Selim

Warm not theoretical, again. Two people I had spoken to that year. If it had been two people from four years ago it would not have worked.

Second shape here, and the qualifier in your post is the entire thing: warm, not theoretical.

I went back to contracting for eight months between attempts. The work came from two people I had spoken to within the previous year. I also contacted five people I had not spoken to in three years and got two polite replies and no work, not because anything was wrong, but because they had built new relationships in the meantime, which is what people do.

The upkeep that actually works for me is low: a genuine message twice a year, usually about something they are doing rather than something I want. Maybe an hour annually per person.

The cost nobody mentions is that eight months of contracting is eight months of not building, and coming back afterwards is harder than leaving was. The bridge works. It is not free in the direction people assume.