Making Absorbers

The studio process is now in the final stages... I am in the process of making Sound Absorbers, Bass Traps & Diffusors...

I was going to purchase high end solutions from Auralex... but for the entire studio, with their B22 Panels, SonoColums & Diffusors... I was looking at 2K and more..

I found out how to make them yourself and just as nice. Plus, I can do my own cloth colors to match the studio... Instead of the 2X4's for framing, I am using 1X2's.... thinner for my smaller environment, but just as effective...

Take a read:

http://pat.home.mchsi.com/SAP.html

Being Wounded & Our Response

Here's a blog I wrote in 2006 I thought would be good to repost... a few days ago I heard some people talking badly about someone who had hurt them... it reminded me of this post. Let me know where you're at with this..

Being Wounded & Our Response

Wounding is a natural course of life as people interact with people. We are delicate creatures, no matter how our physical strength governs our looks..... We are delicate and fragile.

When someone wounds us through words or even looks, our tendency is to completely pull out of relationship because we don't want to deal with the situation. We do not want further pain.

I am a firm believer that the above solution is wrong. The above solution is not how God intended relationship. I am a firm believer that no matter the situation (Except for actual physical violence that continues) we are to be vessels of love and continually offer reconciliation and a movement to restore any broken relationship... no matter the cost.... and not to look good, but to bind back together what is broken.

You know, how we react to problems dictates where we are really at!!!! It shows our own relationship with God!! It is like the smoke showing a hidden fire!!!

In order to pour out love and mercy, we must be in constant relationship with God - receiving love and mercy on a daily basis..... this type of transaction between God and ourselves will be poured out onto others. This is done not to gain position over someone, but to reveal the heart of the Father to them..... and when we are in relationship with God, we don't care whether we look good or not and we don't care if JUSTICE is dealt.......... because we will understand that Justice is not revenge, but Justice is that person receiving mercy and love so that He or She can be closer to their creator....... and if you have to loose your life to help fulfill that... so be it!

Transformers

I love this movie.... we finally were able to sit as a family and watch this movie... what a great flick!! Bumblebee is the best! He takes a licken, but keeps on ticken..

Thanks to Alex McLean

Hey a big thanks to Alex McLean (betterthanblank.org)..... He is the creative arts pastor at Life Church in Temecula, CA and an incredible creative arts guy he is... He has a real annointing with presentation and attraction through different types of media...

He gave me great insight on preparing a blog, making it attractive and getting it out to the blogging masses...

With his permision, and I hope this is ok with him, but I would be happy to forward the email with the info... just email me at: rt@robtremonte.com

Thanks again Alex!

A Dark Time - Resistant to the End

Today I was struck with the bad news of my Aunt (My Dad's Sister) having multiple fluid brain tumors and lung cancer.

She had been having dizzy spells and sinus pressure for 3-4 months. Her normal doctor had mis-diagnosed her saying she just had a really bad sinus infection and must keep catching some type of cold... It finally took her faining for them to really do a complete scan on her to find out what was wrong.

As of today, she is in ICU and must have immediate brain surgery, having some 2 percent of her brain mass taken out. They have told us that she may not survive the surgery alone, but if she waits even a few more days she may slip into a coma and not survive. Even with the surgery, which just removes the tumors, she still has cancer.

After the surgery she will need to learn how to walk, eat, talk and basically do anything a child can do all over again... provided she withstands the procedure.

My father, who is also a pastor, is the youngest and only boy out of 3 children. His sister with the disease is the oldest sibling and the most successful according to the worlds standards. She used to be Vice President of Apple Computers Europe and is heavily into money and succeeding in business. However, she does not know the Lord and is very resistant to Him in all ways...

This afternoon my Father went to pray for her. As he arrived and told her his intentions, she got angry and said... "Get away.. I don't need your prayers... I don't want to have anyone pray for me!" My dad told her the church (Vineyard in Aliso Viejo, CA) was praying for her... she yelled at him "Tell them to stop praying right now... tell them to stop praying.. I don't believe in God!" My dad calmed her down and obeyed her wish.. part of it anyway.. the people at church still continue to pray.. They have a 24 hour pray room were people book times and pray for needs of the church, area, country and world...

I spoke to my Father this evening and we were both amazed at the battle for her life. I was dumbfounded at the demonic struggle to separate her from God for eternity... even in her darkest hour, where most cry out to God for help, she is unwilling and truly is hardened... from what, we don't know.

So, please pray for her... even though you don't know her... pray God softens her heart and sets her free... that the enemy wouldn't have victory over her... That if God needs to take her home, that she goes home with Him... not with the one she has been serving all her life.... that if God chooses, she would be healed. But most importantly, pray for victory and that God would give us wisdom as we speak to her...

Jesus... only you can save her... right now, in this electronic blog, we petition you.. Come to her and reveal yourself. Holy Spirit, touch her heart and soften it. I pray you break the bondage that is holding her captive.. right now... that the darkness would flee and the truth would come ... that you would come Jesus and set her free. Touch her immediate family... quite their anxious hearts.. right now. Quiet them and through this circumstance.. let them all... them all know You are the ONE true God.. the only ONE who can save all of them... You are in complete.. complete control and You LOVE THEM! In Your name.. Amen.

Hang Drum

This thing is.......AWESOME!! I want one....




Here is info I found on the web about getting this amazing instrument:

Best you contact the manufacturer directly - although they don't even have a website...!

Contact: PANArt Hangbau AGEngehaldenstr. 1313012 Bern/Switzerland
Phone international: +41 31 301 33 32i.e.
from US/CDN: 01141 31 301 33 32i.e.
from other countries: 0041 31 301 33 32
E-Mail: info@hang.ch

Asker's Comment:
Well i know for sure that the email is write. I'm sure. all else is too. And to answer my own question a bit they cost about $1500.00 and you have to be put on a waiting list. They are not mass produced but made by 2 men in switzerland.

What is a Sound Engineer?

Here is an article I wrote a while back for Inside Worship Magazine on being a Sound Engineer...

Take a read :).........



WHAT IS A SOUND ENGINEER?
The title sounds sophisticated, educated and worthy of a $250K a year salary, but honestly, the real definition is SERVANT.

Another good term would be “Downward Mobility”. This is what Downward Mobility is according to the Bible: "For all who exalt themselves they will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted”. You go deep. VERY deep.

This type of mobility is not glorious, it doesn’t seek approval, it doesn’t seek reward, but what it does seek is drawing close to your heavenly Father, Jesus and The Holy Spirit and knowing and experiencing that all you need comes from Him. You begin to start seeing things differently. You begin to move downward toward being the last and not first, being the servant and not the master, you begin to look more and more like Jesus!What do you get out of it? Well, for starters you get more of Him. You draw closer, you spend more time talking and listening with your Father in Heaven, you start to see people around you—as He sees them, you don’t see people’s faults, you don’t judge, your more patient, your kinder, your gentler, you start to develop and look more and more as the creator has destined you to be! "The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves Me must follow Me; and where I am, My servant also will be." John 12:25-26


Now, you get a glimpse into the life of a good “Sound Engineer”. It starts with a heart that craves to be a servant and to live a life that has downward mobility. A good Sound Engineer first and foremost has a dynamic heart. In today’s day and age, more and more churches have incredibly, nice sound systems. These systems require “technical” people. So these technical people come and run sound, but usually always come and go. They come to help, because they have a love for the music and the challenge, but they go because they either get offended, don’t get along with the worship leader or have problems with the people or the staff. This type of example is not the norm, but it happens quite often. We all search for identity, but musicians and sound people, in general, are very wounded people. This wounding can cause problems in and out of the church arena. It is important, as a worship team and as a church family, to begin to allow God to deal with our “pain” issues and to allow this downward mobility process to push-up our pain and let the love of God the Father heal and continue to move us to the goal of being a servant. We want to grow up and be healed before we grow old.

As a person that runs sound and interacts with people, the worship team and the overall dynamic of music, we need to understand this process and yield to it. By doing so, we are allowing ourselves to be broken, open and become a family in whatever local church body God has called us to. Then, when it comes time to get technical and to facilitate the dynamic of worship, we have a strong, strong foundation and the sensitivity to the flow, sound and dynamic will be powerful and anointed. You will now have experienced a “Lifestyle” of worship versus a technical understanding of worship that ends at the soundboard.


WHAT IS A SOUND ENGINEERS ROLE IN WORSHIP?
(Practical Steps & Biblical References)

· Serve the Master
Mar 12:30 you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment.
Mar 12:31 The second is like this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

Out of all the practical steps to being a good Sound Engineer, none competes or compares to serving God. Isn’t what this life is all about?

· Serve the Worship Leader
Mat 20:27 Whoever desires to be first among you shall be your bondservant,
Mat 20:28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

The Worship Leader has a lot of stress on his or her back. They have to worry about preparing, coordinating the songs, working with the team, serving the pastor and trying to do all of these things while still keeping their entire focus on worshiping God! That’s a lot to do no matter how you slice the cake. By serving the worship leader, you make them feel “At Home” and comfortable and give them the assurance that they are supported no matter what takes place during the worship set. You are their backbone. You are their champion. They can breath a sigh of relief knowing you will take care of them.

· Serve the Worship Team
Heb 6:10 For God is not unrighteous, so as to forget your work and the labor of love which you showed toward his name, in that you served the saints, and still do serve them.

The Worship Team needs your help. They need it badly. They have gadgets, they have toys, they have miles and miles of chords, but only you can help them manage that mess and worship the living God! So much goes on musically and sound wise on the stage, they need your support to decipher through the mess and to hear the proper sounds that will bind them to the rest of the team and create an incredible, responsive bond that leads others to worship.

· Learn
Mat 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart; and you will find rest for your souls.

There is so much to learn from time, people and the spirit of God. Commit yourself to continually be patient and learn. Learn the songs, learn the electronics, learn from others that have more experience. What you learn will be beneficial not only to yourself, but to the entire body of Christ.

· Be Responsible & On-Time
Mat 25:21 "His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'

This point is very important. I have run into so many sound people that come late and leave early. If you do this, running sound is probably not your call. The sound person is the first one there, the last to leave. He or she is responsible for the well-being of the equipment and the well-being of the team. This is a great task that has been appointed to those who can be trusted and faithful. By being responsible and on-time you give your best to the Lord and it shines to others around you.

· Develop Your Natural and Spiritual Ear
Mat 10:27 What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in the ear, proclaim on the housetops.
Mar 4:24 He said to them, "Take heed what you hear. With whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you, and more will be given to you who hear.

The ear is an intricate device that requires training to hear the sounds and dynamics that make worship flow through the congregation and touch people’s hearts. Through years of discovery and biblical reference, I have found that certain sounds and frequencies can truly have an impact on people naturally and spiritually. An example of this is when David in the Old Testament, was called on to play his harp for King Saul. We see that certain sounds David played soothed King Saul and actually set him free in several instances. We all know that anointing from God is a majority part of this kind of example, but we can tap into this level of natural and supernatural sounds by training our ear to hear what God is doing in and through our daily lives. This includes music and all that surrounds it. If we truly seek what He is doing, our natural and spiritual ear becomes more attentive to the move of His spirit and then allows us to effectively communicate that through modern technologies and techniques.

· Master Your Craft
Psa 33:3 Sing to him a new song. Play skillfully with a shout of joy!

Most of us, especially us Americans, can become stagnate and lazy in our approach to how we train ourselves. The minute we hit our “Comfort Zone” of abilities, we cease to continue down the road of expanding and sharpening our swords. Learning how to master the craft of sound will take a lifetime of dedication to the art of serving, hearing, listening and implementation. Not one of us is the master, except the one who continues to strive for a skillful humbleness, not perfection. We do want to give our humbled best before our Lord God and to train others down this fruitful path.

· Know the Sound You Want to Achieve
1Co 14:7 Even things without life, giving a voice, whether pipe or harp, if they didn't give a distinction in the sounds, how would it be known what is piped or harped?

Knowing the sound is like remembering the numerous times you had your favorite meal. The first time you tasted the flavors you were instantly captivated. You thought nothing was better. When you were finished, you were exited to taste it again. Afterwards, the flavor lingered in your mouth and on your palette. You couldn’t remember all of the flavor, but you had a good aftertaste that you did recall. Now, after time has passed and you had that flavorful meal over and over again, you retained the memory of the flavor in your head. When you thought of the delectable dish, you remembered pretty much everything about it. Well, sound is the same way. Your ear is the palette and it can retain information and be trained to remember over a period of time. Give it time and be sensitive. You will be captivated, you will remember and you will be able to recreate that sound over and over again like a fine meal.

· Know the Songs that are being Played
Psa 77:6 I remember my song in the night. I consider in my own heart; My spirit diligently inquires.

Knowing the sound is great and achieves a lot, but it doesn’t help the flow and transitions during a musical worship set. It is extremely important, as an intricate member of the worship team, to know the songs that your team is going to play and how they are transitioning from song to song. Knowing the parts of the songs will help determine what you do with the sound during the set. Which leads to my next point...

· Create A Dynamic Flow During the Set
Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them. (God had prepared a dynamic flow for each of our lives)

When you learn the songs, as in the previous point, you will know what to do with sound for each song and the transitions between the songs. We will go into this subject in detail a little later in this manual, but let me give you a taste test. If you have a song that has a woman vocally leading the song. Well, immediately you want to lower the volume of the worship leader and boost the woman so that she is the dominant sound in the mix. Then you might want to add some effects, like reverb, when she is at the end of some vocal lines. Then during the song, the keyboard player is doing a nice synth patch that really ties things together, so you boost him a little higher than normal. Now comes the electric guitar to do a screaming, crying solo that will really emphasize what the song is saying. So you boost him, lower the keyboard, etc,etc. You have just created a dynamic flow for that song. This takes practice and playing around for some time. I will try to explain this better as we go on.

· Be Sensitive to God’s Presence
John 14:26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you.

God is continually doing new things in our midst. As sound-people, we need to be sensitive to what the Holy Spirit is doing with the worship and in each person’s heart. When running sound, we need to adjust and maneuver sensitively to facilitate the spirit of God! The previous topics in this section, when practiced, will help your sensitivity with the sound of music.

· Take Care of The Equipment
Luke 16:12 If you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?

Have you ever went to check the mic’s and they seem to have a fowl odor? Or what about the soundboard. Maybe you haven’t seen your soundboard in the past 3 years because of the 3 inches of dust on it. This is common sense. Be responsible and take pride in the equipment that will help you run sound and that the church is responsible to keep in good working condition. Pretend it is a baby and it requires your complete care and attention. The better you take care of the equipment, the longer it will last and the less it will give you problems. Plus you are honoring God, because remember: It Is His Equipment!


· Be Extremely Humble
Rom 12:16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Don't set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Don't be wise in your own conceits.
Jam 4:6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
Jam 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you.

DUCK! Here comes another ego…. GET OUT OF THE WAY! Anger is rolling down toward the sound booth…. There is no way out of it. When serving God you put yourself in harms way. It is guaranteed that you will encounter warfare on numerous levels. Maybe even from the people you love and trust the most! Guard yourself and remember to humble yourself before the people and before God. This is very difficult to do, but allow yourself to bend, bend and bend some more. Don’t stop being humble. If you fail, pick yourself up and try again. You will yield to the development of character in your life that God is seeking and that He sees is more important that anything else

Studio Almost There...

It's a miracle!!!! My studio is almost complete!!!

With the help and humored entertainment of local worship leader, Denver Berry, we started the faux painting process that my wife and I dreamed up by spending 2 hours at lowes yesterday....

It was hard picking the color to best match my Cherry wood floors, but it was also hard to decide on colors that would be bright & artistic... inspiring the musician to produce the best tracks...

We decided on a faux look that resembled fire and brought out the light in the room.. even when it's dark! It's coming along nicely and will be done today. The electrician is coming later today to finish up the outlets, sconces and dimmers.... all the lighting will be complete as well.... the only thing left is the floor, installation of the 2 1/2" pieces of laminate glass in the control room window, the moldings and finally the tuning of the room with foam from Auralex... Not much foam... but I've purchased these kits: SONOFLAT SYSTEM & T'FUSORS (For the ceiling).

Here are some pics of the painting process.... :)

Encountering Reality

Since I was a little boy, having Godly, supernatural experiences always surrounded me.... from having words of knowledge about someone, having angels appear in my room and being scared out of my wits to having Jesus come in my room and tell me that He loves me..... and then running in to my parents room to tell them what happened (8 yrs old)..... what seems like very weird circumstances have always surrounded me.... trust me... not by choice....

It sounds like something out of a book or a overly imaginative science fiction freak...... but encountering the reality of the Kingdom of God is what reality really is.... unfortunately, sin and our own arrogance have kept us from this reality.... and as I have grown... and as I have been injured more and more by people.... and as I have allowed my own arrogance to become the forefront of who I am..... I have noticed that those experiences have diminished..... I still have words of knowledge... and still see some great things happen within the presence of God.... but not like when I was young and believed God was everything with my whole mind, soul and spirit..... it's different now..... or is it?

Matthew 19:14:
14Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

The Lord has taken me through much, much difficulty... in my estimation of difficulty... but in comparison to others who are plagued with death, hunger and other horrible things.... it's not difficulty... It's selfishness thinking that I have struggled more than the others in my area, my circle..... however, outside of that circle, I am the blessed... and I didn't even see it....

I.... We..... All of US who have the Spirit of God within.... must lose what we know.... what the World has taught us.... what we believe is reality...... to become like little children again..... to let go, to rely on the One True Cornerstone...... to NOT be the religious leaders who scoff at what God does.... for the sake of fear...... but to embrace what He does because that is who He IS.... WAS and WILL BE........

Read this passage and I hope the points I share with you jump out as the Holy Spirit speaks to you... vs. 40 especially for all of us...

Mark 4

The Parable of the Sower

1Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water's edge. 2He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3"Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times."
9Then Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
10When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11He told them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12so that, " 'they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'[a]"
13Then Jesus said to them, "Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14The farmer sows the word. 15Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown."
A Lamp on a Stand
21He said to them, "Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don't you put it on its stand? 22For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. 23If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."
24"Consider carefully what you hear," he continued. "With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. 25Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him."
The Parable of the Growing Seed
26He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come."
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
30Again he said, "What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. 32Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade."
33With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. 34He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.
Jesus Calms the Storm
35That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." 36Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"
39He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
40He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"
41They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

Truck's Fixed!!

After the fiasco in Mammoth... after all of that..... I had the truck towed to Temecula Ford... fixed in a couple of hours!!!!!!

If you ever break down in Mammoth and own a Ford vehicle.... never, never, ever.... bring your car to Eastern Sierra Ford..... what took a couple of hours to do.... they couldn't even do it... and they still tried to milk me for the diagnostic fee... even though I hadn't authorized it....!!

Wow... Well thank God it's over and the truck is fixed.... now I have to drive both trucks up there to drop of the rental..... so, I'm on the road again....

The Saga Continues

(Read the previous post to catch up on this nightmare of a tale... true tale that is...)

Well, the saga continues.....

After Bishop Ford told me the truck would cost $3700 to fix, not including the 2 weeks to complete and the $1100 rental fee....... I decided to call locally in Temecula to see what could be done...

the Ford dealership off of Ynez Rd. told me a new head didn't have to be put on... they can do what's called a "Time Insert Kit".... basically put a piece where the bad threads are (The spark plug blew out in one spot and ripped the threads) and then the spark plug screws into that piece... the cost is only $600 bucks !!!!! big difference.... however....

I have to tow the vehicle 400 miles... luckily I have a plus membership from AAA that covers 100 miles... so it will only cost me $1200 to have it towed..... at least the car will be near me... however....

It poses a problem, because now I have to drive the rental car all the way back to Mammoth and have my wife follow me in the newly repaired vehicle!!!! The rental will only cost $600, but I will have to pay gas for both trucks which will run $300..... so.....

My grand total for this issue is............ tada....... $2700.00............. I saved a couple of thousand dollars...... I guess that is good news!! Thank you Lord!!

Mammoth Vacation???

Mammoth, oh Mammoth.... why do you torture me???? Your so beautiful, yet so ugly....

Let me explain.... On Thursday, we drive the long haul... excited to get away and enjoy my hometown.. a place to fish, relax, eat well and spend quality time as a family... yet, there is always something looming to steal joy... and when I mean steal... I mean robbery at the highest level!

After arriving on Thursday, we had a great meal.. played some cards and went to bed with the butterflies and excitement of our next days fishing and hiking adventure to the outback above Tom's Place... what awaited us was not expected.

I drove from Mammoth to Crowley... almost to my turnoff I heard a loud POP! Then my engine started sounding like a race car.. PUT, PUT, PUT, PUT,PUT AND MORE PUT is all I heard. After pulling over, my Dad and I pretended to be mechanics... "Oh, I think we blew a tire" he said... "No way, that was metal hitting metal" I said.... After 15 minutes of getting out wrenches and pretending we knew what to look for... we decided to close the hood and see if we can make it back to Mammoth, which was 15 minutes away... Thank God we made it!!

I dropped the car off at 1 mechanic who kindly said it would be an easy fix as it was the spark plug that blew out... WRONG! Yah, the spark plug did blow out, but it took the threads with it... it was now UN-THREADABLE and requires a $2500 new head.... all because 1 spark plug was cross threaded.. meaning someone put it in wrong when they did the last tuneup... :)

After calling every shop in town to see what could be done, I talked to a nightmare of a Ford dealership... Bishop Ford or better known as Lack of Customer Service Ford. WOW! What horrible customer service.... after speaking to the service manager, she had no sympathy and said it would be a week before they could do anything.... I had no choice I had to rent a vehicle, to seat my 6 family members, have the car towed by AAA to the dealership and come back in a week when the car was done... oh, and drive back home again....!!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE BTW, the rental will cost $900 by the time this is done...

So, I called AAA to come tow the car... After waiting for an hour and a half, I called again to see where the driver was.... the dispatcher responded..."He is stuck in the sand and has to be towed out... He won't make it until 8am the next morning"... HUH?????? a tow truck driver stuck in the sand.... WOW! Ok.... I went to bed with the plan of waking up in the morning, sign for my car to be towed and finally go on with my family hiking and fishing adventure....... WRONG!

I wake up and meet the driver at my car... He doesn't seem to be the sharpest tool in the shed... not that I am either, but he fell off the train! He tells me everything will be fine... He will drop the car off in Bishop at the Ford Dealership... No Problem.... WRONG!

I go back to the house to take a shower and get ready for our fishing trip. We leave the house at 10:00am... just before getting on the 395 my dad says "Hey, isn't that your car over there? I look to my right and see the same tow truck driver, with my car on the side of the road... I pull a U turn and pull up behind him.... I get out and he is tightening the straps on the wheels... I ask him "Why are you still here???? Why is the car not in Bishop already???? It's been 2 hours?????
He replies "Oh, I had to remove your drive train so that I could tow the vehicle... since it's a 4 wheel drive I had to remove 4 bolts to disengage the drive train.."
I was livid!!! I told him I had not given him permission to do that, etc, etc... I was furious.... I said to him... "Get in the truck, and get my car to the dealership now!!!!! Don't touch anything else in the car..."

I hopped back in my rental Expedition, with my family and continued on my fishing journey... All the way there... I was dumbfounded.. just dumbfounded... After we finally arrive at our destination was I normal again... I did my best to put it aside and enjoy myself...

We hiked back 20 miles into the wilderness... passing lakes.. beautiful landscape and yes... snow in September.. it was chilly out.. We fished, ate, laughed, hiked and just had a wonderful time... I totally forgot that I was missing my car and would have to drive 800 miles round trip to retrieve it... not to mention fork over monies for the rental truck, the repairs, the trip back out to retrieve it.... none of it entered my mind!!

The rest of our stay was great... On the way home... the adventure continued... I won't say what happened next, but let's just say it involved a crazy driver, the police and me and my sunflower seeds.... as Forest Gump would say... "That's all I have to say about that"....