North Star Goal
🎯 Leave Synchrony by ~June 2027 (sooner if Aspire revenue lands)
💰 Confidence-based: $1M Aspire (or $400K recurring)
🪜 Topher sabbatical → Jaime → both leave
🔒 Gate: 401(k) loans repaid
This is the lens. Every lane filters through "does this move us closer to self-employment?" Full doctrine at memory/topher/north-star.md.
The Otten Family
💑 Topher & Jaime (married 2018, Vegas)
👧 Aubre, Nick, Cayden, Kendyl, Kynsie
🐾 Zelda (brindle boxer, 5) & Willow (fawn boxer, 4)
Canonical name spellings at memory/topher/kids.md.
Travel Posture
🎰 Vegas — relaxation, food, pools (not gambling)
✈️ Delta Diamond — free upgrades + Delta Vacations booking path
🏨 Hertz Gold+ · SW Rapid Rewards · AA
🎯 Goal: 4+ trips/year (1 family, 3 couple)
Infrastructure
🖥️ M4 Max (primary) + M3 Ultra (AI)
💻 MacBook Air M5 (mobile)
🔗 Aria (COO + Chief of Staff), Vegas, Sahara, Circa, Strat, Paris
🗄️ NAS — 8 Docker containers, SSH + Tailscale
🖨️ Bambu Labs P2S + AMS 2 Pro + NAS storage
Daily Rhythm (weekday)
- 10 AM – 3 PM: peak window — P1 work, demanding meetings, the cognitive heavy lifts
- 3 PM: crash. Don't fight it. Switch to admin / Linear triage / low-stakes calls.
- Evening (post-dinner): Aspire second wind — creative push, midnight okay
- Before bed: ask Aria for a 60-second wrap. ONE thing for tomorrow.
- Friday EOD: sacred cycle debrief. What shipped, what slipped, what's next.
Full doctrine at memory/topher/preferences.md + memory/topher/focus-and-capture-system.md.