I’m scheduling a week of farewell lunches. I’m not mooching–I pay my own way. I look at this as a chance to say goodbye to all my friends and co-workers from over the years in Cincinnati. It’s a small IT town.

Wednesday, I had lunch with David Dale (Centric) and we spent an obscene amount of time talking about and looking at his new smartphone. Friday, I had lunch with Steve Edwards (Kroger, formerly Cardinal), Mike Puening (Cardinal), and Keith (Kroger, who I’d never met before). I said farewell and good luck to Josh Marotti who is also leaving Cardinal to work as an employee of Kroger. Finally, I sent a mass email to people I knew and worked with in the past to let them know about my upcoming new job.

Today, Kevin Schmidt (GAIC, formerly Cardinal) and Craig Muth (GAIC, formerly Cardinal) had lunch with me, where we discussed what I know about Amazon, what the working environment looks like, and how the corporate culture impressed me. They’d both love to come to Seattle if it were not for family commitments.

Tomorrow, Nick Herbers (Cardinal) and I will get some lunch together. Maybe a few others will tag along?