S&YE209 - Slo Subies | Car Curious

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

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You can also save 20% on your purchase, even of this,

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

.

S&YE209 - Slo Subies

Alfa Romeo Julia

Ford Explorer

Subaru Outback

Volkswagen Gti

Volkswagen Jetta

Ford Ranger

About this episode

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