Catching up with an old friend
Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2010-07-01 18:12:27 - Graham EllisIt was good - really good - to grab a lunch yesterday with a good friend and former work colleague I hadn't seen in 30 years. I met Paula when I was assigned to the Civil Service Department - see [here] for some of the technical stuff we did there. By the time I came to get a job at the end of my course, Paula's new employer - Tektronix - was looking for a technical support specialist, and the connection was made with the help of Dr G.K. (not sure if I can name him, but is he's still around and happens upon it - THANK YOU).
In this industry, we all move on ... and Paula returned to her native Canada, while I moved from Tektronix (more on Tektronix) in Harpenden to other roles in the company, to Compugrafic Design Ltd, and to CGL Ltd, where we wrote CAD software and sold it OEM through companies like Florida Computer Graphics and Orcatech who were Ottawa based. And - ah yes - I was able to tell 'em what an excellent Graphics software technical expert lived in Toronto.But this was half a lifetime ago ... since then, I've been with Megatek, SAIC, First Alternative, Connectware, and last and longest with Well House Consultants. Paula has been with IBM, and with the University of Toronto, and is now teaching Java Enterprise in a college in the city.
There are some people you come across several times in your career - paths keep crossing - and they're good colleagues. Just a few of them - and Paula is one (Dick - are you reading - you're here too!) - are rather more. I can never forget the great kindness and help when I move away from home to take the Tektronix job. To the welcome when I visited in Toronto. And it was fantastic to see Paula again over lunch, to catch up on old times, to introduce her to Lisa. There are some people that you just feel back at ease with after all the years! And it was so good to be able to say "thank you - I remember and appreciate".