"Do you still have any CNET shares?" my wife asked, eyebrows raised.

No, dear, I haven't worked there in four years. So went our pillow talk this morning on the news that CBS is buying CNET Networks for $1.8 billion, or $11.50 per share. That's 44 percent over CNET's closing price yesterday of $7.95. So those with CNET shares are sitting on a mint today.

Timing is everything, right? I was at CNET in '98, the glory days, when the stock split twice in a year, hit 70 plus, and stock options were being handed out like candy. San Francisco was buzzing with startups and one-and-a-half-inch-thick tech mags like the Industry Standard and Business 2.0. CNET had a TV show and a radio show.

We played a ton of ping-pong and foosball in the office and went to expensive dinners all over the city. We bought ZDNET for $1.6 billion.

We had company parties in San Francisco City Hall and rented out the old California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park for a Christmas party. I was a notebook-review guru for CNET. On weekends, I wrote a book on Sony, "How To Do Everything with Your Sony VAIO."

This was of course before the events of 2000 and 2001. After that, the SEC investigated CNET regarding the backdating of stock options. In the midst of that probe, golden boy CEO and Chairman Shelby Bonnie decided to step down in 2006. (CNET was later cleared of wrongdoing.)

Anyway, that's water under the bridge (and router). As Jupitermedia CEO Alan Meckler said in his blog today, this looks like a great deal for CNET. Let's just hope there aren't big layoffs.

For an excellent report on the deal, including a transcript of the conference call announcing the news, check this Silicon Alley Insider story.