Friday, February 14, 2025
I went on a 2-week roadtrip with Steve and Maureen in 2023. At the beginning it was a bit difficult discussing certain topics because Steve had his opinions and I had mine which made for some lively debates. On the other hand Maureen was blissfully sitting in the car reading something and was oblivious to us. Within a few days we figured each other out and we were sympatico from that point on. We went on to enjoy amazing sights: Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Golden Spike, Devil's Tower, Jewel Cave, Dinosaur Fossil Quarry and the Colorado Rockies to name a few. Understanding how serious and intense Steve can be, I was delighted to see him so enthusiastic in taking his photographs, conversing with the park rangers and tour guides and at night he would edit and categorize his new shots. It was a wonderful journey and I will remember Steve fondly for it. The other reason I will miss Steve is this: Steve saved me $90,000. I was unfortanately stuck in a useless timeshare (wyndham) and on the roadtrip I was enticed to join a meeting when we arrived at a wyndham resort in Tennessee. I had Maureen with me to keep me from forking over more money because their con game was good. But even with Maureen there, the rep stacked the deck by bringing in 2 more reps and so there I was on the phonewith my bank trying to take out $$ in order to avoid crazy future maintenance fees. At that point we had been stuck with those reps for over5 hours because we can't tell if they were lying or not. That was when Maureen called Steve. When Steve showed up he just stood there giving the rep a cold hard stare before saying something like "You don't even want me to go there" which was brilliant because by keeping the threat generic the reps had to guess what that thing was if Steve went there. In doing so he broke the trance Maureen and I were in and we got out of there while all the reps in that office thought it best to keep their mouths shut. So thanks to Steve and his opinions and principles I saved big bucks and do not have an even bigger regret. I am truly going to miss Steve. May he rest in Peace.
