I will describe my interaction with Tony, starting from the student times at MIT when Tony, Peter Webster and I "beat the system" by working together and learning from each other. We both went into NWP, where Tony left a profound mark at ECMWF, and I worked at NASA and NCEP. I will also mention the discussions we had on ensembles perturbations, and the future of data assimilation, and the impact Tony had on the NASA Decadal Plan.