Wait. Is it possible that I'm becoming too skilled at applying sunblock?

Problem: Long-sleeve weather.

Help us % git fetch origin --prune our inventory.

This was what @ohmyz.sh looked like a few days after initial release. github.com/ohmyzsh/ohmy...

What’s the most boring change in your codebase right now? The one that’s been quietly whispering "later"? That’s the one worth doing today. Boring work compounds. Let’s ship some boring and make room for the interesting stuff.

Still scrobbling? www.last.fm/user/robbyru...

Nobody's CRM is perfect.

You’re following On Rails, right? Wait… not yet? It’s one of the newer corners of the Rails community—where engineers share how they build, scale, and evolve real production apps. The patterns that work. The lessons that hurt. The curiosity that keeps us improving.

Moving The Balanced Engineer Newsletter to monthly for better balance! Each month I'll share my favorite engineering resources. Subscribe at balancedengineer.com After a very busy October, this issue features @simonwillison.net and @robbyonrails.com!

🎃 My 2025 Halloween costume? Ronald McDonald impersonator on his smoke break. No, he will not take a photo with you right now. Ask him in 10 minutes. He just needs to get through the next few fucking weekends so he can see his kids again.

The @ohmyz.sh core team retreat tonight to see an NBA game. Swing by our @github.com Universe booth tomorrow for stickers and smiles.

The rush fades. The paint cracks. The work remains. Every software team eventually hits that point where Act I won’t carry them any further. Time to evolve the story.

If you’re heading into 2026 planning season and someone’s asking if it’s time for a full rewrite… pause for a second. Sometimes that urge to start over is really a sign that your team needs clarity, not a clean slate. Your app already has history. Let’s make sure it has a future.

What If “Scaling Up” Isn’t the Goal in 2026? If leadership hasn’t asked you this yet, beat them to it. > “What if our team doesn’t grow next year? What if it shrinks?” Take inventory.

🚩🚩 Red flags aren’t just for dating apps. @fastruby.io's @etagwerker.bsky.social shares what they’ve learned spotting them in legacy Rails projects over on @planetargon.com blog. blog.planetargon.com/blog/entries...

Heading back to SF next month for sfruby.com. @planetargon.com is sponsoring, and I’m hoping to meet teams giving their software a second act. Thanks to @inazarova.bsky.social and the @evilmartians.com crew for the Cloud Card of me. Tickets and details → sfruby.com

I recently got to host a book club. Our first pick was a little-known collaboration between Tom Robbins and Kurt Vonnegut — The Elements of Consulting Style: A Survival Manual for the Technically Damned. Turns out… it really holds up.

The 5 Stages of Tech Debt, a 🧵 (Based on a true story)

You probably know a system like this... still running, still relied on. If it could use a second act, send them our way. 🕯️ robbyonrails.com/articles/202...

Got an opportunity to talk shop with Alex Stathis from AngelList about how they leverage Ruby on Rails in their systems behind the scenes. Queue it up in your favorite podcasting app. onrails.buzzsprout.com/2462975/epis...

We’ve been going deeper with the On Rails podcast. Longer conversations. Less hype. More of what’s been tested in the real world. I loved hearing in-person feedback back at Rails World. Podcasting can feel one-directional, so your messages, reviews, and shares really do help keep it going.

Good news for the Ruby ecosystem. RubyGems now has the same governance as Ruby itself. Matz and Ruby Core as stewards. If Ruby Core has authority over where gems (by default) install from, this alignment makes sense. Viva la Ruby! www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2025...

Most of our work starts where others end. When the freelancer moves on, the agency drifts away, or the last engineer retires… I wrote about the quiet work that keeps systems running. 👉🏻 www.linkedin.com/pulse/who-ke...

🔊 Catch up with @Robbyonrails.com as @realntl.bsky.social explains why monoculture can move fast but consensus sustains long-term progress. 🗳️ They discuss how, when original developers leave, new teams must take ownership of architectural decisions. 🎧 Listen here: maintainable.fm/episodes/nat...

Everyone’s talking about AI writing new code. I'm more interested in the humans giving existing code its second act. If that resonates, check out my free course for Rails developers: maintainablerails.com

Buy his next coffee

This is a fantastic book. You should get a copy using your professional development budget.

Are you using OpenTelemetry (OTel) in your Rails app for anything interesting? Curious what folks are doing beyond the defaults. What’s been helpful? Surprising? Weirdly satisfying? I’m prepping for a podcast convo and would love to hear how folks are actually putting this stuff to work.

📻 Tune in and join @robbyonrails.com and @realntl.bsky.social as they discuss why “perfectly maintained software” might be a platonic ideal rather than a realistic target. 🎯 🎧 Listen here: maintainable.fm/episodes/nat...

Rails has always moved fast. Sometimes too fast. It gave us bold ideas, best practices that weren't, and features that felt like magic... until they didn't. www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjvs...

One of my band's mellow tracks. www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5ps...

Went to @xoruby.com in Portland, and it was a blast! If you get a chance to go when it's near you, I highly recommend it!

Life goals: www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6RA...

While browsing through @rubyevents.org, I came across this thoughtful RubyConf 2008 talk by Rein H that'll help everyone keep their jobs, especially in the era of AI. WATCH IT & PROTECT YOUR JOB www.rubyevents.org/talks/the-fu...

100% this! So good to see #RubyFriends that I haven’t bumped into in years! Thank you @jremsikjr.bsky.social for your love and labor bringing XORuby to Portland. San Diego, you’re up next! Don’t miss it.

Was great to sponsor and attend @xoruby.com today in Portland. thanks Jim!

🧅

XO Ruby Portland is tomorrow! 🥳🥳 Will we see you there? It's not too late to grab your ticket! 🏙️ Oct. 10/11, 9am - 5pm 🎟️ Grab your ticket for $100: www.xoruby.com/event/portland/

A moment to appreciate the work we do for each other. 💎 I want to thank Tan Le (tancnle) for their work on the rouge gem, which a lot of us rely on for syntax highlighting. github.com/rouge-ruby/r... rubygems.org/gems/rouge Who would you like to thank?

Ruby Central’s made some tough… and yeah, rough… calls lately. I still think they deserve a second act. robbyonrails.com/articles/202...

Proud to be a Portlander!

I want my two dollars... worth of brain cells back from following this story.

Who is heading to GitHub Universe later this month in SF? I'll be there helping represent @ohmyz.sh in the open source fun time zone, or whatever they're calling it this year. 🙃 Also, who needs a hat? shop.planetargon.com/collections/...

This is by far the most sensible take ever since all this mess started. Glad there are still some people capable making the difference between unsubstantiated conspiracy theories and proper reporting of facts. Thank you ❤️

Pitch a guest for @maintainable.fm. Go!

Florent's team at Doctolib realized their test suite wasn’t just slowing down developers...it was draining focus, momentum, and budget. The root cause? Decisions that quietly piled up over time. Too many factories. Skipped Rails defaults. A bloated CI setup.

Delighted to share this deep dive into how Doctolib's team has been speeding up their test suite...when they have 10 databases, 84k tests, with over 3M LOC. onrails.buzzsprout.com/2462975/epis...

Building a new ShrimpTracker

Saw One Battle After Another in 70mm yesterday. This is the kind of film to see in a packed theatre full of strangers. Worth the hype.

CAPTION CONTEST