Friendship. No matter how bad the work environment or crazy the problems I had to face, I could always count on a core group of workmates I could talk to that would make my dark days brighter. While I most certainly enjoy retirement in general (no commuting, no sitting on my butt in an office, no constantly broken build systems, no constantly failing tests, etc, etc, etc), I miss being with those people I worked with. Last week I drove the long commute back to their side of Orlando and had a wonderful lunch with two of them. There was very little shop talk; we talked the majority of the time about families and technology and families and TV shows and even more about families. And we did it without masks (this was after all a luncheon), but we made sure to eat outside in the marvelous weather. I appreciated their taking time out to drive over and spend the time with me, and especially the companionship. They’re bright, effusive, kind folks and I’m blessed to know them. Here’s to hoping I can still maintain contact with them (and others) in the years to come.