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You Lost
Once upon a time, Scott and I and 2 more adults took 14 teenagers to Martin, South Dakota on a mission trip. On the back end of the trip, we had also decided that we were close enough to the Black Hills, Mount Rushmore and Wall Drug to extend our trip a few more days. Scott had graciously planned and printed out the maps from an online source for the whole trip. As I sat dutifully in the shot gun seat next to Scott, we navigated our way through South Dakota taking in a few memorial markers and sightseeing spots and navigated following his pre-GPS directions to a tee.
I followed the best laid plans very carefully. At one point, we went from a nice asphalt covered, two-lane highway to suddenly the road becoming a gravel, barely two-lane road to then a barely recognizable cow path with grass growing between the tracks. I kept whispering to Scott, “are you sure we should not turn around?” He said, “I think everything will be ok, if we just stick with the map.” When we made it to the first drain culvert (you know the kind which prevented escaped cows from going any further), and the trailer hitch made a horrible scraping noise, I thought to myself, this is not even safe. The full van was extremely quiet as we progressed slowly…agonizingly slowly through actual South Dakotan pasture land. There was no way to turn around as were hemmed in with trees on one side and fence line on the other.
I started praying…don’t let any of the three vehicles run out of gas…keep all of these kids safe that have been entrusted to us…keep these drivers calm. As we kept driving it felt like we were in a wilderness not knowing how or when or what we would see around the next turn or bend. Then, all of a sudden, the road began to get a little wider – felt less claustrophobic. In the distance, I could see a dust cloud getting closer and closer. Finally, another vehicle!!! As being the lead vehicle Scott slowed up, rolled down the window to ask where might be the best way to return to an actual road and the two people in the pickup rolled down their window and said before we could say anything, “You lost!” Not a question, but a statement.
They were indeed correct, we were lost! They told us to keep going straight ahead and eventually we made it to a two-lane, asphalt road. The memory lives on…You lost!
— Janel
Scott the Natural Gas Guru and Extraordinary Friend
Scott is an exceptional friend and former colleague that I’ve known for about 30 years. Although I’ve lived in Seattle for about 24 of those years, we have maintained a long distance friendship. Some years we had little or no contact, but when I did visit Minnesota, I always tried to make time to stop by. He is the kind of friend where you can pick right up where you left off years ago. I always looked forward to receiving his famous Christmas letter even when it sometimes would show up in March. It always took me a while to understand his strange sense of humor and writing style but it would always leave me smiling.
I’m amazed at Scott’s 30+ year career at NSP/Excel. It says a lot about his loyalty and work ethic.
Although I only worked with Scott a couple years, he taught me all I needed or wanted to know about natural gas. As I would complain how boring it was for a marketing person to be in the business of natural gas, he would continue with his useless explanations of all things natural gas. As I began writing this, I realized that I still can’t explain what a CCF is. But it has a blue flame says Scott. I don’t care says Kevin. His accomplishments are even greater knowing the topic was natural gas.
I had many great times with Scott and Penny. He and Penny were always inviting me to various events like Thanksgiving where I got to try raisin dressing and Karl got to try thickened milk. He always made work fun. He spent many years as the commissioner of the NSP Gas FFL (fantasy football) which included a draft, Monday morning stat gathering during coffee break (yes, we had coffee breaks most day) and presentation of the Golden Nerf award. Scott was always doing shenanigans at the office like when he put an old forgotten tuna sandwich in an interoffice envelope and then routed it around to various people. Months went by before we tracked it down. He also pranked Chris Kauffman with some spoiled yogurt that was a classic Scott move.
I remember fondly all the lunches at Mama’s Pizza. The happy hours where Penny would need to be called several times to seek permission to stay out just a little longer. Weighing ourselves on the freight scales at Rice Street. When Scott would need to visit in the dismal office/room in the basement of Rice Street. It all seems like yesterday. In fact, I still remember your phone number at work 229-2265.
Scott is going to have more time on his hands in retirement, so I want to make sure all Scottopedia readers get some direction before agreeing to any of the following…
If you’re travelling with him, make sure to allow for extra time for Scott and Penny to browse for several hours in gift shops at EVERY tourist attraction. There is so much to look at and ponder, especially when shopping for German beer steins—aaah the deliberation that goes into it. I say that there is no German beer stein that is the uglier than the next.
When he says “I’ll follow you” after a happy hour, just say no. He may just decide to give you several little nudges like he did to me with the late 80’s maroon Dodge Shadow at the red light. Now if I hadn’t just got a brand-new car, it may not have been a big issue. I could see him laughing in my rear-view mirror. He always loves his own jokes more than others.
When he offers you a ride in the Triumph, politely decline. When he says “running a little rough today” it can be translated into “it might quit”. These were the days before cell phones. Then, years later, when in the tin shed, he asked me again if I wanted to take a spin. No. Speaking of the tin shed, he may also try to interest you in doing a side hustle headquartered in the tin shed. We never did come up with any viable options.
If you aren’t an experienced camper and don’t REALLY love remoteness. Decline all invites to a BWCA camping trip. I believe that details were secretly not disclosed prior to the trip. I didn’t know about the potential for summer snow or the part where you carry the canoes from lake to lake while being ravaged by bugs. Ask if he really means car camping before agreeing. Also, if he invites you to a weekend in South Dakota at the lake, you should ask some questions. Does the running water work? What is the consistency and color of the water. I distinctly remember water skiing in what seemed like pudding consistency dark green slop.
If you’re really drunk and he thinks you should try chewing tobacco, don’t do it. It seems like fun, but then at about the 12-minute mark, things go downhill fast.
Scott is known for his flexibility in emergency situations like when we were flying standby from Frankfurt to MSP and the flight was cancelled. No problem, lets just drive to Paris “quickly” (overnight) and we will leave from there in the morning. It was on that trip that Scott taught us all how to order coffee using only hand gestures (very similar to Chris Kauffman’s finger triangle). He was very skilled and often would speak English with a little bit of a French or German accent to help the locals understand him.
Scott, I wish you well in your retirement. I hope this means I’ll get to see you more often. Maybe we should do a reunion trip to Europe? Enjoy this next stage of your life!
— Kevin