TopScore Retreat is on! I’m back in the US despite all the mess that’s currently going on. My fresh new passport works as expected, and the father-son road and train trip to and fro Neustadt to fetch it was much fun. It’s a special retreat, for two reasons: firstly, Liam is not part of the show for the first time in its history, and despite running the retreat in his hometown he unfortunately couldn’t join. Secondly, and sadly, it might actually be the last following the continued complexity that’s being added to basically everything by owner Fullsteam. So it’s now only seven of us to retreat to a house in Jersey City’s The Heights, not the best house nor the best area but it checks all the boxes. We started with a weekend and some fun city activities, all connected to strolling through Manhatten. Icecream, scavenger hunt, food, Washington Square and Central Park, we did it all or almost. We managed to meet Liam in his fancy Manhatten apartment and keep working and cooking away all day.

On the move! Five (holy)days in Mopertüllingen went by fast, with loads of sun and good family vibes. I managed to spread even more cork panels upstairs, while removing an annoying acacia tree next to the house. The year of gardening is well under way! Once the four girls (Bernadette, Effi, Lise & Mathilde) have been dropped at Auxerre’s train station, I drove the car back to Germany with Max in the back front. A good drive, fun and fast. Dinner with mum (since dad is still roaming through Chile) and 24 hours later we’ll be already on the train to return to Paris. A couple of hours later I’ll head to the airport to fly to New York, TopScore’s annual retreat is calling. It’ll be a special one, for many reasons but good ones. Hopefully not the last, also because I just finished my almost 3-years-long mission at NW last week, with a lovely pot de départ and loads of warm words. There will be news soon, fingers are already crossed.

The year of the rain continues, but couldn’t hold us back from going for a weekend trip to northy Lens. It takes about the same distance as to get to Maupertuis, but instead of lush green you’re inside a former mining region with their twin Terrils. We happened to arrive right for the kick-off of current League 1 leader RC Lens, who seems to be as popular as Schalke in a comparable setup. During our stroll through the city we happened to pass the stadium twice, and each time the locals scored a goal—unfortunately their 2-0 lead wasn’t enough since they lost 2-3. We spend our Sunday in the museum, the Louvre Lens seems to be the other attraction of this otherwise emptyish city. I like the place, and will return!

Friday 13th, Freitag der 13. Mal wieder. Endlich. And it’s raining, raining, raining. Like yesterday, and the day before yesterday. And tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow. Back to the flow, back to TopScore’s Helix migration and all the fun, challenges and learnings that come with it. I’m loving it, it’s like being back in the FFindr days.

12 years ago I was in Rio, today my dad is basically flying over it on his way to backpacking Chile for a few weeks. Despite unexpected and unexplainable hypertension ongoing, I keep getting most of the delicious Galette des rois’ fève! Luck? I don’t think so! And while the local fiscal administration keeps bugging ignoring me—I increased my outcry beyond friends and family to Pantin‘s mayor and some national investigative TV journalists—I keep enjoying my day-to-day jobs with the complete rewrite to the latest Symfony of TopScore and the migration of my fancy React map tool to TypeScript for NW. Preparation for my summer cycling highlight is ongoing, I never zwifted more than these days… which should also help to contain my hypertension somehow.