Agreed. Hell, even reviewing code can be fun and engaging, especially if done in person. But it helps when the other party can actually think, instead of automatically responding with "You're right!", followed by changes that may or may not make things worse.

It's as if software developers secretly hated their jobs and found most tasks a chore, so they hired someone else to poorly do the mechanical tasks for them, while ignoring the tasks that actually matter. That's not software engineering, programming, nor coding. It's some process of producing shitty software for which we need new terminology to describe.

I envy you for retiring. Good luck!