10 Mins. with D3 - hiro
Welcome to “10 minutes with D3”. We thought it might be kind of cool to run a monthly Q&A Session with members of the Daily Driven Dubz community and learn a little bit about what makes the community tick. We'll select one community member monthly and have them provide us a little information about themselves and their involvement with D3 and the community at large.
This month our featured guest is another one of the Founding D3 members from the Old Pueblo. He's also the website maintainer, an infamous Coheed fan, and generally a kick-ass guy all around. For May 2009, D3 sits down with Hiro.
D3: What, is your name?
Hiro: My name is Shaun. I go by hiro on the forums and most other online type stuff.
D3: What, is your quest?
Hiro: To promote truth, justice, and the American way. (thanks richard donner)
D3: What is your favorite color?
Hiro: As far as wardrobe goes, I'd have to say black ... but I suppose that's a distinct lack of color isnt it? It sounds good... we'll go with that. It's the standard geek uniform you know.
D3: What does the Government think you do for a living?
Hiro: Sysadmin for an apparel company. If the government thought I'd like to be working _there_ right about now, they'd be right!
D3: What's your outlook on life? (what do you want to be/do when you grow up?)
Hiro: Unfortunately at this point in my life, I'm pretty much aspiring to actually grow up Smile I never quite feel as grown up as I remember grown-ups to be. Also, I aspire to be uber in the realm of computing, such as yourself, and IAlone. (yes, he knows all)
D3: Do you have a Family?
Hiro: I do! I'm married to a beautiful, smart, and pretty understanding woman. We have 3 gorgeous, intelligent little women.
D3: How long have you been involved in the scene?
Hiro: I guess I got started in mid 2005, so about 4 years. Although, in the beginning, I was a complete newbie. I didnt know the first thing about cars. I just knew I wanted to learn.
D3: How did you end up with your nick?
Hiro: I'm a big fan of "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson. I've probably read it 6 or 8 times. It's what they call neo-cyberpunk. The main character's name is Hiro Protagonist. He's of mixed race, and a complete badass. I can identify with him greatly up to the badassery, and the elite hacking skills.... I'm still working on that part Smile I picked the book up through a friend in 1996, and have had a strong affinity for it ever since. I have the signed hard-back numbered special edition, and every time we go to a book store, I have to look to see if they have a copy. I realize that's kind of weird... I have a loaner copy if anyone is interested. ... and now I'm rambling.
(NB: Snowcrash FTW!)
D3: What were your influences growing up?
Hiro: Growing up, I was heavily influenced by my parents and teachers. My Dad was Air Force, so pretty much the only constants in my life were my family and books. Around 8 or 9 I started learning some BASIC programming in school (I was bored so they would invent stuff to occupy me), and my Dad saw the potential there, so he saved his pay for some time and bought me an Apple IIc for my 10th birthday. I hacked around on it for a few years, until I started playing guitar. I started getting into music very heavily and playing in a really crappy garage band. So I've got this family / geeky / music background.
D3: How many VW's have you owned?
Hiro: Technically I've owned 4. Fanny, my 1971 super, Colonel Mustard, my 1961 beetle, a 1967 beetle (for 3 weeks), and a 1995 Golf Mk3 that I just picked up a couple of weeks ago.
D3: How did you end up with your first VW?
Hiro: I'm always into learning new things, and I wanted to learn how to work on cars. My wife's been into VWs for about 15 years, so she says "Why dont you get a VW"... The light goes on in my head, and I'm thinking beetle... she was thinking Jetta Smile I had a friend in church that was looking to sell his 71 super, so I picked it up for $1500. It was pretty much a beater at the time, but I loved it. I started haunting Chirco soon thereafter, and bugging them incessantly with questions. (For the record: everyone at Chirco was very gracious and supportive of me)
D3: Of the VW's you've owned, which was your favorite, and why?
Hiro: Definitely The Colonel. I was talking with the D3 guys and I had decided to get an early. Ruben sent me a link to the samba, and this mustardy yellow 61 had just been posted. I went to see it the same day, and the guy had had about 40 calls on it by the time I got there. I told him I was expecting a tax refund in 2 weeks, so I gave him earnest money and went home.
Two weeks goes by, and my accountant calls.... long story short... no refund. So I call this guy back and had to explain that I'm not going to be able to buy his car. Naturally I was gutted...
We got an invite to Lil Anthony's a few days later by DHP. I showed up, and as I'm parking, I say to my wife "That looks just like that bug I went to see".... So after a few minutes at the show, Sixx says "Dude... you gotta find Ruben".... So I find Ruben, and he says "Hey man, you forgot your keys!!" ... and he hands me the keys to The Colonel.
Now, I was in shock for a good couple of hours. Happy shock, but shock the same. I wanted to cry, I was in love with that car and I had lost her... then she was back. To this day, I'm still so grateful to my friends for making that happen for me. That was one of the single most memorable moments of my life. I hope that I can help a friend out like that some day.
(NB: BECAUSE THAT'S HOW WE ROLL!!!!!!)
D3: Any other cars you want to talk about?
Hiro: We could talk about my split-window bus... oh wait...
D3: What do you do when you're not playing with your dub(s)? (IE other hobbies, etc)
Hiro: I spend lots of time with my wife and kids. I dont want to be that guy that wishes on his deathbed that he'd have worked more.
I have tons of hobbies though. I think learning is my biggest hobby. I'll find some off-the-wall idea and study for hours on end. Sometimes I pick it up, sometimes I don't...
I'm actually recording an album at the moment as well. It's a sci-fi prog-rock-opera kind of beast... I've got about 4 albums worth of story-line fleshed out, and I'm about 3 tracks into the first album. I have some recording studio stuff at home, and a friend that has some at his house. He's a good musician too, so we get together, drink beer, and write uber-nerdy music. Good times!
D3: How'd you get involved with D3?
Hiro: Well ... there is a version of the story going around where I'm some kind of fanboi/tarzan guy. I wont name names, but you know who you are sixx ... oops.
Well, after I finished restoring my first car as far as I wanted to, I started talking to Joe Chirco about starting a club for any VWs (water, late, early, whatever). In my opinion, there just wasnt one at the time. I just didnt know any better. Anyhow, I talked to Joe twice a month about it, and things just never really got rolling. So after about 6 months he says "Oh you should talk to this guy sixball". So I called Sixx, and we started talking and having coffee once or twice a week. We talked about what each of us thought a club should be. He kept telling me there were these other guys involved, but I didnt meet them till later. I pretty much thought it was just sixx for about a month. He already had a name picked out and a logo, we were just waffling over the particulars. At one point he was thinking earlies-only, so I told him I was out. He then changed his mind, so I stayed. After a couple of months, we started getting more interest from other people. At that time, I bought the domain and put up a basic web-site and forum. (when IAlone came along he introduced me to CMS ... FTW). The rest is kind of history.
D3: Describe your perfect VW
Horp: The Colonel, but with a dash painted to match the outside, carpets, and a killer sound system. Did I mention I'm in love with that car?
D3: Is that your “Dream Ride”? If not, describe it.
Hiro: I really want a bus. I would prefer a split, but I'm ok with up to 71 (no pancakes tho) for this reason: I want to be able to take my wife and my girls on D3 cruises with me. That would be perfect!
D3: So, where is your fuel filter?
Hiro: Above the tranny
D3: Do you carry a fire extinguisher?
Hiro: Always!!
D3: How many times have you had to use it?
Hiro: Never! Although I used it for fun once Smile I had a small electrical fire a couple months ago, but it was out by the time I got back there.
D3: What is the best thing you've done to your current ride?
Hiro: 12v conversion! (dont get me wrong... the 2L is nice too)
D3: Someone hands you a million dollars tax free. How would you spend it?
Hiro: I'd give some of it for God's work. Pay off my parents' house, my sister's student loans. Sock away a bunch for college and weddings (omg), pay off my wife's minivan ... the rest goes for a split. (although I suspect there wouldn't be much left at that point)
D3: Do you like your cars stock or modified/customized?
Hiro: Ummm I'd say slightly modified. I like the lowered look, but other than that, I dont get too radical. I really dig air-ride, but I couldn't do it to a car I own... let alone drive every day.
D3: What's the longest drive you have been on in a dub? Why'd you make that trip?
Hiro: Only 100 miles or so to shows in Phoenix, or Sierra Vista. Keep in mind I've only been into dubz for 4 years or so... plus I dont know that I'm that brave. I know a guy who drives back and forth to Colorado every couple of months, and a guy that does a whole national tour every year. I just dont trust my road-side ability that much
D3: What's the stupidest thing you have ever done to a dub? (ie. ruined your first engine by taking it apart, added tons of fiberglass to the dash, etc..)
Hiro: This is gonna sound dumb because I've done lots of stupid stuff, but the one thing I regret the most is throwing away the oil-bath cleaner for my SB. Smile I didnt know any better at the time. Some would say putting in a computer in that same car was stupider, but I think that was a win.
D3: If you could take one thing back that you'd done to a car, what would it be?
Hiro: I gotta preface this with a brief apology to my friend Isaac... sorry man... I wouldnt have sold the SB to a friend. Not to say that Isaac doesnt love her like he should, but every time something goes wrong (like accidents in parking lots) I have to see the result, and it breaks my heart every time. I poured my guts into that car.
D3: Where do you see the VW scene headed in 5 years?
Hiro: Unfortunately I'm gonna go pessimistic on this one... I see aircooled stuff getting more and more rare, and going the way of American Muscle... Right now, theyre still affordable to the everyman, but soon it's going to be a rich man's hobby. Which is unfortunate. But with that said, I dont think people's fondness for the cars themselves and the emotions they evoke will ever diminish. Theyre a part of our world-wide folk-lore and eternally endearing.
Thanks Hiro!
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