So last Friday, I hung out with that dude who asked me out on a "date". We had frozen kefir and I chatted with a homeless man. I had a feeling he was going to be like other engineers: shy, reserved, passionate about esoteric interests. I was right.

He was a nice enough guy and even got a haircut for the occasion, but I made it abundantly clear "this" would stay platonic. Paul asked me how it went and I told him the truth: I was there to gather information about my boss with whom they are family friends. Also, it was flattering.

I also discovered through him that my boss and I share the same philosophy about money as a measurement of success rather than a resource to hoard. (He asked me if I stole that from my boss; I took it as a compliment.) It makes me feel like, yeah, in 20- to 30-years, I can traipse around the world, expanding my empire too! Or ... it means he has enough money to say it while I believe it as a consolation of my near-poverty.