Season 2, episode 1.
New job
I knew the first week in the job would be exciting and a challenge, but I’ll admit – I do feel a bit out of shape and a bit naked here. New faces, many names, trying to pay attention to every detail, remembering, taking notes, shadowing and participating in project meetings…
It’s taken a toll, and this newsletter was one of the first things that took a hit. Alpijada newsletter too. Priorities – not feeling bad about it.
So, how’s the new job? Ask me in three-to-six months. Honeymoon period barely started, and I’m excited. It’s scary how nice everybody is. How smooth the first day and initial onboarding was. How unpretentious and trusting the environment feels.
That there are Res Nullius, Masharik, Paul Grem and signed Dan D posters on the wall. There’s a Lelit espresso machine in the kitchen and there’s Rok Kobe’s Colosseum in one meeting room and the Eiffel Tower in the other. I know it’s been only four days, but I feel at home.
Day V. tomorrow.
Housekeeping
I decided to wrap up Season 1 after 24 episodes and start the new one with roughly the same format. Start of a new chapter – it only seemed appropriate. Season 1 recap + list soon.
Kit, which makes sure you get these emails, somehow makes it difficult to send old newsletter episodes to new subscribers – a few of those showed up, welcome.
I’ve added an option to sort categories by Newest first (default), with the option of Oldest first. I made sure that updates the URL, works with cache, and tested the pagination.
This year’s list of concerts updated, whilst the galleries remain on the long 2do list. A few ‘new’ posts published.
Happy beeps and painful legs
Pogi Challenge this past Sunday was my first proper race this year. Despite the lack of proper training, gaining some festival weight, which was mostly water, but still weight, I was excited.
Not repeating my mistake from L’Etape back in 2023, went to the start a bit early to avoid the stress and panic of the position battle. Well, it wasn’t great, and it wasn’t terrible. Closed ride until Cerklje was probably the most painful part of the whole experience, and the rest… It went well.
I followed Matej Zalar‘s wheel in the first steep section, trying to keep the power around 300W. HR was just on the edge of what I knew I could hold, so I took a risk. Took another gel roughly 20min into the race, exchanged a few words with Gašper Bregar on his amazing Trek bike, when the big boss flew by.
Everybody knows, everybody talks about it, but Tadej Pogačar is God of Cycling. The whole world felt like standing still, and he was just flying. Mad respect.
Kept my pace, power and HR under control to Jezerca, broke my PR, and decided to go for it on the flatter section. Successfully overcooked my calves before the final incline towards Plaža, paid the price with some cramps, but happy with the sub-60 result at the end.
59:10 in 57th position overall, out of 1067 finishers. Happy? Happy!
Huge shoutout to Luka from A si kolesar? Si! who made sure Betka was in perfect shape, and Vasja from alpe.cc for last-minute bibs.
Heavy sighs
How is it possible that, on the day of practically the biggest event on Krvavec, the gondola is not operational? Perfect weather; the only way to go up was to walk or ride a bike from 6 AM, when the road closed? I really can’t… Compared to last year’s edition, this just wasn’t what I expected. Next year again? Maybe.
The price of data drives, SSDs, RAM is to cry for, and losing a hard drive a few months ago was getting more painful on a daily basis. The festivals last week made sure that something had to be done. A few hundred euros later, I find out that not only can I not buy or order the drive I decided on after careful consideration, also, I can’t trust local computer stores. I know it’s vacation time for some, but c’mon.
More data rant details in a separate post.
Coffee section
James Hoffmann sent out the first issue of his new newsletter, The Drip Feed. If you’re headfirst in the coffee scene, you’re probably already subscribed.
When talking about coffee, I cannot not mention the upcoming Ljubljana Coffee Festival 2026, this year in Rog between 26.-27. September. See you there?
I really wanted to force myself to try and learn more about coffee. Obsessed with (co)fermented coffees, mostly from Colombia for some time now. Really good Kenyas and Ethiopias are hard to get for some time now, and a bit afraid to invest in unknowns, I decided to take up a subscription for a few months.
My first idea was Tim’s Choice Coffee Subscription by Tim Wendelboe. Good price, even better reviews, but 45+ eur for shipping? Thanks, but no thanks.
The Barn doesn’t ship to Slovenia. Dak doesn’t have a subscription. I really loved Nomad’s Sidra last month, and Nomad offered 2x250g bags, one espresso, one filter for a fair price and shipping. Arrived yesterday, and I’m still dialling it in a bit, but extremely happy with what I got.
I’ll probably keep it for a few months, and then try kaffebox.no and/or thecoffeevine.com. If you have any recommendations, let me know.
One more thing to share – I didn’t watch it yet, but it’s on top of the list of things (coffee related) I want to watch: Kolumbija: Po poteh izbrane kave
Geeky corner
Last week I joined an Age of Empires 2 LAN party – and realised I’ve owned the game for a few years now, but I’ve never! really played it. It’s an amazing game and can’t wait to find some time to discover an iconic game from 1999 for the first time. Tnx guys for the invite, I really enjoyed it – and thank you, Piccola, for amazing pizzas*.
*no self control before the race. I know, sigh. *box of shame*
Sadly, gaming hasn’t been a priority for some time now, but I still occasionally “lose” an afternoon then and there. As the cliche says – time enjoyed wasting is not time wasted. Agreed.
Starting a new job, I was invited to fill a form where I had to list my favourite game. Again, I gave it too much thought.
Games I played most in the last couple years?
- Manor Lords,
- Cyberpunk,
- Hades.
Games I remember fondly from my middle school years?
- Ezio Auditore Assassin’s Creed series,
- NFS: Underground 2,
- Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance,
- GTA San Andreas…
Games from my childhood?
- Moorhuhn 1, 2, 4, Winter Edition…
- Jazz Jackrabbit 2,
- Sven,
- Commandos.
Nostalgia kicking in. How I wish the days had more hours…
Instead of learning about the AoE 2 tech tree and civilizations, I spent some of my free time setting up my new work laptop, which also made me think about software in the same fashion…
For future reference, I just might write up a separate blog post about it. Currently, it’s a 2-page-long draft already and no, nobody wants to read about editing registry values manually in a simple newsletter episode.
Tell me, what’s YOUR favourite game?
That’s Season 2 kicked off, episode 1 done.
Therapy Thursday.
Marko
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Cover & thumbnail image by Saša Krajnc.