The transition from “Internet acquaintance” to “Internet friend” occurs when I meet someone in meatspace.  After figuring out in what ways their profile image is a misrepresentation and catching how much the quality of their microphone mangles their voice, a connection is made and the person may emerge on the other side as “friend”.

Dan Bergman is a reasonably large fellow who loves dogs and is ok with one of those facts.  He was tired of being considered “the fat kid” despite being in his 20s and he seemed to appreciate the difficulty I’ve been going through to get my weight under control.  We left TI: Philly as both friends and rivals as we’d reciprocally challenged each other to be the first to 250 lbs.  He had 35 lbs to lose, I had 70 but the benefit of inertia.  Today he contacted me

“I was riding my bike today and as I sweat I reached into my backpack and pulled out one of the bottles of water you gave me.  I almost drank it but stopped myself.  It was enemy water.”

Apparently he got home in a bit of a daze.  Dan, I’m glad you’re taking the challenge serious, but drink the damn water.