yeah.
It's bigger than mine
because mine's the smaller one,
but because my daughter has a
24 cross-track
and I mean,
I like the technology.
I don't dislike it,
but I mean, because it is
really nice, but it is hard
to get used to doing the AC
controls on there
because like I've driven it
several times and I'm like
when we when we've had some
long drives here and there
and I'm like, where is this
and where is this?
How do I get to this?
How do I turn this on?
How do I turn that on?
And I'm like trying to figure it out
and, you know, unless you own it
and you're doing it all the time,
of course, you'll learn it and everything.
But like, like with my car,
I just know where everything is
and how it works.
And yeah, you got the three dials.
Yeah, if you're like mine,
you got the dials at the bottom
and you know what does what.
And but so in your daughter's
cross-track does do the voice
commands work
for that stuff.
Because to me, that's the only
advantage of putting it all
electronic.
Yeah, they might.
I don't know.
I haven't. I haven't.
I don't know if she's messed with it
and I haven't messed with it.
So then you can do.
You don't even have to look at it.
You don't have to take your hands off
the wheel. But if you still have
to touch the screen, which means
now you got to look at the screen.
Yeah, because you can't because you
can't feel where the buttons are.
Yeah, that is a disadvantage
because like with mine, I can be
driving and just turn the knob
and not even have to look at it.
You get that that feedback
from it. But it's
yeah, it would just take some
getting used to.
I mean, I really, really like the
third gen cross-track.
It looks really nice.
It's grown on me a lot.
Have you seen the new the Eves,
the new ones?
Yeah, you know, I hope they do
test drives that I don't know if
they're going to do them this
year. Yeah, I like Boxerfest
at all. But they're saying
that what's.
I'll pay with names again.
What's the new one that's the size
of the cross-track?
They say it's faster than the WRX.
Oh, the yeah, it's the new
the new one they came out.
I know which one you're talking
about. Yeah, because there's a
there's a larger one and then
there's a smaller one.
Yeah, because they have one that's
like, I think a front wheel drive
and then one that's an all wheel
drive. You have the options of
either or. Yeah.
Yeah, the one they I just saw
list of a podcaster watch the
video and they said it's it's
like half a second faster
0 to 60 than a WRX
and it's still all wheel drive.
Yeah. But it's the size of a
cross-track and has at least the
same ground clearance.
Yeah. I mean, yeah,
there's a lot of hate for
electric cars.
And yeah, I mean, I think they're
pretty cool, but
it's just, you know, you can't
take like an extra battery pack
with you if you're going off
roading the way that you can
take an extra can of gas.
Right. If they can get around
that, if they can get to where
you can just.
Fill up, right?
And yeah, just take a road trip
and just stop for five, ten
minutes and be able to go
another two, three hundred miles.
Yeah. Maybe then I'll look at
EVs, but right now they're like,
it's a commuter car as far as
I'm concerned. I'm not paying
50,000 hours for a commuter
car.
Yeah.
So I mean, you know, they're
going to be for somebody.
So that'll be good.
Yeah. Yeah.
More options.
Yeah. So so like
you learned about the community
and started figuring that out
through Nasiak.
And I'm sure that's probably
how you found out about 48 hours
of tri-state.
But where did you
like, when did you get to the
point to where like you
started slow Subis?
And and like, did you
and like, was that all tied
to an Instagram account
or was that something that you
started before or after you've
had an account? How did that
whole thing start up?
So I don't even remember
when I say had to be a long
time ago on Nasiak.
I remember seeing the logo
somebody did a logo and a
couple of years ago before I
started the website
and everything.
I did some research.
I could not find anybody
who claimed ownership of the
logo or an origin of the logo.
The SLO.
Yeah. So I mean, it's
literally just a parody of the
STI.
Yeah.
So I don't think there's
any conflict with Subaru
because, you know, it's a
parody, right?
So there's some.
What do they call it?
Some fair use there
with with a parody.
Yeah.
So I did some research.
I couldn't find an origin of it,
but I remember I probably saw it
for the first time on
Nasiak.
People were posting it.
And then probably about five
years ago, I wanted to do
with with this when I got my
current impresa, I wanted to
do.
A logo of it on the back,
you know, kind of deep edge
everything and put a slow
thing on there.
So, yeah, so I got I got a vinyl
cutter off my brother that he got
off eBay. I was able to get it
run in like 20 minutes once I
run on the software for it.
So I started making the slow
stickers out of vinyl, just
kind of black layer with the red
lettering on top.
And I I just made a handful of
them. I gave them to a couple
people. I put one on the back
of my car.
And then a few years later,
I'm like, I started research
and I'm like, I'd really like
a grill badge.
I can't just put a sticker on
the grill.
So I kind of want a grill badge
because I'm seeing the STIs.
I don't want I like STIs.
I'm not I don't want to spend the
money for an STI. I'm driving in
and out of Philly.
I don't want to car that nice
drive in the city every day.
Yeah, you know, putting 25,000
miles on it a year.
Maybe when I retire and I'm not
driving as much.
But I wanted a grill badge.
So I started looking around
nobody just like the stickers
nobody selling online.
I couldn't find them anywhere.
So I was like, I guess I got
to make them.
And then I was looking at
3D printing.
There's a couple of folks I knew
at work that some
engineers at the minute that talk
about 3D printing.
So I started picking their brains
and they told me what printers
to look at and all that stuff.
And I found out one of the
printers they were recommending
was like $200 at the time.
Oh, that's not bad.
That's that's worth.
Yeah, I was like, that's worth
trying out.
Yeah.
So I picked one of those up
and I took my
sticker design
and put it into there's an online
application called Tinkercad.
OK, it's like a CAD design
software, but it's web based.
But it's very basic, but it's
you know, just shapes and text.
But it's it was enough that I
could take those two layers
and take them into Tinkercad
and just draw them out
and, you know, give them some
depth.
Yeah, to make them three
dimensional and then layer
them and then send it right to
the printer.
And within.
Again, within 20 minutes of
putting the printer together,
I'm printing slow badges.
Nice. I had to tweak the design
a little bit to get it the way
I wanted it. But
that ended up working out.
And then when was that?
That was probably sometime in
like May or June of 2022.
I think I posted a few photos
on Instagram. Some people were
interested.
And then by that July, I was
like, you know what, let me
just let me just set up a store
in the front so people can.
Yeah.
Or order these.
I expected maybe a handful
here and there. And we're up to
it's three years.
264 orders.
Nice. That's good.
Three years.
Yeah, that's not, you know, it's
not I'm not making a living from
it. I'm not even broke even
yet. But but it's
fun. It took off way more than
I expected.
So then from that, of
course, I did the website.
And then I changed one of my
Instagram accounts that I used
so I had a couple of Instagram
accounts. One of them was mostly
motorcycle stuff. I had started
switching it over to car
stuff because I wasn't riding as
much. Yeah.
And then eventually I changed.
I eventually I changed the name
to Slow Soobies once I opened
the the online store.
Nice. Nice.
And then and then I just went
from there because you can't
have an online store without being
a content creator these days,
I guess.
It's the only way to advertise
anymore. Now, you could pay
somebody else to advertise for
you. And they're just going to do
social media accounts.
Yeah, exactly.
That's that's just how you reach
everybody anymore.
Yeah.
So do you have like more
plans with Slow Soobies or
are you just going to keep it
kind of go on the way it's been
going?
I think it's just going to go.
The way it is for now.
I think the only way I'm
meeting all the demand that
there is for these actually
for these logo for the SLO
logos.
I think the only way to upscale
it would be to do more designs
diversify a little bit.
Yeah. With the 3D printing.
I did that one logo recently.
This that looks like the old
RS 25 logo.
Yeah.
And I did that like a custom
version. You can do like an
FB 20 or something like that.
I think I sold like two of those.
Not a lot of interest, but I
think the only way to build
the business would be to do
more designs.
Yeah.
Diversify it a little bit.
But I just, you know, I'm still
working full time for another
four or five years.
So I'm really not making
the time to sit down and design
stuff.
And I can't do it at work because,
A, I don't have the software and
B, I'll get fired if I'm running
for working on a side business
at work.
They're probably going to try to do it
there.
No. So.
So maybe once I retire, I mean,
I can treat the rest of this the
next couple of years like a trial
run for when I retire.
Yeah.
And then if that's what I want to do,
I have more time to design.
I can have more time to create
content to advertise.
Oh, yeah.
Go out and then, you know, maybe,
maybe go to some of these events
as a vendor at that point because
I'd have more time to create
more products and package them
up and bring them out.
And that can be fun.
You know, so.
Right. So I'm not I'm not looking
to upscale right now.
But, you know, just
I'm keeping it in mind.
I'm making plans for when I do have
the time to do that.
Yeah.
Do you still have the same printer
or have you upgraded your printer
since then?
So no, the
original printer I had was a
reality ender three,
which I think I actually
I paid two sixty nine for it.
Within six months, they were
selling for one hundred and ninety
nine dollars.
And of course, that's how my
check last year, you can get one.
You can get one for ninety nine
dollars now, brand new.
Yeah, of course.
They're crazy and they're a great
starter printer.
They're not great for mass
production or fast production.
They're a great starter printer
to learn everything about it.
Anybody who wants to get into
3D printing, I suggest start
there because you do have to
assemble most of it.
So you get to see what
everything does and how it
works. Oh, that's cool.
And all that.
And then but
when was it around October
twenty twenty three.
I bought the bamboo lab.
It's behind me here.
The bamboo lab P1S.
Which is all enclosed.
It's like twice as fast.
It was brand new at the time.
And it's compared to the
the Creality one, that this bamboo
lab is it's like an appliance.
Oh, it's like going from a camp
stove to a microwave.
Yeah, I mean, it's it's
just so it's plug and play.
I got the the little
four.
Ben thing is they call it an
AMS.
So you get multiple colors.
Yeah, yeah.
So it's I call it a hopper.
So you can put four different
colors in it and it will
automatically at each layer,
it'll just change the colors
out. Oh, that's really cool.
Right. So you don't have to
paint anything. You don't have
to feel the Creality would
only do one color at a time.
So I would actually have to
do the black background,
have it stop and then I
would have to manually change
the color out and let it
print the letters on top.
Yeah. Where with the bamboo
lab, I can do a whole plate of,
you know, do like 20 of them at
a time and just set it and go.
That's nice. Let me know when
it's done. So is that how many
you can do? That's how many
you can do at a time is up to
20.
I could fit about 20 on the
on the print plate. Yeah.
OK. I usually do about I
do usually do about six sets
and the set is a front and
back. So like 12 badges at
a time. OK.
So if somebody orders a color
and I don't already have it
printed, I'll do a set of, you
know, I'll do six sets at a
time and then I'll keep them on
hand. But yeah, this this
printer lets me
start it and then go to work.
Right. And come or go to bed
and I don't have to worry
about it. Where the other one
about two hours in it would
stop and it would wait for me
to change the color.
So this is kind of set it
and forget it. And it's it's
just great. It was worth the
money. I mean, this one
wasn't cheap. This was like
like 1,100 hours with the AMS
and everything. But for what it
does, I mean, it's still it's
a good value. I'd recommend
this for anyone who already
knows what they're doing. I
want to start a small business
or something like the next
level up. I would suggest one
of these. Yeah.
They're so it's so easy to
work with ads. It's own
software. We're designing and
you know, changing all the
settings when you send your
stuff to the printer.
Yeah. You can do a whole lot
with it. Nice. Pretty cool.
Yeah, it's cool. Yeah. And then
it gives you more flexibility
and versatility for, you know,
if you want to, like you said,
expand your designs and
different offerings in the
future.
Yeah. And it lets it lets me
change out, you know, change
out the nozzles, get more
detail. It's it's a bigger
print plate than the the
creality to it's you can
make taller stuff.
The software lets me actually
break up design. So if I
have a design that's bigger
than the printer can
handle, you can literally go
in the software and just do
like a cutting plane in the
software, you know, cut the
design apart that you can
insert however you want to
connect it with like dowels
or holes or tabs and it'll
print those two.
Nice. So you as and then you
just print the things on
separately on one plate at
a time and it'll print the
connectors and everything.
And he just that's really
cool.
You make your own Lego set.
Yeah, yeah, I print Legos
too. Yeah. That's really cool.
Start selling, start selling
Subaru's like a Lego set
of Subaru's 3D print.
Do a knockoff Lego set of
your of your Subaru.
Oh, that's so give me ideas.
I don't have time to develop
this stuff.
That could be fun, though.
Yeah, I mean, it's in the end
it's a it's a hobby because
I'm printing out their stuff
to like a print like Christmas
decorations and stuff like
that.
I think I put on the Instagram
account last year, the mistletoad
is a toad with a missile on his back.
Yeah, that's funny.
Christmas mistletoads.
Stuff like I mean, just Halloween
direct decorations, that kind of
stuff.
So it's a hobby.
And then the slow subease
thing just kind of helps
offset the cost.
Yeah, definitely.
That's good.
Yeah, I mean, it's it's just
something fun to to give to the
community and that they can
personalize their vehicles,
especially if they have a slow
subea or even if they don't
just for fun.
Well, and I think it's the
other part of why I keep doing
it. I mean, I I got the burnout
a little bit after a while.
Like there's there's like a love
hate thing when the when the
orders start coming in.
It's like, oh, great orders.
You know, people are liking
this stuff. And at the same time
is like, oh, I got to take some
time and fill these orders.
Yeah.
Package the bop and get to the
post office and
and do all this stuff.
But the reason I stick with it
is because of the community.
It's just, you know, I don't
feel like everybody's like, oh,
slow subease, big part of the
community. But it's it's
personally, for me, it's my
connection to the community.
Yeah. You know, it's like it's
like, I just found a little
piece of it, like, you know,
my little corner where I can
set up my little table
and be part of the community.
Yeah.
Out there.
Yep. So
getting back to your Subaru,
you you sent me some some
talking points and everything.
And you said you've had you've
got some current mechanical
issues with your car.
So it's
it's just been happening
probably the past couple of
weeks. I started getting
Subaru's are odd where it
doesn't quite tell you what's
going on. Sometimes you just
get
a whole bunch of lights on the
dash.
Right. Yeah.
So I pretty much got every light
except the check engine light.
OK. I got, you know, the
hill, sis, the eyesight went
down.
But the biggest thing
was that it's had 80 oil
temperature was flashing.
So I'm guessing that's supposed
to be the oil temperature on the
CVT.
And I know it was that because
I had parked it at work
overnight.
And as soon as I started up, it
came on.
So I'm like, there's no way it's
yeah, it's just yeah,
that'd be impossible.
It was just parked for 12 hours.
So there's no way it's hot.
And it's weird because I have
the code reader in the car
and it was showing no codes,
no pending codes.
But yet if I if I hit the
thing to clear the codes,
I can make all the lights go
away like it would reset
everything. Yeah.
And I've even had other people
ask me like, well, if there's no
codes, what's it resetting?
Like, I don't know.
I went on to ask other people
like nobody has an answer.
Other than why did I
ask chat GPT?
Chat GPT helped out a little
bit.
So it was most likely something
to do with the valve body
on the CVT starting to go.
So at the very least
at the very least, it's probably
that it could be the temperature
sensor in there going bad.
Yeah, especially if the I think
it's if that lights
coming on. Yeah.
And I think that's inside the valve
body. So I don't think that's
something that could be service
separately.
And then around the same time,
now, I don't know if it was a
symptom of.
The fault or if the fault.
Yeah, I don't know if it's a
symptom of the like there's
an electronic issue causing
this or is this causing
the lights to come on.
But I started getting that
little.
A little bit of a hesitation
off the line.
Kind of like the coaches and
engaging. Yeah, right away.
Like and it's not bad.
Like it happened in my wife's
2015 forest or at about
104,000 miles.
Yeah, the the warning went to
100,000 and then 104,000.
The transmission started going
and that ended up being the
valve body. But what was
happening with hers is off the
line, you would rev it, it
would rev up and then boom,
it would, you know, it would
engage and go.
And my car is just
starting to do that ever so
slightly like anybody else can
probably get in my car and not
really notice it.
But because I drive it every
day, I'm like, yeah, that
doesn't feel right.
I was able to reset the lights
a couple times. It kept coming
back. And then last week
it came back and I couldn't
get it to stay cleared for
more than a couple of minutes.
It's I'd reset it, they go
off as soon as I start moving
and it would come back on
again and then
thinking it might be an
electronic issue.
I still have the original
battery in the car, so it's five
years old. What ever cleaned
the terminals, I cleaned the
battery terminals.
Yeah, it's nice because I
cleaned the battery terminals
off.
And for the past couple of
weeks, it's been fine.
I'm still getting that little
bit of hesitation off the line,
but the lights have stayed away.
So I'm thinking maybe maybe
it was a temperature sensor
fault because the battery
wasn't getting a constant
voltage or whatever.
I don't know.
I'm surprised you still have the
same battery. So much so many
little things that can affect it.
Yeah, it's well, yeah,
I'll probably get a new one this
winter. But I just
I mean, I heard of
people's batteries going out
like sooner than they
probably should.
So that's that's impressive
that it's been five years.
I think they.
Yeah, they said I think they
suggest like every three years
or so. Yeah, he's still there.
I'm getting I'm getting messages,
my internet connection is bad.
Oh, yeah, I'm still here.
I can hear you too.
OK, yeah.
But yeah, I've been told like
every three years.
But yeah, it's five years so far.
So I cleaned the connectors
and I don't know, no lights
yet. So we'll see how it goes.
I'm coming up on my hundred
and twenty thousand mile.
Maintenance, I'm probably going
to take it to A.Z.P.
Pyzons. Yeah.
He said he said they can do
the valve body.
So even if it's not acting up
then I think I might
I might do the valve body
just preventatively because I'm
probably going to keep this car
another five years, another
hundred thousand miles.
Yeah, do it until I retire.
Yeah. So it's going to go in
that period of time anyway.
So I might as well get it done
now and it should be good for
at least another hundred
thousand miles.
Yeah.
Get it taken care of.
So you you had mentioned
earlier.
I don't remember if we were
talking about it before we
actually started recording, but
I just said something you were
going to be going to Boxer Fest.
Yeah. So yeah, I'll probably go
to Boxer Fest again.
A lot of local guys go.
So Nick, a few others
from 48 hours will actually come
down from like, you know, New
England, New York area.
Nice. It's close enough.
Yeah.
And I say I went last year
and it was just so hot
and humid and I stayed long
enough to run into a couple
of people I knew.
And then I got
I got a new hat autographed
by Travis and Rihanna.
Oh, nice.
That's cool.
And then and then I went to my
car to get in the AC
for a little bit and I decided
I was too tired
and to go back
in.
Yeah, I rested in the car
for about half an hour.
And I was like, I'm just going
to go home and crash out.
Yeah. So this year, this year
I'm going to go.
I'm going to bring a cooler.
I'm going to be all prepared
for the heat.
I'm going to bring a bring a change
of clothes so I can get out
sweaty clothes.
Yeah, that's good idea.
I'm just prepared to do the whole
day.
Yeah, it'll take it out of you
being at those events, just
running around and seeing people
and, you know, just being there
for the whole day, but then the
heat too, man, it can just it
can do you in.
Yeah. Wicked big meat is hot
enough. It's there in early
June.
Yeah.
But Boxerfest being what was
it? It's it's in mid September
this year. I kind of I'd have to
look. I thought I remember it
being like August last year, but
it might have been early
September, but it was it was still
like 80 degrees by 11 o'clock
in the morning.
Yeah. And like 90 percent
humidity. It was it was brutal.
Yeah. I remember when I went in
2021, it was really hot
and I didn't put sunscreen
on. And I was thinking like,
oh, I'll just like hang out under
some shade for most of the day
and that didn't work out too
well. Yeah, there's not.
There wasn't a lot of shade when
I was there, unless you brought
your own. Yeah.
Yep. And then so you'll be
going to Overland Expo East
also, correct?
Yep. I'm going to try to get
down there. It's about a five
hour drive each way.
I have stuff to do on Saturday
and Sunday, but not till the
afternoon. So I might go down
Thursday. I got to check out
the camping situation.
I'm bringing my impresa, so
I'm not going off-roading.
Yeah. But if I get
to the.
Like I said, when I went to the
Moto Expo East Moto
thing back in like 2015,
the camping area was literally
just it was a dirt road.
It and then just a big grassy
field. Yeah.
So if it's something like that,
I can get my impresa and I'm
probably going to go down
Thursday.
I'm pretty sure it will be.
Yeah, I don't think it's
going to be anything technical
to get into. But
because they probably got bring
trucks in for the displays
and stuff like that.
Yeah.
So I'll probably drive down
Thursday, camp overnight
Thursday night.
Hang out all day Friday, camp
overnight Friday night and head
home early Saturday morning.
So hopefully I'll be there all
day Friday.
OK, yeah, I'll definitely see
you. Louncing it.
Louncing in the Subaru area the
whole day. Yeah.
It's man, it's a nice setup
because I've been to Flagstaff
and I've been to PNW and
the way they have it set up
is really, really nice.
They did a really good job.
Yeah. The interviews I heard
you do from PNW.
Everybody sounded like they
were just raving about it.
Yeah, it's just it's so open
too. It's like it's very open.
It's not enclosed.
You don't feel like you're at a
booth.
You feel like you're like just
in an area in a space
because it's not like you
don't walk into like this
rectangular or squarish
kind of like sectioned off
space. It's is it was
really nice.
I'm proud to see that like
it's more.
It's not like it's more like
a lounge than a store.
Oh, yeah, definitely.
Yeah, so it'll be good.
And then check that out.
Forty eight hours of tri-state
will be coming up in what like six
months.
Yeah, January again.
Usually it's Martin Luther King
holiday weekend.
Yeah.
And usually by September
they're announcing the
maybe not the details, but they
open registration and kind of give
a general idea of where we're
going.
OK, maybe not usually specific
venues because they still have to
lock stuff in and yeah,
participating, getting
locked in and the details and
sponsorships and all that.
So we might not know the details
till October, November.
OK.
But it should be open for
registration with a general
idea sometime in September.
OK, that's good.
And I'll be I'll be advertising
that on my Instagram as well
when it's open.
How many how many years have you
gone so far?
Oh, let's see.
I lost count.
Probably about.
Probably at least 10 of them.
Yeah, that's pretty cool.
Yeah, and they're up to.
They're going to end that.
I know they're mid 20s.
2026 will probably be the 20.
Fifth, right?
Fifth.
20.
Yeah, 25th.
Yeah, started in 2002.
So yeah, I'll be the 25th.
Yeah, it was it was fun.
I I really enjoyed it.
It was nice because you get get
an opportunity to meet a lot of
people, see a lot of nice
Subaru's and going down to
the plant Indiana.
That was that was quite a drive.
But yeah, and you should.
You came for a very unique one
because we've only I think we've
only done that once before.
We went all the way out to
Indiana. Yeah, the driving
portion of it was unusual.
Yeah, how we normally do it.
Yeah, it was fun.
I mean, it was a nice drive
and didn't seem as long as it
was. And then, you know,
going and touring the plant.
That was really cool.
And then it was great that we
ended up in Indiana because I got
a chance to meet up with
Jen and the three of us had
breakfast together.
And that was that was a lot of
fun because you hadn't
met her yet either.
We had pancakes. Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah. No, I hadn't.
Yeah, that was fun.
Yeah, that was pretty cool.
So with 48 hours of tri-state,
what is it that you look
forward to the most?
It's got to be the driving,
honestly, because you experienced
that we had the C.B.s going
the whole time.
So it's kind of like hanging
out and getting to drive at the
same time. Very true.
Yeah. You know, I enjoy that.
I enjoy the time at the hotel
where we're all as a group and
hanging out and having a couple
of drinks at the end of the
night. But to be able to
drive and still have that same
vibe of everybody hanging out
and chatting is just a lot of
fun. And then on top of that,
there's the venues,
too, like when
it was turning concepts.
Yeah. The raffle there.
So places like that I wouldn't
normally visit on my own.
You know, I'm always excited
to see where where we're going
to like who's inviting us in
where we're going to hang out.
And all that I got to go to
Vermont Sports Car a few times.
Yeah, that would be fun.
Been to the Indiana plant
twice. So yeah, it's the venues
by hanging out with the folks
and the venues second.
Yeah. Well, how
so with your with your
impressive, like, how would you
say that your impressive best
matches your personality?
Oh, I think it's just.
I should I should have
prepared for your regular
questions.
I should have sent the
regular questions.
But
it's funny because I answer
these questions in my head
every time I hear somebody else
get asked the questions on their
podcast.
I have to say versatility.
I mean, it's
it's it's not it's because
it's a street vehicle.
So it's not an off-roader,
but it's it's good
at a lot of things.
It's not.
The best at anything.
It's it's you know, it's
not particularly fast.
It's not particularly agile,
but it's it's light.
It's agile enough.
It's fast enough.
Yeah, it's capable enough.
Sounds nice.
Yeah, I think it's just more.
It's it's unassuming, you know,
it's.
It's more than people expect
from it. Yeah, I think.
And I.
I love that people try to
guess what I do for a living.
Yeah.
Yeah, I almost always get like a
computer programmer or something
like that.
Like no, I carry a gun for a
living, but OK.
So it's.
It is.
I guess unassuming and
versatile.
Yeah, is what matches my
personality.
Yeah.
How is the how is being
part of the community changed
your life?
It's.
Definitely kept a consistent
hobby in my life.
Like I used to be an avid
motorcyclist.
I used to ride between
commuting and trips.
I'd ride 10,000 miles a year,
and that used to be a big part
of my identity.
Right. I do the commuting.
And then in the summer.
Spring.
Mostly in the fall, October
was a great time to take
like a two week trip down
south.
So that was a big part of my
identity. And then several
years ago, I just.
I don't know, something just it
turned off. I just didn't have a
desire to do it anymore.
I still have a bike in the
garage. I sold another
bike.
Last year, I used to have two
bikes in the garage. I sold
one last year and I still
have one I need to get running
and then decide if I'm going
to ride it or sell it.
But.
Luckily, before that happened,
I made the switch over to the
Subaru stuff. That's always been
in the background.
And then when I stopped riding
bikes that kind of move to the
foreground.
And I think everybody
needs a hobby.
Like I got to say, the weird
people I know is unhappy
people I know.
Yeah, they don't do anything.
You know, they seem to be the
people that go to work, go home,
maybe watch TV, don't have a
lot going on.
The happy people that I know
all have some hobby,
some passion.
Really enjoy doing it.
They can pursue
stuff, especially, especially
because of the community, not so
much the car itself.
The car is just the gateway to
the community.
I mean, like I said before,
if it wasn't for the community,
I might be driving a Volkswagen
instead. Yeah.
But you look at the different
price points of Subaru is
there's depending on what you
want, there are better cars
at different price points.
There's worse cars, but
there's depending on what you
want.
But it's it's the community
that keeps me driven
for lack of a better term.
I didn't mean to do that.
No intent to do that.
But like I'm not I'm not I was
a motorcycle guy, but I'm not
really much of a car guy.
But because because of the
community around this, it's
kept me involved.
And it's made it a hobby
where it might not normally
have been
a passion for me.
When then you you buy the
car, you find out about the
community that through forums,
you know, back in the day or
through Instagram, if you decide
to go the Instagram route
and then you end up meeting
like a ton of people
and then you find out about
events, you find out about
car meets, then you start
meeting up with people.
And then you end up having
a whole group of new friends
now that you wouldn't have
had otherwise.
Right, right. And I got
I got at least a handful.
I consider lifelong friends,
even if we're not hanging out.
Oh, yeah, regularly, you know,
people I might see once a
year, once every two years.
You know, if I skip a 48 hours,
I might see somebody in person
for two years, talk to him online.
But, you know, I still consider
a lot of these guys friends
that I would have never met
if I didn't but this particular
brand of car.
Yeah, I guess it's safe to say
that you'll always own a Subaru.
Yeah, for the foreseeable future.
Yeah, OK, like I said,
I have no intention of selling
this in Preza.
I mean, it's a you
actually go on the quote car
scene and, you know, people look
at it in Preza and they're like,
oh, regular traffic.
And I don't.
Yeah, I don't necessarily
disagree.
But, you know, I'm not
that much of a car guy that I
need, like, you know, 400 horse
power.
Yeah, STI
or something like that.
I'm happy with this car.
I've done some minor modifications
to it that I'm happy with.
And I enjoy driving
it.
But what really keeps me in the
driver's seat of it is the
community around it, because the
community is so accepting.
Like if I if you have a BMW,
the BMW guys are going to shun
you unless you're pushing a
certain amount of horsepower or
you got a certain model
or or something I'm picking on
the BMW guys.
But there are a lot of car
clubs where they do some gate
keeping.
Of course.
The lower models, the slow
models and still show up in the
car meet and not be shunned
to some degree, whereas the
Subaru community, you guys have
said it before, you could show up
with a stock prostrack
to go hit some some dirt roads
or go camping and everybody's
completely inviting.
Oh, yeah, you know, they just
want they're just happy you're
there.
I mean, and they're excited for
you, too.
Right. Right.
They're excited that you bought
a Subaru.
Right. It's all about just
owning the brand and coming
together over the brand, not
so much what you've
done to it or not done to it.
Yeah. Yeah.
That's it's just fun.
Yeah. So anything else you want
to talk about with your car or
anything else before we get into
the last segment?
Oh.
No, not really.
It's just
it's just a regular Presa.
It looks good.
It means a nice color, too.
Very nice color.
I like I've had a lot of
comments like a lot of
compliments on that color.
Like I'll come out of
a wah-wah.
You've seen the wah-wahs around
here, like the like 7-Elevens.
I'll come out of a wah-wah and
just have a random guy looking
at the car like, hey, thumbs
up. You know, great.
I love the color on it.
I'm like, OK, thanks.
I didn't paint it. But yeah,
thanks. Yeah, you picked it.
Yeah, I picked it out because
I could see it from across the
parking lot.
That's literally the reason I
got that color.
Yeah. It was a silver one
or this blue.
And I'm like, I can't see the
silver one from across the
parking lot, but I can find
the blue one.
Yeah, the blue is beautiful, man.
It's it's such a nice color.
I like it a lot.
Yeah. But then once I tended the
windows and changed the wheels
out, it just looked even better.
Oh, yeah, definitely.
Yeah. So we'll get into
this last segment to get to
know you even more.
But who is Jeff?
Jeff is a
city boy who lives in the
suburbs.
All right.
Grew up in Philadelphia.
I'm an Air Force veteran.
That's how I got out of Philadelphia.
That's how I escaped.
When the Air Force for a few years
came back home
and then a few years later
escaped to the suburbs.
And I'm never going back
because the cities are
just getting worse and worse.
Yeah.
So I at the same time, I'm not
the kind of guy I'm probably
never going to live in the
middle of nowhere.
Yeah. Like I always feel like,
oh, I could be a survivalist
and self-sufficient and
everything. No, I want to be
within.
You're in the in between.
I want to be within 20 minutes
of a grocery store.
And oh, yeah.
You know, an hour of places to
do stuff and all that.
I don't want to be in the middle
of nowhere. So for now, at least
till I retire, the suburbs are
a good place to be.
Yeah, that's good.
You've got a lot of amenities
too. You know, you've got
everything you need without
without being in the middle of
nowhere and the middle of
nowhere and without being in the
city.
Yeah. It's like I got enough
of the city stuff around me,
but we got some space.
Yeah. That's always good.
Yeah. So you said you were born
in Philadelphia.
Yep. Born in Philadelphia and
a long time ago.
Yeah. All right.
What is a favorite memory from
your childhood?
Probably.
This probably led to my riding
motorcycles a lot.
My buddies and I used to ride
like BMX bikes all the time.
Yeah, those are fun.
And not and not nice BMX
bikes. We had like the Kmart
specials like
at best we had huffies.
Oh, I had a huffy, man.
At worst, we had bikes that
like, you know, somebody had
from 20 years ago
and threw some spray paint on
it and gave it to us.
Yeah. You know, the banana
seat and the butterfly handle
bars.
Yeah. Dude, I had that was
what I had.
I don't even remember what it
was called, but it was a
huffy with a big long seat
and some funky looking handle
bars.
And we used to we still
jumped them.
Yeah, you have to.
Yeah.
Yeah, we had I remember we had
the one public playground
had this and it was there for
like a decade. There was just
this one.
Spall.
Hill of dirt.
I wouldn't I'm I hesitate to
call it a hill because it was
it was a little bit bigger
than like a pitcher's mount.
Oh, yeah. Next to baseball field,
but it was this mound of dirt
that was kind of hollowed
out in the middle.
But you could get going on
your bike and just jump right over
it. Yeah.
So every time we went to a
playground, that's the way we did
first. We jumped the hill.
Yeah, I ended up with more of
a BMX type of bike.
It may have even been a BMX.
I can't remember. But me and my
cousins we and and other
kids in the neighborhood, same
thing. There was like this.
There was the end of this street
and then there was a wooded
area and within the wooded
area, it wasn't like super
dense in this one spot.
And there were like mounds of
dirt and we would go jump those,
man. That was that was so fun.
Yeah, that and like I said, we
were in the city. So there was
that one mound of dirt and then
the rest of the day is jumping
curbs.
Yeah.
Yeah, that was always fun as a
kid.
Yeah.
That's that's probably my my
core memory is riding
bicycles with my friends.
I mean, yeah, from
time I was like five to my
teenage years till we were
driving.
Yeah, we were riding BMX
bikes.
Yeah, that's always fun.
What is something that makes you
want to get out of bed every day?
I thought about this.
I'm going to go dark on this one.
All right, OK.
My mortality.
Yeah.
I don't know if you can relate
because we're close in age, but
the days once
years are just ticking by,
I think.
And I can get all into my
philosophy about the older you
get, the less
new information in your brains
taking in. Therefore, there's
like a mental time dilation.
Like when you drive home over the
same route and you're not paying
attention, it feels like you get
there and you feel like the drive
took like no time at all.
It's because your brain didn't
take in any new information.
Likewise, you get into a life
or death situation.
Everything's in slow motion
because your brains
go in and all this
information quickly.
But I think as we get older
and this is where I was talking
about the hobbies is where the
hobbies come in, I think.
If you keep learning and doing
new things, it slows
stuff down, right?
Because you're taking that
information in, you're making
time to do
new things.
Whereas if you're just getting
up, going to work, coming home,
getting up, going to work,
coming home, nothing new going
on those days, months, years
tick by.
Me getting out of bed is I
need to do something today.
Yeah. Even if it's nothing
new, even if I just do
something I like doing, I do
all the time, these
days are going to be gone
quickly enough.
So I got to make the best
of the day.
Ideally, I do something new.
I learned something new.
I get something done towards
working towards a goal or
something, something I can get
done today.
But the last thing I'm going
to do is sleep the day away
when, you know,
I feel like I'm running out of
time.
And I just turned 55.
I mean, I don't feel old at all.
But us Gen Xers feel like
we're still like 30.
Yeah. I mean, I'm 52.
I don't feel like I'm 52.
No, I don't feel anywhere near
50 years old mentally.
Yeah. Physically sometimes.
Yeah.
Mentally, now it's not hitting
me, but the days do
the days do rank by so fast
that I feel like I got to get
out of bed and do something.
Yeah.
What if something makes you
want to stay in bed?
That would be the dogs.
Yeah.
Because there's because my wife
and I are on different shifts.
So, you know, she'll be at work.
I'll get up. The dogs will be
laying on top of me.
And especially on my days off
because I work a four day
work week, she works five.
So there's one day a week where
I'm off and she's working.
So I'll get up and it'll just
be me and the dogs and
they'll be laying on top of me.
And I'm like,
well, they're sleeping.
I don't I don't want to
disturb them or they will
wake up and then they'll climb
on my chest and want to be pet.
And then we end up laying there
for half an hour.
Yeah. Just patting and
then making noises and talking
and having fun.
Yeah. So you said dogs.
The dogs kind of.
Prevent me from getting out of
bed days.
I want their attention.
Yeah. So you said you carry
a gun. So what is it that you
do for a living?
So for the past 26 years,
I've worked for the United States
Mint in Philadelphia,
not to be confused with like the
Franklin men or other private
men. The U.S. Mint is under
U.S. Treasury Department.
And the Philadelphia Mint and
the Denver Mint make all
of the coins that go into
circulation.
OK. In the U.S. economy.
And it's been around since 1792.
Wow. It started in Philadelphia.
I work.
I'm a police lieutenant.
With the Mint. So the Mint has
its own police force.
OK.
We're not.
I keep having to explain it to
some new officers and even some
of my other supervisors.
We are not a law enforcement
agency. So it's not like we're
the FBI. We're not the EA.
Yeah. We're not Secret Service.
We're not like that. We are a
law enforcement division
of the Mint.
Gotcha.
So
we still have like I can carry
nationwide that kind of
stuff. We can fly armed like
that.
So we have certain things based
on our qualifications but at
the same time our scope of duty
while we're at work is pretty
limited to protecting the
facility, protecting
the employees, protecting
assets.
Because sometimes assets have to
be transferred with the assets.
We do patrol around the
neighborhood.
But for the most part we
don't. We're not out there
like doing traffic stops.
We're not. Yeah.
We're not getting into stuff
we basically contact people that
come on our property
and start and start doing
things. Gotcha.
But.
Yeah. I've been doing that for 26
years. I got that from
prior to that. I was Air Force
Security Police law enforcement
and security forces now is
security police when I was in
but that was basically doing law
enforcement on the Air Force
bases.
Did a couple of deployments
after 9 11,
which were not a lot of fun.
We went places we really
didn't need to be because there
was already Air Force personnel
there. Yeah.
So we were glad when some of those
deployments ended.
But yeah. So it's been like 34
year law enforcement career
between the military and the
Treasury Department so far.
And I got like four more years
to go. Nice.
Nice. Yeah.
But the joke is I'm an indoor
cop. So when
the weather gets bad, we're happy
we're indoor cops.
For the most part. I mean, we
have patrols that go out.
But being a supervisor, I
almost never have to go outside.
That's cool.
And I kind of like it that way.
Do you have a dream job?
I thought about this currently.
My dream job would be to make my
own hours doing whatever I want
day to day.
Yeah. But I did have a dream
job for the longest time to be
a moto journalist.
But I never pursued it because
everyone I talked to who did it
said it pays nothing.
They all had like day jobs
and, you know, they would have
to take time off to do it.
But just like going on motorcycle
trips and writing, taking
photographs and doing articles
and freelancing.
It just seemed like
a great thing to do.
But you can't you can't
you can't make a living out.
And it would be something I'd
have to do in retirement maybe.
OK. Yeah.
What is something that really
scares you?
Let's see.
Clowns?
No.
I.
I don't want to be one of those
guys. Oh, nothing scares me, but
because I'm sure there is plenty
of the scares me.
I'm just not.
Can't really think of anything
right now.
Like I go back to just, you
know, the time ticking away,
you know, mortality.
I love.
Yeah. Again, it's going to
sound corny.
But I don't feel like I'm
afraid to die, like if something
happens and it's in the moment.
I I've been there.
I flipped. I flipped the Ford
Ranger over once
I was driving and I wasn't
paying attention and the road
turned and there was like this
foot high curb and I wasn't
paying attention and I went
right into it and just threw
the truck in the air.
And it was it was rotating onto
its roof and I'm like,
this is it. I'm done.
And I close my eyes.
And then at the last second,
I'm like,
now it's going to happen.
I want to see it.
So I open my eyes in time to
watch the whole like landed on
the roof. I watched the whole
roof of the truck come down.
And luckily it was a truck, so I
didn't get crushed.
Yeah.
So and being in law
enforcement, you know, I kind
of accept that if something
happens, it's going to happen.
But at the same time, I'm
afraid of.
Not so much like an incident
happening where I'm going to
lose my life, but more so
just the time ticking away.
Yeah, losing that time.
Then I'm going to waste this
time. I'm going to wake up at
85 with a heart attack
and be like, I didn't do what I
wanted to do.
Yeah.
You know, like if I just had a
little bit more time or
yeah, or something like that.
So so my wife gets right.
So we're making plans to, you
know, do some traveling.
And and, you know,
we have our beginnings of
bucket lists.
Nice.
Stuff like that. Just try to
get some stuff done when we
know we're not going to get
it all done.
Yeah.
But, you know, try to do as much
as we can so that we can be
satisfied that we we did what
we could.
What is something that really
excites you?
Probably still road trips.
Whether it's in the car or,
you know, like I said, I
eventually I want to get back
to motorcycle road trips.
But even in the car, like
we're going in two days, we're
driving out to Madison,
Wisconsin to see our daughter
for a week.
We're taking the wife's jada
just because it's more
comfortable and it gets better
gas mileage.
And my wife can tolerate
the exhaust from it, unlike
my car.
So.
But I'm looking forward to that.
I like I just like getting in
the car and driving.
Yeah, I'm I
that's why I have so many miles
on my car is because I just
I love driving it.
Even locally, I mean, I I got
the, you know, the creek
nearby with the the creek
road that goes along it.
And there's days if I'm
just bored on an afternoon,
I'll just go drive that back
and forth a few times.
Yeah, I mean, I get out
and drive when I
don't even have to.
You know, I'll just I don't
need to go anywhere.
I'll just get out and drive
just to drive.
Yeah, like my brother always
he does a lot of
cruising, like he'll just go
out and drive to.
But I I like to go and hit
these, you know, tight
twisty roads that I know very
well. Yeah.
You know, it's fun.
I don't want to I don't want to
be unsafe, like, you know, I'll
push maybe 70 percent.
I'm not going to.
I'm not trying to go out there
and crash or be unsafe or
leave my lane or anything like
that. But these
roads I know, so I'm more
comfortable on them and
everything. And so
I posted some videos on
Instagram. So sometimes I'll
take the cameras if I'm in
the mood to set up the cameras.
I'll do that and just do a
run up and down Creek Road
at a spirited pace.
Hopefully there's no traffic.
You know, I can I can turn it
up a little bit. Yeah.
And yeah, that
that excites me enough from time
to time. Yeah.
What would be your best bit of
advice to give to someone about
anything?
All right. So I went dark
earlier, so I'm going to go
practical this time.
And I've heard some really good
ones, some very good universal
ones, like, you know,
don't let, you know, other
people think of you as, you
know, go go for it.
Don't waste today.
I'm going to go with hand
strength, work on your hand
strength.
OK.
Like your grip.
Yeah. And all that because
that when I was 14,
that changed my life.
And we all remember
gym class when we were
teenagers.
I couldn't do the rope climb.
I couldn't do pull ups.
I couldn't do none of that
when I was 13.
I went home that summer and
somebody gave me one of those
squeezy.
Oh, yeah.
Builder things like the
spring loaded thing.
And I don't know.
I didn't intend to.
I just somebody gave it to me
and I just I go back to school
the next year.
Suddenly now I can grip the rope
enough to get on it.
I can grip the the pull up
bar.
And it just something
just clicked when I started
feeling like an adult at that
point.
Yeah, grip stronger.
But later on in life, it
just it helps with everything.
I mean.
You know, working with tools.
Working on your car.
Yeah, working on I mean,
especially I mean, I did
a lot of work on the motorcycles
myself.
But.
Yeah, I mean.
A weak grip is not going to get
too far.
So that isn't it.
It's an important thing to have.
So it's very simple thing.
It's like brush, you know,
take care of your teeth.
No, it carried your work
on your grip strength.
Yeah.
Good one.
Yeah.
I just figured through something
different out there.
Yeah, definitely.
I don't think I don't think anybody
said that one.
No, no.
Was there anything else you want to
talk about before we get out of
here?
I don't think so.
Oh, any plans to go to any of
the ARA rallies next
year?
I mean, I would like to.
I just it's one of those things
where I would have to look at
the calendar and plan it out.
But I mean, like right now, I
don't have any plans.
I do want to make it to one
someday.
But I planned
why I shouldn't say I planned
or I would have been able to go
because I forgot all about it.
But I had wanted to go to this.
I think it's the STPR one that's
upstate Pennsylvania.
Yeah, it's literally only about
three and a half hours from me.
Oh, it's not bad up in Wellsboro.
And I've been year after year.
I keep saying I'm going to go
because it's not far.
I can just go up there for the
long weekend, not even camp
because it's in the summer.
And then like this year,
I forgot all about it until it was
about a week out.
And I'm like, OK, I can't go.
Yeah. And that's what happens with
me with a lot of things.
I just forget about them.
I just don't think about them.
You know, they're not like on the
radar. So it's something it's
kind of like with 48 hours of
tri-state. It was it was.
I mean, it was one of those things
of somebody bugging me and being
like, hey, you got to come out here.
I have no idea.
Irritating people.
But you know, it was three years
of you trying to get me to come
out there. And then I was like,
OK, I'm just going to plan to go.
And so, you know, it's just
it's one of those things where I
would just have to make sure that I
remember when it's happening
and then start planning for it.
And so, yeah,
it's it'll happen one of these
years. It's just it's just
yeah, a matter of planning.
Yeah, because I see like the
launch control clips when
they're hanging out on like a
Friday in the town and
everybody gets to come up and do
the autographs and.
Yeah, it looks so fun.
Photos. I was like, I
loved it. Even if I don't get to
see any of the rally, if I just go
and hang out and do that, that
would be so much fun.
Yeah, I know it does look like a
lot of fun.
So.
Well, cool. Well, thanks for
taking the time to record and
get you on here and happy
third year anniversary with
Slow Subis.
Yeah, thanks.
Like I said, it almost it almost
got shut down. But yeah,
we're still going. I'll still
go on as long as there's
some interest and I can make
it not cost me too
much. Yeah.
That's good.
I'll find a way if I got to cut
costs and change the format
online and put it into an eBay
store or something.
Yeah. But it'll still be there
in some format.
All right.
Well, cool. I hope you have a
good night and have fun
on your upcoming trip.
I will. I'll post photos on
Instagram, as always.
Yeah, cool.
Well, it was nice seeing you
again and chatting.
Yeah.
So we'll keep in touch.
All right, I will.
OK.
All right.
See you.
Hey, everybody.
Thanks for tuning in to another
episode of the Subi and you
podcast.
If you're not doing so, go give
Jeff a follow.
It is slow dot Subis on
Instagram.
And check out his
page and then also check
out his other
where you can go get his
3D printed items.
So he's got some pretty cool
stuff there.
So thanks again, Jeff, for
taking the time to record with
me. And it's great to get you
on the podcast.
As I mentioned at the beginning
of the episode, I will be at
Overland Expo this week.
It's going to be August
22nd through 24th.
So I'll be there Friday,
Saturday and Sunday.
So if you're going to be up
there, come swing by, say
hello. And we can record
a little bit of content.
Otherwise, have a great week
and we will talk to you
later and see you on another
episode.
Much Subi love.
Raph.
The Subi New Podcast is
hosted by Rafael and a closet
in Houston, produced by
Rafael in a room next to the
closet in Houston and edited
by Rafael on a computer in
the room next to the closet
in Houston with music by
Luc Ruiz in another room in
Houston.
You can find the Subi New
podcast wherever you listen
to podcasts, including Apple
podcast, Spotify and many
more.
If you'd like to get in
contact with the show, you
can find them on Instagram
at Subi New Podcast.
Online at SubiNewPodcast.com
or by email, SubiNewPodcast
at Gmail.com.
That's all for this week.
.
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