2023-11-23: just catching up

had coffee with my former coworker last night; walked over bundled up against the cold and settled into a little table near the back with a large cappuccino. after a few minutes, he arrived, and we caught up for an hour or so.

it was really nice. asked each other about what was going on, caught up on a few things. seemed to be a social call more than a feeling-out in either direction. sat at our little table, sipped our coffee and tea, and talked about what we were each doing.

where i live it's big enough, but it's not london or nyc. in our line of work, we often seem to work with the same people, over and over. i think that was especially true when we got started, he being younger than me but only by a year. fewer jobs, fewer companies and opportunities back then. not like now. even though now may not be great, not with the hiring freezes all over the place.

so that was it. catching up in late november with a colleague i've worked with twice over the last decade and a half. we had our first huge project together, when we were still in our early twenties and just getting started. a trial by fire. we've had bigger projects since, but that one remains important for both of us. and it was really nice to see him again, our hands warming up on our drinks, the two of us feeling our age & my beard flecked with grey.

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