Have a beer with friends

On Thursday, I was shopping at Publix, buying some items for dinner when I received a text from my friend Dustin.  He said our mutual friend Tom had been promoted and they were having drinks at World of Beers, could I make it?  I try not to turn down offers from friends, mostly when a beer is involved so I asked how long they were going to be there. It was long enough so I left my groceries at the house, and headed to Viera.  Having a beer with friends is one of my favorite things to do since I retired.  Actually, I did it pretty well before retirement.

Dustin, Gavin, Tom

 Gavin was there, an USAF ex-captain with a PhD.  Interesting combo but I always enjoyed working with Gavin.

Dustin is a Chemical Engineer, and quite the ladies man, or was that a manly lady?  I need to go eat at Franciscos with him soon. I miss his Spanish.

Tom, on the right, was the recently promoted and the cause for celebration.

Don, Troy, Greg (Jeremiah in white)

 Dr. Greg Taylor was there. I think he may be the boss but I do not want to make his head swell.  He was a Division Manager at ENSCO for many years, and always a great person to work with.

Don's nose is in this picture, another PhD who doubles as a beer judge.

Troy, the tall one, is a world traveler with his wife Elaine. I think I caught a picture of her too.



Devin, a meteorologist, just sent his son off to college.  Where has the time gone?

Devin, telling me I was too close for a picture...

 Tom, contemplating his next beer I think, or how to spend the money his promotion will provide.

Tom

 Another Tom, but I screwed up on this photo because of the backlighting. I blame this on Dustin (on the left) who obviously was trying to photobomb a great picture....Also, this is why you should never drink when the sun is out!

Dustin, Tom, the Sun

Elaine

This is Elaine, the wife of Troy. They recently went to Iceland and I am jealous.  They took some great pictures and I moved Iceland up higher on my bucket list because of them.

Look at the nice arm on Dustin...he must surf!

Angela

This is Angela, I worked many years with her at ENSCO.  She called me her mentor.  I always assume she meant the character from Homer's Odyssey since she is Greek. Oh well.

It should be noted that Odyssey was returning from Troy after the Trojan War, not to be confused with Troy, the spouse of Elaine

Picture of me with Angela (Gavin on right)

Troy, Tom, and Angela

Don and Cyndy

I caught Don checking his phone. That is Cyndy in the white dress, she is the wife of the promoted Tom and works at Holy Trinity.

Smiling Tom and Dustin

Tom and Dustin, giving me a great smile.  Does it look like promoted Tom is about to poop his pants?

The good news, he bought me a beer!

Jeremiah

The last picture is of Jeremiah.  He is another Captain with a PhD.  Just assigned to the area, he has not even gone into work yet.  He said he has four kids, ages 9, 7, 5,and 3.  I said that was odd!

He is coming from Montana, a state I want to visit in the near future.

Retirement is great, I can go and have a beer anytime I want. So, what is different? Still looking for suggestions of things to do in retirement.