Vancouver and Rolling with The Outlaw - Jaga Rai Ep26

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Music.

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To learn more about this class-leading VW magazine.

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Welcome back to Dub Life Diaries. We are sitting down today with a true outlaw

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in the Volkswagen world, Mr.

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Jaga Rye. Back in 1997, he bought a very humble 1975 Canadian standard Beetle.

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At the time, he was just 23 years old. The cool thing, he never let it go.

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While everybody else chased early or pre-67s, this guy went the other way,

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pouring his time, his money, and his passion into this late model build that

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would absolutely stand out for decades.

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So we're talking narrowed beams, a fat stance, a built 2161 motor,

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and a story that's more than just about dubs.

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It's about friendship. It's about community.

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It's about staying true to what you love.

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Jaga's ride is affectionately known as the outlaw. He has been turning heads

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in this car for years Today we're going to dive deep into the build, into the culture,

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and into the memories that keep these classics alive Let's welcome Jagger Rye

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to the podcast What's up, my brother?

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What's up, man? How you doing? Good, man, good Thank you so much for taking

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the time to spend some time with me this evening,

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Before we get started, I do want to shout out a couple of my sponsors.

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Your subscription, this is, by the way, U.S. subscribers only.

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So I know we're in Canada now, but my brother, I'm sorry. That's for U.S. only.

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Also, Salty Dub, from the beach to the bay, Salty Dub's tearing up the scene, VW events and swag.

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Which real quick, I have got a story to tell.

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Now, when you do what I do, you do podcasts in the Volkswagen community,

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you pretty much like every Volkswagen page you come across and you try to become

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friends with everybody that's in our scene.

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Everybody that you see from all the biggest events and the shows around the

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world, literally, I try to follow and find people.

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So things pop up in my feed all the time where I'm like, Ooh, that's a nice car.

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Or, Ooh, you know, that's a cool dude. Or, you know, and again,

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doing what I do, doing a VW podcast, you have to put yourself out there.

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So I put myself out there a lot. Those of you that are listening,

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you just might get a Facebook message from me one day and it's legit. It's real. I'm.

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Somebody shared something and shared this beetle and showed this yellow beetle

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that you guys can see behind me.

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Jaga's going to tell us all about it here in just a couple minutes.

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But I saw it. I commented. I said, man, this would make a great dude for the

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podcast because they kind of said something in the description about his appreciation

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for the air-cooled scene.

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And, dude, you responded, and here we are. So what a cool story.

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I chased you and you allowed me to chase you

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down and and and now you're you're here on the podcast so

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brother thank you thanks for having me all right enough of me let's get back

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to you so let's talk about this 75 Canadian standard bring me back to the beginning

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because you know everybody wants pre-67s but what made you go against the grain

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well to be honest you know the older early early BMWs,

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the 2002s, where they have the big windows that go all the way around and you

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can kind of see in and just love that look.

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And when I saw the Beatles in the earlier ones, even though everyone thought

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the oval windows and the smaller windshields and all that kind of stuff were

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cool, beautiful, of course, everybody was doing that.

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And I just growing up, I was always the kid that went against the grain and

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had to do something different.

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So I thought, why not? And, you know, Of course, they were a bit cheaper,

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to be honest, and just went from there.

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And I thought in the beginning, you know what, I'll own it for a couple of years,

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and then I'll see where things go.

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And that was that. Fast forward, you still got it.

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Yes. Almost 28 years. And that's so awesome.

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I tell you, and I think about it all the time because I talk to guys like you

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all the time that still have their cars from high school. I wish I still had mine.

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I didn't respect it like I respect them now.

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You know, back then, you know, I brought it home. One of the first things my

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dad said was what, you know, why would you park that thing on my driveway?

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You know, so they weren't cool, you know, certainly weren't cool in the mid nineties.

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They were just old cars, you know, but as the scene has evolved,

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how awesome it is. So what's the meaning behind the name, the outlaw?

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Well, there's actually quite a few. First, when I heard the name,

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Usually the outlaw is referred to as a Porsche that's been hot-rotted.

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So it's a European term from what I understand.

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Hot rods are usually domestic, you know, American cars.

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So I like that. And then I also, having a later model and, you know, the look.

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And then also I remember learning that when you do something to a car that's not easily,

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reversible like when you cut something and you

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know weld something it's it's perm it's outlawed it's

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it's kind of like you know i don't know blasphemy or

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something like that so hell yeah like that's that's

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dope you know so i wanted to do that and then being a visible minority in the

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group and there wasn't you know being indian and and from canada like there

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was nobody that was into air-cooled beetles that i grew up with all the guys

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that i grew up with were mustang guys or Camaro Chevy guys, right? Yeah, me too.

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I thought that name was just befitting. Now you said 97, you bought it, right?

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What was it? What was it like maybe the first time you drove this car?

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What did it feel like to you?

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Did you know it was like, you know, it was going to be a car was going to be with you for a long time?

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You know, I, in the beginning when I first bought it, I thought,

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you know, let's see how things go.

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But I took it out for one test drive and, you

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know settled on a price and I said okay I'll be back tomorrow to

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pick it up and then I think I believe from what I

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remember it was Friday or Saturday night I picked up

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the car and I had a date that night it

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wasn't my wife so don't tell her and I cruised downtown and every city used

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to have I I don't know we don't have it anymore but every city I think used

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to have that cruise strip that everyone would show off their rides and that

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was our social media right oh yeah and

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And that's where we go to connect with people we haven't seen in a while.

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No cell phones really back then, right? Yeah.

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Might have had a beeper. Might have had a beeper. Yeah, a beeper.

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That's true. And a pocket full of quarters, right? Yeah.

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And then we, me and her just cruised down there. And I remember her going,

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wow, this thing's pretty cool.

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And then the attention I got cruising downtown, everybody.

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And it wasn't, it didn't look anything really like this. Like the rims are still black.

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The beam wasn't narrowed, you know, other than that, it had a cool,

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it had a huge sound system in it, which is another reason why I bought it. I gotten rid of that.

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I outgrew that, but it had this huge sound system in there.

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And, and I was just getting all this, people were just like,

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kill her car. And I was like, wow, okay, this is, this is cool.

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I like it. And then I just evolved from there.

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Any early failures or mods from the early years that went wrong?

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I don't know about wrong. I did go through, you know, when I first got it,

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I was more into that low rider, slow cruising. Oh yeah.

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And, you know, I got my speed fix from a, from an R6 I used to have back in the day, a Yamaha R6.

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So that was sort of my speed when I was, you know, single and no kids.

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But no consequences yeah no nothing

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really like you know like when i bought it

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it had the wink i don't remember the the wink mirrors that the honda used

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to come with those you know seven mirrors that were in it and a few other things

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they had honda civic si seats in it that came with the car i changed all that

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kind of stuff but i'm sure there's a few stories like i mean i would when i

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would install something i would twist the wiring and then just use electrical tape,

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thought I was fine, you know, and up until a few years ago, I had to go back

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and be like, what the heck was I thinking? And I properly soldered everything.

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And so, you know, not to worry there, but that was probably the worst of it. So I was lucky there.

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So let's go through, you've touched on them a couple of times,

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and I want to go through for the listeners in full detail.

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Let's go through the specs of this motor. I know it's a 2161.

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I know you got some 48 IDAs, but kind of talk me through the car,

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the mods, and let's let everybody envision what this thing is.

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So there's a local guy in our car club. I'm in a car club called the DVKK,

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Durable Twin Wagon Kafer Club.

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And it's one of the elite clubs where I'm from. You don't just get in by just,

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you know, signing up and let you in. You got to volunteer.

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You got to put in the work and you got to have a good car, right? That fits the mold.

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But one of the guys in there, Darren Kroonchuk, we call him K-Rock.

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He is a master motor builder. He's been in Hobby W's and other magazines.

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He's a porter. Like he can port motors. He's been taught by the best in the

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world. I forget the guy's name down in California. I believe he was in,

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he's passed away now, but he went down there to learn.

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And he can port motors like it's nobody's business. And so he built this motor

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for me and I wanted it fully ported and polished.

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I saved for a long time. I wanted it done right.

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Tunes those 48 IDAs. I learned tuning that motor. He kind of gave it to me and

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said, you're going to learn how to tune this thing.

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And I worked day and night and trial and tribulation. And I got it running just beautifully.

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Excellent narrow beam tell me about

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the the transmission is there a special transmission in

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this car too yeah it's a it's a closer

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ratio sort of a street and strip i

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i'm trying to remember off the top of my head third originally

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it came with a freeway flyer that's that's 378 i think something like that and

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now it's a 412 with a stock first and second a later model main shaft And then

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I think it's a 148 third gear and like a 104 fourth gear.

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So a little bit shorter gearing and beefed up, right?

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The only regret I have is I didn't go posi.

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I didn't go traction. I don't know why. I think it's something I overlooked.

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And, you know, a local guy here named Terry, he built that for me.

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How did you, how did you learn to wrench? You know, was it mainly teach yourself?

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Was it trial and error or did you have mentors that taught you,

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you know, about the mechanical stuff when you were younger?

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Definitely had mentors. When I first got it, I knew how to do the basics,

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you know, the high school mechanics that we all did.

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But you look at a Beetle sometimes, you look underneath it and like,

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that's not just one drain plug.

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There's like, you know, how many down there and over torque them, right?

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Strip the whole stud and screwed up a couple of times.

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But another guy in my car club named Lanny Hussey, who's very well known and

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been in magazines and another guy named Jeff Peterson, whose cars have been

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in magazines and he, they both work on cars for a living and have their builds and magazines.

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They taught me everything. They didn't have to, and they could have said,

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hey, man, we're busy, but they took me under their wing.

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And when they would work on my car, instead of kicking me out of the shop,

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they'd be like, here, grab a wrench, and this is how it's done,

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and taught me everything.

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That's so great. And it's good to have that knowledge, too. It probably saves you some money.

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Yeah. I'm not the best mechanic for a couple reasons. One, you know,

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was never really something I was forced to do when I was younger.

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I didn't have any mechanical mentors or anything on that side.

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And two, as I've gotten older because of my lifestyle, when I was young, I got a really bad back.

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And when I say it's bad, I mean, it's pretty bad, man.

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So I don't spend a lot of time slumped over or bent down or even really on the

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ground, to be honest. But again, either way, awesome that you did have mentors

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and that you learn, you know, that type of stuff, because I'm sure it helps you in your life.

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So when I was growing up, I had met my best friend, who I'm still friends with in kindergarten.

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His best friend, who they met in the hospital when their moms gave birth.

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So all three of us became pretty tight, you know, early on in elementary school.

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My best friend, David, and the other guy is Jason.

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David was half Indian, half white. And I had never seen that before. I was just like, what?

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Like, you know, it was a, it was a foreign, you know, thing to me and started

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going over and hanging out.

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And his mom, Linda, who, you know, having immigrant parents,

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they were working all the time.

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They were struggling, facing, you know, looking back, probably facing racism

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and just trying to get, trying to get like an equal opportunity like everybody else.

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I, you know, they told me certain stories, but they try to, they try not to tell me too much.

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They probably think, you know, it might, it might hurt me or something like

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that, but you see it right growing up.

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And this lady took me in and like a son, and she used to call me her adopted son.

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And that's another reason why I didn't get involved in the back crowd.

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I was so worried about disappointing her.

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Even when we're, you know, I'm sure you can understand a lot of guys out there

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and girls, you're fighting with your own parents.

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You need another adult outside your home.

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Psychology tells us that we won't listen to our parents from the age 13 to 19,

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but we will listen to other adults that are

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in our in our group and she she

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always made sure that I was on the straight and narrow and

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and was always you know worried about me and I was

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so worried about disappointing her too I think

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that was a a big influence in my life she you

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know and she used to call me her adopted son and I would

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just glow like it would just mean the world to me that she said that I'm like

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what really you know yeah it's awesome I was like the you know the fourth man

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there was three boys there too and they were all still good friends and you

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know i was like the the fourth member of that family is is is that is that chosen mom still around,

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absolutely we we're still close i call her mom and you know so great we see

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each other not as often as i like but we still talk we still text awesome man

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let's get back to your car now this term is used broadly throughout the Volkswagen community.

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So when I say it, I really want to understand what it means to you stance, right?

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Is it, is it more of a art thing or is it a performance thing for you when you

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talk about a car that has stance?

00:16:16.016 --> 00:16:19.276
Man, that's a good question. I think it's, I think it's both.

00:16:19.636 --> 00:16:24.396
I, I, I, the first thing I've personally always noticed about a car that's kind

00:16:24.396 --> 00:16:26.056
of driving towards you is the stance.

00:16:26.256 --> 00:16:29.636
That's what sticks out. Like, Hey, what's this what is that it

00:16:29.636 --> 00:16:32.416
stands so nicely and that was a

00:16:32.416 --> 00:16:35.516
huge thing when i did mine and by the

00:16:35.516 --> 00:16:39.136
way oh that stance is nasty it

00:16:39.136 --> 00:16:42.956
looks yeah man yeah what a great looking car thanks man

00:16:42.956 --> 00:16:46.556
and so me and lenny spent a lot of time getting that stance right i was like

00:16:46.556 --> 00:16:52.776
this thing has to be right like the camber the the the the fitment you know

00:16:52.776 --> 00:16:58.296
i always say people want to finger bang my fitment like it's uh it's uh it's

00:16:58.296 --> 00:17:01.596
just perfect like i just couldn't be happier with it man it's,

00:17:02.039 --> 00:17:05.059
And performance, obviously, you know, it's, it's, it's performance too.

00:17:05.199 --> 00:17:06.519
So it's like a win-win situation.

00:17:06.999 --> 00:17:11.739
So let's touch on DVKK again, just, just for a second, you know,

00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:15.579
take me back to, you said it was an elite club, elite for the area.

00:17:15.759 --> 00:17:19.739
Like, take me back to how you got involved and really, I guess what it means

00:17:19.739 --> 00:17:23.199
to you to be a part of it. It's, it's a definitely like a brotherhood.

00:17:23.559 --> 00:17:26.839
When I first came around, there's a big show that happens up here.

00:17:26.939 --> 00:17:33.319
It's one of the, one of, I would say the best, biggest Volkswagen show that

00:17:33.319 --> 00:17:37.519
happens in Western Canada called the Great Canadian Volkswagen Weekend.

00:17:38.259 --> 00:17:42.359
And in 97 was my first show. That was, I think that was show number seven.

00:17:42.979 --> 00:17:46.939
And probably the third or fourth year I'd gotten to know the guys really good.

00:17:47.079 --> 00:17:50.039
They worked at CIP, California Imports. Yeah.

00:17:50.479 --> 00:17:52.459
Very well-known company worldwide now.

00:17:54.139 --> 00:17:59.619
And I think it was 96, the DVKK had started and started to become friends with

00:17:59.619 --> 00:18:02.979
them and started to volunteer at the show. They're like, hey, we need, we need a hand.

00:18:03.139 --> 00:18:05.719
Do you want to help out? And I was like, absolutely. Right.

00:18:06.199 --> 00:18:09.379
I'd be honored. And then I started to put in the volunteer hours.

00:18:09.839 --> 00:18:15.919
You know, it's a nonprofit organization and, and slowly bit by bit. They have a website.

00:18:16.719 --> 00:18:19.679
I don't, we have an Instagram page that I run now.

00:18:20.519 --> 00:18:25.719
What's the Instagram handle? I believe it's Der Vultrin Wagon Kaffer Club Don't

00:18:25.719 --> 00:18:31.839
ask me to spell that right now But on Instagram And I believe we have a Facebook

00:18:31.839 --> 00:18:35.079
page too Give me some of the past You know,

00:18:35.179 --> 00:18:39.579
it's a long time you've been involved Give me some of your favorite memories of DBKK,

00:18:40.239 --> 00:18:43.099
Oh man, that's a good question I love this one,

00:18:43.959 --> 00:18:48.539
You know, other than going to shows And like when you show up We have,

00:18:48.619 --> 00:18:51.419
you know, a display that we would put on and everyone would be like,

00:18:51.519 --> 00:18:52.999
oh, it's the DBKK, right?

00:18:53.739 --> 00:18:57.119
You know, like I said, magazine-worthy cars and stuff like that.

00:18:57.319 --> 00:19:01.399
But to me, the best memories are the road trips down to Seattle.

00:19:01.719 --> 00:19:04.759
Because we're just, you know, for our listeners, we're just about two hours

00:19:04.759 --> 00:19:06.619
outside of Seattle in Canada and Vancouver.

00:19:07.619 --> 00:19:10.279
Puyallup Fairgrounds would be another place we would go to shows.

00:19:10.779 --> 00:19:16.039
And we would, you know, head down there Friday night, get the cheapest motel

00:19:16.039 --> 00:19:19.399
that we could possibly find. Motel 6.

00:19:20.159 --> 00:19:23.359
I was going to say that or the quality end was like, you know,

00:19:23.419 --> 00:19:27.019
I don't know what they are now, but it was like $69 US a night.

00:19:28.059 --> 00:19:35.499
And we would pile in like 10 guys into a room and hit up the local club, just get smashed.

00:19:35.799 --> 00:19:39.319
And then, you know, whoever paid for the room would get the bed and everyone

00:19:39.319 --> 00:19:43.059
like there'd be one guy in the tub, one under the sink, one guy on the floor.

00:19:43.179 --> 00:19:45.599
And you get up at 6 a.m. to hit the swap. Right.

00:19:46.319 --> 00:19:50.639
But just awesome stories like that, just all partying. And we were young and,

00:19:50.639 --> 00:19:52.159
you know, just having a good time.

00:19:52.875 --> 00:19:57.715
Yes. Those good days of partying and being young post probably what?

00:19:58.275 --> 00:20:02.775
37, 38. You're like, well, it just starts slowing down. You go through your

00:20:02.775 --> 00:20:05.935
40. You're like, well, I think I'm actually getting old.

00:20:08.615 --> 00:20:12.795
Yeah. I turned 48, July 14th. We played a birthday. I remember that.

00:20:13.255 --> 00:20:18.895
Yeah. Thank you, man. Thank you. Tell me how you explain the whole air-cooled

00:20:18.895 --> 00:20:24.075
bond, you know, telling stories like that, hotel room full of guys waking up

00:20:24.075 --> 00:20:27.315
early in the morning after partying to hit up the swap.

00:20:27.555 --> 00:20:31.415
How do you explain the air-cooled bond to maybe an outsider?

00:20:31.695 --> 00:20:36.215
You know, I honestly, I love it. Like, I have friends that are in the Mustang

00:20:36.215 --> 00:20:39.395
club and I have friends that are in the Camaro, Chevy, whatever club.

00:20:39.395 --> 00:20:45.715
And honestly, I'll kind of watch them And there's a lot of I don't want to use

00:20:45.715 --> 00:20:49.935
the wrong word But there's a lot of like animosity Everyone's trying to have

00:20:49.935 --> 00:20:53.815
the coolest car And be the coolest dude Where in Volkswagens,

00:20:53.915 --> 00:20:59.835
it's just different I don't know how to explain it But there's no jealousy Or

00:20:59.835 --> 00:21:05.695
I really haven't really noticed it And when someone needs help There's, you know,

00:21:05.775 --> 00:21:08.775
not just one guy There's like four or five guys He's fighting over hand and

00:21:08.775 --> 00:21:10.535
fist to be like, hey, man, I'll be there tomorrow.

00:21:11.515 --> 00:21:14.815
And let's get this knocked out of the park and get you back on the road.

00:21:14.995 --> 00:21:17.435
And you're broken down on the side of the highway.

00:21:18.015 --> 00:21:21.755
Just, you know, two days ago, I was cruising around in my beetle and I saw another

00:21:21.755 --> 00:21:24.055
guy in a bug broken down. Never seen him before in my life.

00:21:24.535 --> 00:21:28.155
It was a modified beetle. I'm like, you know, I kind of told him,

00:21:28.215 --> 00:21:30.355
hey, we have a show every summer. Come check it out.

00:21:31.575 --> 00:21:36.195
And his gasp, his MP roller pedal had come loose.

00:21:37.155 --> 00:21:40.595
And he wasn't mechanically inclined. I got him temporarily fixed.

00:21:40.595 --> 00:21:42.095
And I said, just go straight home.

00:21:42.295 --> 00:21:46.555
And this is how you fix it. So if you know somebody, get it done. And he was so thankful.

00:21:47.420 --> 00:21:51.700
That's the community that for sure. Yeah. Well, and that was you.

00:21:52.020 --> 00:21:55.020
So, you know, thanks for, thanks for being part of it.

00:21:55.340 --> 00:21:59.740
That's, you know, how you explain air cooled to outsiders also really kind of

00:21:59.740 --> 00:22:02.060
ties into what I want to touch on next.

00:22:02.260 --> 00:22:05.920
And it's really how the community differs from other car cultures.

00:22:06.100 --> 00:22:09.040
Really? You just, you just told it and it, and it's true.

00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:14.340
And we could probably sit here and talk for hours on stories of how the Volkswagen

00:22:14.340 --> 00:22:18.360
community, especially in the air-cooled scene is just different,

00:22:18.360 --> 00:22:20.800
you know, from other car cultures.

00:22:20.980 --> 00:22:24.800
Yeah. Talk to me a little bit about growing up in East Vancouver.

00:22:25.600 --> 00:22:30.180
Oh, man. So to the listeners that are, you know, not local, it's kind of like

00:22:30.180 --> 00:22:34.320
our, I don't want to use the word hood, but it's kind of like the blue collar,

00:22:34.320 --> 00:22:39.620
you know, families that were like, you know, maybe middle, middle class.

00:22:39.940 --> 00:22:43.740
We have an area called West Van, you know, it's short for Vancouver.

00:22:43.920 --> 00:22:47.400
We say Van. So East Van, West Van. that was the richer, you know,

00:22:47.500 --> 00:22:49.840
the, the, the weller, the well-off neighborhoods.

00:22:50.200 --> 00:22:55.840
And so we had like the sort of street fights, you know, you know, the gangs, right.

00:22:55.960 --> 00:22:58.860
There was like a local gangs, you know, the different parks, right.

00:22:58.920 --> 00:23:03.520
We had, you know, so it was, it was a bit rough and a little bit of a roughneck

00:23:03.520 --> 00:23:07.240
area, but it kind of shaped you and kind of toughened you up.

00:23:07.480 --> 00:23:12.640
Growing up, you had some undiagnosed ADHD and some dyslexia.

00:23:13.260 --> 00:23:20.000
And I know how that feels because I had diagnosed dyslexia and ADHD and they

00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:24.480
tried medication and the Sylvan Learning Center and all kinds of stuff that

00:23:24.480 --> 00:23:30.460
they would try to beat me normal even though I wasn't.

00:23:30.620 --> 00:23:35.920
But tell me about living a life with it being undiagnosed.

00:23:36.480 --> 00:23:42.420
I remember my struggle. So I want to hear your side, like what was it like coming

00:23:42.420 --> 00:23:45.680
up with, you know, having I guess that.

00:23:46.574 --> 00:23:53.494
It's even hard to, to, to, to explain or to, to, I guess, feel the concept of

00:23:53.494 --> 00:23:56.594
when you don't, when things don't make sense.

00:23:56.834 --> 00:24:01.794
It's like, you're, I'm not like dumb. I'm not like, you know, I'm not, not smart.

00:24:02.034 --> 00:24:06.034
It's just things go through my brain different. So again, this is more about you.

00:24:06.414 --> 00:24:09.394
What was it like growing up being undiagnosed?

00:24:10.174 --> 00:24:14.434
It was, it, yeah, it was tough because you see all your friends that just got

00:24:14.434 --> 00:24:17.554
things and you're like, why am I not getting it like the way they are?

00:24:17.654 --> 00:24:20.694
And our education system is kind of a cookie cutter, right?

00:24:20.814 --> 00:24:24.494
So I always say that I felt like a round peg in a square hole.

00:24:24.754 --> 00:24:29.114
Why am I not fitting in the way everybody else is? And then I had a dad who

00:24:29.114 --> 00:24:30.714
was, you know, an immigrant.

00:24:30.954 --> 00:24:35.634
So he, you know, his old ways was just like, hey, you're going to learn.

00:24:36.054 --> 00:24:39.214
I'm going to scare you into learning. So you're just lazy and you're going to

00:24:39.214 --> 00:24:43.374
get the belt if you don't smarten up. And I'm like, I'm trying my best here.

00:24:43.454 --> 00:24:44.354
I just don't understand this.

00:24:44.474 --> 00:24:48.534
So I went through a few programs and, and back in my day, I guess they didn't

00:24:48.534 --> 00:24:50.014
really know how to test for everything.

00:24:50.254 --> 00:24:54.554
And in my adult years, I finally was told, like I said earlier,

00:24:54.814 --> 00:24:58.334
it wasn't, I wasn't properly diagnosed, but I was pretty much told,

00:24:58.454 --> 00:25:02.474
hey man, you have, you have a little bit of dyslexia, not severe.

00:25:02.794 --> 00:25:05.734
You have a little bit of ADHD, which I know, but it was tough.

00:25:05.874 --> 00:25:10.314
It was, it was, it was tough. I, I, I got, you know, I kind of gave up on school

00:25:10.314 --> 00:25:13.794
by high school, you know, and, and starting.

00:25:14.694 --> 00:25:18.714
Yeah. It's crazy. It's crazy to talk to somebody similar in age.

00:25:18.914 --> 00:25:21.794
You're, you know, just a little, a few years older than me, four,

00:25:21.934 --> 00:25:26.334
I believe to talk to somebody that, that, you know, that gets it because not

00:25:26.334 --> 00:25:27.654
everybody does, you know,

00:25:28.470 --> 00:25:32.810
that feeling that you just described, why other people can get things when,

00:25:32.810 --> 00:25:36.890
when, when we couldn't, when I couldn't, I just, I feel that in like the pit

00:25:36.890 --> 00:25:39.630
of my stomach because, you know,

00:25:40.010 --> 00:25:45.130
even in my life as an adult, you know, things I've tried to accomplish tests

00:25:45.130 --> 00:25:46.710
I've tried to take, et cetera,

00:25:47.250 --> 00:25:52.110
dude, I can study, you know, I can do all the other, what does studying even mean?

00:25:52.650 --> 00:25:56.170
Yeah. Like memorizing. Like, what do you mean study?

00:25:56.390 --> 00:26:00.930
Like I have friends, even my wife that will just read and comprehend.

00:26:01.810 --> 00:26:04.570
It's like, Nope, it's there. I got it now.

00:26:04.710 --> 00:26:09.890
I read it once it's there. I'm like, I forgot what I read and I forgot what I just said.

00:26:11.210 --> 00:26:14.730
And it's like, not, it's, it's not like, I'm not a burnout.

00:26:14.970 --> 00:26:18.730
Like it's not that dude. Like it's just, yeah, man.

00:26:18.910 --> 00:26:22.110
So I totally, totally feel that and I'm

00:26:22.110 --> 00:26:25.210
happy that you're willing to talk about it oh yeah anytime and

00:26:25.210 --> 00:26:28.370
and like you know reading something five times over again yeah

00:26:28.370 --> 00:26:31.130
your mind just wander and I'm just like what is wrong with me

00:26:31.130 --> 00:26:33.990
I'm just like you know but there was nothing wrong with us

00:26:33.990 --> 00:26:36.790
we were just a society built this you know I'm a

00:26:36.790 --> 00:26:39.850
believer that back in the caveman days we all had jobs

00:26:39.850 --> 00:26:43.170
there was a storytellers there was the healers there

00:26:43.170 --> 00:26:46.290
was the hunters and you know the

00:26:46.290 --> 00:26:49.310
the the the fathers the fix you know we all had jobs

00:26:49.310 --> 00:26:52.030
and I think society is just you know we're doing our best right

00:26:52.030 --> 00:26:54.930
this human evolution like I'm not you know sitting

00:26:54.930 --> 00:26:57.850
here putting putting things down it's just the way things go and

00:26:57.850 --> 00:27:02.070
you know things are more of a cookie cutter style and sometimes if you don't

00:27:02.070 --> 00:27:06.150
fit in which I mean things are getting better there's like way more education

00:27:06.150 --> 00:27:11.770
out there way more help for students now that have dyslexia and you know and

00:27:11.770 --> 00:27:15.870
we were maybe I like to think of myself you and me as pioneers that you know

00:27:15.870 --> 00:27:17.490
we were the guinea pigs and if that's,

00:27:17.970 --> 00:27:19.830
what they got from us, then I'm honored.

00:27:20.430 --> 00:27:23.030
Yeah, you said something a minute ago too about.

00:27:24.051 --> 00:27:27.911
The, the, the system, you know, kind of being a cookie cutter system.

00:27:28.171 --> 00:27:32.071
And I, we feel the same way, you know, here in the States, my wife,

00:27:32.231 --> 00:27:36.371
you know, said one of the privileges of us homeschooling all of our kids,

00:27:36.491 --> 00:27:43.011
which, which she did was that the children have to be taught in the way that they learn,

00:27:43.411 --> 00:27:46.351
not in a cookie cutter realm that just kind

00:27:46.351 --> 00:27:49.431
of forces them to learn the way society wants

00:27:49.431 --> 00:27:52.431
them to instead children need to be taught you know

00:27:52.431 --> 00:27:55.491
the way that they learn and it's it's it's

00:27:55.491 --> 00:27:58.551
an opportunity to tap into the way that you know i never had

00:27:58.551 --> 00:28:01.411
that you know if somebody would have tapped into me

00:28:01.411 --> 00:28:06.871
and taught me you know how to learn or whatever you know that feeling i feel

00:28:06.871 --> 00:28:11.951
like i probably would have took over the world when i was 13 yeah absolutely

00:28:11.951 --> 00:28:16.731
yeah i feel like i could have done much more with my career but you know i did

00:28:16.731 --> 00:28:18.871
the best we could um you know i'm just happy.

00:28:18.951 --> 00:28:21.251
My wife, she's an educator and she just says, you know what?

00:28:21.531 --> 00:28:28.991
I think 60 or 70%, don't quote me on that, but it's very high of inmates in jail are dyslexic. Wow.

00:28:29.691 --> 00:28:33.911
Right. So, you know, she's like, you made it, you got a career, your dad, your husband.

00:28:34.191 --> 00:28:36.771
And so I'm like, you know, that's, it's nice to hear, right.

00:28:36.891 --> 00:28:38.131
That I could have, you know.

00:28:38.251 --> 00:28:42.031
And just the support, by the way, just the support, you know,

00:28:42.151 --> 00:28:45.731
and, and my wife, same way, man celebrates all types of wins that,

00:28:46.111 --> 00:28:49.551
you know, essentially I want to beat myself up for, but she reminds me,

00:28:49.651 --> 00:28:53.331
puts things into perspective for me all the time. So I value that.

00:28:53.511 --> 00:28:58.111
When did the Volkswagen community become kind of your therapy?

00:28:58.311 --> 00:29:02.431
Because it almost seems like, you know, your love and your interest and the

00:29:02.431 --> 00:29:03.991
amount of time, passion, and money

00:29:03.991 --> 00:29:08.211
that you've spent over time on your car probably is a form of therapy.

00:29:09.098 --> 00:29:13.558
It absolutely is. It's an interesting story. So unbeknownst to me,

00:29:13.678 --> 00:29:17.558
when I would be in school and draw a lot, I was very much into art.

00:29:17.878 --> 00:29:21.018
I loved the beauty of anything, you know.

00:29:21.258 --> 00:29:25.058
And cars kind of ran in the family. My dad had a few, you know,

00:29:25.138 --> 00:29:27.158
he had an Impala, he had a Chevelle.

00:29:27.798 --> 00:29:31.198
So, you know, cars kind of, you know, in the family. And then being,

00:29:31.378 --> 00:29:38.098
I guess being an immigrant, when my dad came here, a status symbol of making

00:29:38.098 --> 00:29:41.458
it was having a home and a nice car. Okay. Right?

00:29:41.958 --> 00:29:45.658
So, so, you know, that, that, that played a huge role in my life.

00:29:45.758 --> 00:29:47.738
And I thought, I'm going to get a cool car also.

00:29:48.358 --> 00:29:52.298
But, you know, my dad was into new cars, you know, obviously back then in the

00:29:52.298 --> 00:29:54.318
sixties and seventies, those, those were newer cars.

00:29:54.578 --> 00:30:00.098
And when I wanted to buy this thing, he was like, what the hell do you want to do with a 75 Beetle?

00:30:00.658 --> 00:30:05.078
That's not new get a mercedes you know like right mercedes

00:30:05.078 --> 00:30:07.858
don't talk to us like this though yeah i like old

00:30:07.858 --> 00:30:12.258
cars liked anything uh old right at that time but obviously beatles had just

00:30:12.258 --> 00:30:16.318
a little something different with them right and then so when i got into it

00:30:16.318 --> 00:30:19.238
i was like looking through the magazines because there's no you know kids that

00:30:19.238 --> 00:30:22.338
are listening right now there was no internet you couldn't shop online especially

00:30:22.338 --> 00:30:26.318
back in 97 i think it was the internet had just maybe been introduced,

00:30:26.518 --> 00:30:30.138
there was emails going around and maybe some business had some websites,

00:30:30.338 --> 00:30:32.818
but I don't know if you could order online or anything like that,

00:30:32.878 --> 00:30:34.258
but you would look through the magazines.

00:30:34.258 --> 00:30:38.158
I would be up late in bed just flipping through like, ah, I'm going to get that

00:30:38.158 --> 00:30:40.458
one. That's how we would dream. Yeah.

00:30:41.558 --> 00:30:44.118
You know, these old black and white pictures and magazines. And then,

00:30:44.118 --> 00:30:47.118
and then I thought to myself, okay, so how much do I have to work?

00:30:48.218 --> 00:30:51.938
How many hours do I got to put in? Reverse engineering. Yeah.

00:30:52.438 --> 00:30:55.718
And then, so, you know, while my friends, you know, my, the,

00:30:55.718 --> 00:30:59.218
the crowd that I was hanging out with was definitely going into the wrong direction

00:30:59.218 --> 00:31:00.858
and getting into trouble.

00:31:01.038 --> 00:31:04.858
And some, unfortunately were, were murdered, you know, in, in this gang life.

00:31:04.978 --> 00:31:09.278
And I was like, I can't go out party tonight. I can't spend money on booze.

00:31:09.338 --> 00:31:11.658
I got to buy this a hundred dollar part, you know, in a couple of weeks.

00:31:11.758 --> 00:31:15.398
So that, that, you know, looking back at it, I was like, Oh man,

00:31:15.458 --> 00:31:16.338
that kept me out of trouble.

00:31:16.678 --> 00:31:19.878
Like, you know, and, and then meeting the guys, and then meeting the guys,

00:31:20.018 --> 00:31:22.838
the good guys in the communities that were a little bit older than me,

00:31:22.838 --> 00:31:27.198
that took you in and we're like, hey, you know, like you need help with this

00:31:27.198 --> 00:31:30.338
part, get the part, come to my garage and we'll, we'll put it in.

00:31:31.078 --> 00:31:35.158
And that was, you know, that just became a new goal of mine, a new passion.

00:31:35.658 --> 00:31:40.698
So it sounds like Volkswagen world essentially gave you structure and maybe

00:31:40.698 --> 00:31:41.938
even gave you some purpose.

00:31:42.638 --> 00:31:48.498
Absolutely. Talk to me about potential cultural barriers or assumptions that

00:31:48.498 --> 00:31:52.858
you had to push through as youth, you know, coming into a young man.

00:31:53.238 --> 00:31:56.778
Yeah, it was interesting, but I was fortunate.

00:31:56.958 --> 00:32:01.238
It wasn't anything terrible, but I was the only Indian guy in the,

00:32:01.378 --> 00:32:06.238
I think I still am the only Indian guy in the air-cooled world around here, and.

00:32:07.244 --> 00:32:10.604
You know, and I was welcomed with open arms, you know, guys,

00:32:10.784 --> 00:32:13.304
you know, we'll, we'll raz each other, especially us old school guys,

00:32:13.424 --> 00:32:17.344
you know, like being politically incorrect to what they call it these days.

00:32:17.504 --> 00:32:21.264
We would raz each other a little bit and, you know, good old fashioned brother

00:32:21.264 --> 00:32:22.764
love and picking on each other.

00:32:22.904 --> 00:32:26.764
But other than that, man, like I honestly was just brought in like a family

00:32:26.764 --> 00:32:29.184
member and, and just started this bond.

00:32:29.304 --> 00:32:32.444
And then I knew they had my back if something ever, you know,

00:32:32.744 --> 00:32:33.764
went awry or something like that.

00:32:33.764 --> 00:32:36.804
But yeah, no, I can't say there was any,

00:32:37.064 --> 00:32:41.784
anything crazy, maybe from my own community, a couple of guys would be like,

00:32:41.944 --> 00:32:46.404
why don't you have like a Fox, a Fox body Mustang, you know,

00:32:46.584 --> 00:32:50.744
cause the Fox body Mustangs were huge in the nineties and then they're big now too. Right.

00:32:50.924 --> 00:32:54.584
But I'm like, I don't like those Mustangs. That's not something that I'm into.

00:32:54.744 --> 00:32:57.204
Why not? You know, it's like, I'm just not.

00:32:58.164 --> 00:33:01.724
Yeah. It's tough to explain that feeling. Yeah, it is.

00:33:01.884 --> 00:33:04.704
Yeah, it is. It is. even for for all of

00:33:04.704 --> 00:33:07.704
us now you started a men's cruise

00:33:07.704 --> 00:33:10.664
tell me what that's all about actually haven't started it

00:33:10.664 --> 00:33:14.904
yet okay so you have a vision to start a men's cruise i have a vision to start

00:33:14.904 --> 00:33:20.504
a men's cruise i told myself in my late 40s that i'm gonna start something by

00:33:20.504 --> 00:33:27.604
55 and i'm turning 52 in about two months so okay and what's the dream for is

00:33:27.604 --> 00:33:29.324
it a is it a ride is it a show,

00:33:29.864 --> 00:33:33.024
it's a it's a cruise we have a we have a popular town

00:33:33.024 --> 00:33:36.224
uh ski resort in in vancouver called whistler i

00:33:36.224 --> 00:33:40.844
don't know if you're familiar with it but i've heard of it yes so halfway

00:33:40.844 --> 00:33:43.984
up is a town called squamish and a lot

00:33:43.984 --> 00:33:46.764
of people it's called the sea to sky s2s is what

00:33:46.764 --> 00:33:49.944
we call it it's a beautiful twisty windy road

00:33:49.944 --> 00:33:52.684
that leads all the way up there and you can open her

00:33:52.684 --> 00:33:55.404
up and and just just enjoy right at your

00:33:55.404 --> 00:33:58.884
own pace you want to you know push the limits a little bit or you just want

00:33:58.884 --> 00:34:04.044
to take it easy a lot of bikers do it and it's just it's something beautiful

00:34:04.044 --> 00:34:09.164
and i thought you know to bring awareness to men to men's health because i'm

00:34:09.164 --> 00:34:15.164
sure you know it's just something that we've just started to kind of talk about growing up.

00:34:15.931 --> 00:34:18.411
I don't want to put words in your mouth, but you know, boys don't cry,

00:34:19.051 --> 00:34:21.571
right? No, you were the P word.

00:34:21.771 --> 00:34:25.171
If you were, you know, if you were even to bring something up like this,

00:34:25.291 --> 00:34:26.791
we couldn't talk about this type of stuff.

00:34:26.851 --> 00:34:30.691
You couldn't have feelings. If you did, you were a, you know, yeah.

00:34:31.291 --> 00:34:34.391
Yeah, I get, I absolutely hear you there. And so, you know, you,

00:34:34.491 --> 00:34:39.291
you either came home and drank your problems away or whatever you did and it

00:34:39.291 --> 00:34:42.391
turned out, you know, it's not working, right?

00:34:42.491 --> 00:34:47.151
It's, it's not. And I had I had a bit of an episode a few years ago just from

00:34:47.151 --> 00:34:51.111
unresolved childhood trauma with me and my father and, you know,

00:34:51.211 --> 00:34:52.371
going through my issues.

00:34:52.651 --> 00:34:55.971
I didn't I thought, well, if I don't think about it, they're going to go away.

00:34:56.171 --> 00:35:01.271
Well, you know, the human the human mind will eventually get tired of that and it'll pop up.

00:35:01.371 --> 00:35:06.251
And I had to go get, you know, talk to one of our through my I'm a nurse.

00:35:06.411 --> 00:35:13.631
So through our our work, we are covered for anything related to mental health, talking to counselors.

00:35:13.711 --> 00:35:15.931
Yeah. And I thought, this is weird, man.

00:35:16.271 --> 00:35:18.431
This is weird. I don't want to talk about, I'm a typical guy.

00:35:18.451 --> 00:35:22.251
I don't talk about my feelings, but man, it completely changed my life.

00:35:22.351 --> 00:35:27.431
I'm an absolute advocate. And I say, we're so quick to run to our doctors when

00:35:27.431 --> 00:35:29.031
there's something physically wrong with us.

00:35:29.151 --> 00:35:32.711
You feel a pain in your body, you're making that phone call to your doctor, right?

00:35:33.091 --> 00:35:35.471
Right. Why don't we do that with our mental health?

00:35:36.071 --> 00:35:40.171
Right? Why is it, if things bothering you, why are we so afraid than not to

00:35:40.171 --> 00:35:43.771
treat our bodies and our minds the exact same way? Yeah.

00:35:44.311 --> 00:35:48.971
Great point. And you, you, you almost hit something on the head to it.

00:35:49.511 --> 00:35:53.871
It sounds like through some of the, the way that you described it,

00:35:54.091 --> 00:35:58.251
that you've had therapy and somebody's explained it, you know,

00:35:58.371 --> 00:36:01.951
to you, I have to, and I, I feel there's definitely, you know,

00:36:02.051 --> 00:36:07.531
room for that in the conversation, but I know you feel like all older men,

00:36:07.791 --> 00:36:09.231
especially late, you know,

00:36:09.571 --> 00:36:12.591
to older, right at the 50 year old mark that they

00:36:12.591 --> 00:36:15.571
need this kind of a kind of space you know

00:36:15.571 --> 00:36:18.351
now more than ever talk on that for me

00:36:18.351 --> 00:36:21.291
yeah so you know i want to you know

00:36:21.291 --> 00:36:24.091
besides them doing their part i want them to belong

00:36:24.091 --> 00:36:28.311
to a community so i mean anybody any

00:36:28.311 --> 00:36:31.471
age group would we wouldn't i wouldn't discriminate

00:36:31.471 --> 00:36:34.951
but i just want to open up something where men

00:36:34.951 --> 00:36:37.891
could hang out and if your kids have

00:36:37.891 --> 00:36:40.751
flown the coop and you're kind of you know finding yourself

00:36:40.751 --> 00:36:44.271
a little lonely you're you're you're separated widowed

00:36:44.271 --> 00:36:47.211
whatever it is you know i want to i want a

00:36:47.211 --> 00:36:51.631
brotherhood where you know guys once a month we all get together we do this

00:36:51.631 --> 00:36:56.191
beautiful little cruise and we just hang out and if somebody wants to talk about

00:36:56.191 --> 00:37:00.231
something that's what we're there for or sometimes just someone being there

00:37:00.231 --> 00:37:05.811
physically is more than enough that's so awesome man it really is you know.

00:37:06.615 --> 00:37:11.075
Like you said, guys that are in their fifties now, you know,

00:37:11.155 --> 00:37:17.095
when they were young, you, we were almost trained that you can't,

00:37:17.175 --> 00:37:19.715
you can't really have feelings. You can't talk about them.

00:37:19.835 --> 00:37:24.395
You get up, you go to work, you work sick, you know, you work through what,

00:37:24.535 --> 00:37:26.695
you know, anything that you have to, you work hurt.

00:37:27.275 --> 00:37:33.775
Mental health is, is a, is a new topic for a lot of, of people because it's

00:37:33.775 --> 00:37:38.595
not something that we explored. What does mental health look like for guys in

00:37:38.595 --> 00:37:41.055
their 50s, from your opinion? That's a good question.

00:37:41.515 --> 00:37:49.275
It's still tough. I feel that we've just started to break the barriers and the ice on this.

00:37:49.795 --> 00:37:53.855
I'm sure the younger generation are not going to have as a difficult time because

00:37:53.855 --> 00:37:56.455
we've addressed that issue.

00:37:56.595 --> 00:38:00.155
I hope I've addressed it with my boys and our children, you know,

00:38:00.535 --> 00:38:02.975
but guys our age, they need to be pushed.

00:38:03.175 --> 00:38:06.755
There's still a lot of guys out there that don't want to talk and they don't

00:38:06.755 --> 00:38:11.935
know how to talk, you know, and, and, you know, you can lead a horse to water,

00:38:12.015 --> 00:38:13.775
but you can't make them, you know, you can't make a drink.

00:38:13.975 --> 00:38:18.135
So, you know, I'm hoping by, if I start this, you know, just,

00:38:18.355 --> 00:38:21.555
you know, they, they might just be like, Hey, that wasn't so bad.

00:38:21.695 --> 00:38:26.935
And it might just start that little horse that they need, you know.

00:38:26.935 --> 00:38:34.455
So, you know, a big shift for me in my, well, 31, I was 31 when I started having

00:38:34.455 --> 00:38:41.075
kids and I feel like I didn't take life serious, even all the way down to risk, you know.

00:38:41.695 --> 00:38:46.195
Whatever it'd be gambling or, you know, riding a crazy motorcycle or jumping

00:38:46.195 --> 00:38:50.095
off of a roof or just doing something stupid until I had kids.

00:38:50.255 --> 00:38:52.675
I didn't look at any of that stuff as crazy.

00:38:53.057 --> 00:38:55.917
Stupid i just looked at it as this is what we do we're

00:38:55.917 --> 00:38:59.157
boys we have fun we you know we get crazy how did

00:38:59.157 --> 00:39:04.237
fatherhood shift your perspective you know because i know how it did for me

00:39:04.237 --> 00:39:09.437
but how did it shift your perspective on on life and on you know the whole car

00:39:09.437 --> 00:39:14.577
scene i i i did have to put my i had a motorbike at the time that i had that

00:39:14.577 --> 00:39:17.597
i sold as soon as we got pregnant i was like This, this, this, you know,

00:39:18.077 --> 00:39:20.137
free racing thing is getting out of hand.

00:39:21.597 --> 00:39:25.217
And, and. I have a quick, I have a quick story for that too.

00:39:25.417 --> 00:39:31.357
When, when my young, let's see, one, two, three, when I had my third child, I have five.

00:39:31.517 --> 00:39:36.937
When I had my third child, we had moved back to this area from Colorado on one

00:39:36.937 --> 00:39:38.357
of our stints that we were out there.

00:39:38.897 --> 00:39:42.437
And when we came back to the area, my father-in-law, you know,

00:39:42.497 --> 00:39:45.337
told me about this Harley, this dude had, that was a great deal.

00:39:45.337 --> 00:39:46.577
I ended up buying the Harley.

00:39:47.557 --> 00:39:53.697
My wife had a dream the night that I bought it, that I died on it and made me sell it the next day.

00:39:56.097 --> 00:40:02.497
So, so I get it, man. I get it. You sold the bike. Yeah. I actually crashed my bike.

00:40:03.137 --> 00:40:07.297
And then when I, while it was getting fixed, we were pregnant and my wife just

00:40:07.297 --> 00:40:10.457
gave me that look and I'm like, yeah, I know it's time to go. It's time to kill it.

00:40:11.097 --> 00:40:14.017
As soon as it got fixed, I sold it off. The rest is history.

00:40:14.557 --> 00:40:17.837
Just go back to your question like the the shifting the community

00:40:17.837 --> 00:40:20.877
was awesome because as you know the volkswagen

00:40:20.877 --> 00:40:24.517
community is all about family and kids and welcoming you know

00:40:24.517 --> 00:40:28.657
children around i mean i grew up going to these shows where these some of these

00:40:28.657 --> 00:40:32.457
kids were in strollers and now they're driving to the shows like it's it's wild

00:40:32.457 --> 00:40:38.217
that's so cool right so yeah it was always it's always been a sense of family

00:40:38.217 --> 00:40:42.397
and community so that's that's another thing you know that it shaped, right?

00:40:42.497 --> 00:40:45.977
I was always proud to become a father and you can bring your family around and

00:40:45.977 --> 00:40:47.417
grow up with these people.

00:40:47.577 --> 00:40:50.577
And then if anything they need to help with, if they were going to ever get

00:40:50.577 --> 00:40:53.717
into Volkswagens, I know my older son is still thinking about it,

00:40:53.777 --> 00:40:58.697
but I'm trying to, he's a car guy just like me, but I'm trying to tell him,

00:40:58.717 --> 00:41:01.457
man, just get your education and we'll get you a car.

00:41:02.537 --> 00:41:06.057
There's a saying that I love. It says, by the time you realize your father was

00:41:06.057 --> 00:41:08.037
right, you have a son who thinks you're wrong.

00:41:09.397 --> 00:41:14.237
Ain't that the truth? yeah that's the truth god that hits that hits nice and

00:41:14.237 --> 00:41:15.657
hard right in the center of the chest,

00:41:16.357 --> 00:41:22.257
go back to to your 25 year old self if you could give your 25 year old self

00:41:22.257 --> 00:41:31.177
advice what would it be oh man i would say don't sweat the small stuff and trust the process,

00:41:31.977 --> 00:41:37.377
enjoy the moment you're in even if it's tough i would i would just say even

00:41:37.377 --> 00:41:39.757
if it's tough Don't just, you know,

00:41:39.997 --> 00:41:44.417
like Hold your breath and close your eyes Just learn from it Even if it's a

00:41:44.417 --> 00:41:49.857
negative experience Learn from it and move on to the next To the next with some knowledge.

00:41:50.744 --> 00:41:54.924
Good advice. All right, I got some rapid fire questions. These are questions

00:41:54.924 --> 00:41:57.584
that demand a fast response. All right, we're ready?

00:41:58.364 --> 00:42:04.804
Rapid fire. All right. Favorite VW part that you've installed over time? Favorite part?

00:42:05.124 --> 00:42:07.044
I would say my shifter.

00:42:07.424 --> 00:42:11.824
My vintage speed Mamba, the black Mamba shifter. Cool. Okay.

00:42:12.204 --> 00:42:19.104
This is a good question, but how about the most underrated VW of all time? Most underrated?

00:42:19.584 --> 00:42:24.744
I don't know about that one i don't know i don't know if there is an underrated

00:42:24.744 --> 00:42:30.964
vw all pretty cool so i i get two sides to that always i either get somebody

00:42:30.964 --> 00:42:37.364
that answers it or i get somebody that says that right how about overrated the most overrated,

00:42:37.904 --> 00:42:40.744
uh you know what i'm gonna get a lot of hate for this but i'm gonna say

00:42:40.744 --> 00:42:43.784
the later bay window bus the later okay so

00:42:43.784 --> 00:42:46.744
i hear that in a couple different ways too i've heard

00:42:46.744 --> 00:42:50.084
all kinds of cars in obviously classic

00:42:50.084 --> 00:42:53.144
vws but the biggest one that i hear is

00:42:53.144 --> 00:42:56.024
split window bus and it's not because they're

00:42:56.024 --> 00:42:59.004
not cool they're cool as hell and you know we all we

00:42:59.004 --> 00:43:02.324
all want one but for comfort and

00:43:02.324 --> 00:43:08.684
for speed etc that's usually what i hear for overrated but bay window for you

00:43:08.684 --> 00:43:15.604
awesome how about road dream road trip destination i would love to do that highway

00:43:15.604 --> 00:43:19.204
the route what's that Route 66? Route 66, yeah.

00:43:20.304 --> 00:43:25.884
South Chicago goes all the way over the US. Yeah, I mean, maybe not the whole thing.

00:43:26.204 --> 00:43:29.384
Probably not my Beetle because it would just be screaming on the highway.

00:43:29.644 --> 00:43:33.504
But if I could fly down and rent something with a couple of friends of mine

00:43:33.504 --> 00:43:37.284
and do maybe a week or two of that, that would be an absolute dream.

00:43:37.624 --> 00:43:41.004
So shout out to this guy on my shirt right here, Mr. Mahalo.

00:43:41.204 --> 00:43:46.884
He's in California. He came on the podcast and he talked about putting together

00:43:46.884 --> 00:43:53.744
a Route 66 ride down the road in the future and having everybody trailer their

00:43:53.744 --> 00:44:00.084
cars in to that area and then taking off and doing it. How cool would that be? That'd be fun.

00:44:00.684 --> 00:44:07.844
That'd be awesome. How about least favorite trend, VW trend, least favorite?

00:44:08.664 --> 00:44:15.024
Oh, okay. I would say the carbon fiber and the weird flares that everybody has,

00:44:15.244 --> 00:44:17.924
you know, I'm talking about those body flares that they're cutting,

00:44:18.424 --> 00:44:20.084
you know, it's not just on VWs.

00:44:20.164 --> 00:44:22.344
It's on a lot of things, but it's like, it's not a German look,

00:44:22.404 --> 00:44:27.144
I would say, but it's got the, the plastic flares that just kind of fly off

00:44:27.144 --> 00:44:29.144
the, off the fenders and stuff like that.

00:44:29.344 --> 00:44:34.204
Do you have any like most memorable breakdown moments?

00:44:35.450 --> 00:44:40.690
Yeah, actually I do. I lost an accelerator cable in downtown here.

00:44:40.990 --> 00:44:44.930
And I was like, what am I going to do? And I called up the guys at CIP because

00:44:44.930 --> 00:44:49.230
they were, they were very, you know, you can call up for troubleshooting and you still can.

00:44:49.550 --> 00:44:52.190
And I was like, Hey man, like I just broke a accelerator cable.

00:44:52.290 --> 00:44:55.730
What do I do? And they were like, you turn up the idle on both of your,

00:44:55.890 --> 00:44:57.170
I had Cade runs back then.

00:44:57.690 --> 00:45:03.090
They go, you crank up your idle to about 2000 RPM and you just put it and put

00:45:03.090 --> 00:45:05.030
the clutch and just cruise home.

00:45:05.190 --> 00:45:09.490
And I remember it was probably a 20 minute drive and I got home in three hours.

00:45:10.270 --> 00:45:15.230
Dang, man. My hazards on and just staying to the shoulder of the road, the whole ride home.

00:45:16.070 --> 00:45:20.330
You made it though, huh? Yeah, that was stressful. But looking back at it, I always laugh.

00:45:21.030 --> 00:45:26.430
Yeah, I love hearing these stories of crazy breakdowns and recoveries.

00:45:26.570 --> 00:45:29.790
And I've heard zip ties and bread ties

00:45:29.790 --> 00:45:32.670
being used and bra straps and all kinds of

00:45:32.670 --> 00:45:35.810
stuff being used to get people home it's truly one

00:45:35.810 --> 00:45:38.950
of my pleasures of doing this podcast is listening to

00:45:38.950 --> 00:45:42.170
stuff like this any let's talk

00:45:42.170 --> 00:45:45.330
about music what music's playing if you're wrenching in a

00:45:45.330 --> 00:45:48.550
shop setting you know what lately it's been oasis

00:45:48.550 --> 00:45:51.470
oasis and oasis i i

00:45:51.470 --> 00:45:55.450
love them it's it's it's calming it's relaxing and and

00:45:55.450 --> 00:45:58.370
uh but i i gotta have music on in the garage i just

00:45:58.370 --> 00:46:01.090
have to yeah me too lately for me it's been

00:46:01.090 --> 00:46:04.250
morgan wallen oh okay my my

00:46:04.250 --> 00:46:07.070
wife got me into country and i used to be a big

00:46:07.070 --> 00:46:10.490
you know through the 90s and early 2000s huge

00:46:10.490 --> 00:46:13.530
hip-hop fan kind of how i grew up with the

00:46:13.530 --> 00:46:18.730
whole culture of biggie and tupac and jay-z all that fun stuff so i was heavy

00:46:18.730 --> 00:46:25.250
into that and then well i found i found a different form of rap it's uh yeah

00:46:25.250 --> 00:46:31.510
now they're singing it and it sounds good yeah it's all storytelling yeah exactly right.

00:46:32.254 --> 00:46:36.274
So where can people find you if they want to connect with you?

00:46:36.494 --> 00:46:40.214
Or can we shout out the DVKK or how we can connect there?

00:46:40.894 --> 00:46:47.294
Yeah. Yeah, please do. You can find me on Instagram at Jaga underscore Rai,

00:46:47.654 --> 00:46:50.154
J-A-G-A underscore R-A-I.

00:46:50.934 --> 00:46:55.754
And same thing on Facebook. And then the Great Canadian Volkswagen Weekend,

00:46:55.914 --> 00:46:58.334
we're on Instagram and on Facebook.

00:46:59.034 --> 00:47:04.314
And then our DVKK car club, Derv Vultzwin Wagon Caper Club. Oh man,

00:47:04.554 --> 00:47:05.654
that's a whole mouthful.

00:47:06.134 --> 00:47:10.634
Yeah, yeah, it's a lot that I run. Yeah, that's a cool name though. It really is.

00:47:11.114 --> 00:47:16.114
All right, final message for maybe anybody that's struggling that might listen

00:47:16.114 --> 00:47:21.054
to this episode and think maybe it's safe to talk or something now,

00:47:21.134 --> 00:47:24.174
but anybody that's struggling or looking for community,

00:47:24.814 --> 00:47:26.914
what would be your final message to that person?

00:47:26.914 --> 00:47:32.054
I would say, you know, from somebody who was in a tough situation about five

00:47:32.054 --> 00:47:35.474
years ago, there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

00:47:35.714 --> 00:47:41.534
Just reach out and ask for help. There's no shame in asking for help.

00:47:41.734 --> 00:47:45.594
In fact, it's manly and it's brave.

00:47:45.894 --> 00:47:49.334
The bravest thing you can do is to ask for help.

00:47:49.954 --> 00:47:55.894
Reach out to your local, you know, counselors or whatever number you have, anybody, you know.

00:47:56.434 --> 00:48:01.034
I ended up doing one of those, you know, therapists that you can get online

00:48:01.034 --> 00:48:05.814
and they meet you on like a zoom or a, you know, Google meets type,

00:48:06.034 --> 00:48:08.314
like, like we're doing now it's face to face.

00:48:08.974 --> 00:48:16.014
And, you know, that really, really helped me. Now I also had therapy when I was young.

00:48:16.354 --> 00:48:20.334
You know, my parents got divorced when I was a early teen, 13,

00:48:20.534 --> 00:48:24.194
14, you know, area, probably a horrible time, right?

00:48:24.234 --> 00:48:27.654
When I'm interested in girls and having all these questions about them for,

00:48:27.854 --> 00:48:31.374
you know, the mom that raised me to not be around anymore.

00:48:31.614 --> 00:48:36.294
But either way, yeah, man, it's life is what we make of it.

00:48:36.954 --> 00:48:40.594
And, you know, it's been a pleasure, man. You're an awesome guy.

00:48:40.714 --> 00:48:42.494
I'm glad we connected. I'm glad we met.

00:48:42.854 --> 00:48:49.314
I really do appreciate you jumping on and giving us your backstory and giving us advice.

00:48:49.534 --> 00:48:53.234
Thank you. And that's a wrap for this episode of Dub Life Diaries.

00:48:53.574 --> 00:48:57.294
Thanks for riding along with us and diving into these incredible stories of

00:48:57.294 --> 00:48:59.334
the people in the dub that drive their dreams.

00:48:59.594 --> 00:49:04.154
If you loved today's episode, don't forget to subscribe or hit that follow button

00:49:04.154 --> 00:49:05.474
so you never miss an adventure.

00:49:05.814 --> 00:49:09.694
Do you have a story to tell or know somebody else who's living the dub life?

00:49:09.954 --> 00:49:14.614
Awesome. Reach out to us. You can find us on all socials at Dub Life Diaries.

00:49:14.734 --> 00:49:17.534
Or shoot me an email. I'm not hard to find.

00:49:18.314 --> 00:49:23.474
DoveLifeDiaries at gmail.com Until next time, keep the engines humming and the

00:49:23.474 --> 00:49:26.714
wheels turning and always follow the road that inspires you.

00:49:26.894 --> 00:49:31.074
This is Joe Person. I'm signing off. I'll catch you on the next ride.

00:49:31.760 --> 00:50:28.108
Music.