Morning Briefing - Sunday, February 15, 2026
Time: 4:00 PM UTC (8:00 AM PT)
🌤️ Weather
Status: ⚠️ wttr.in service timeout
Castaic (91384): Unable to fetch
Mammoth: Unable to fetch
Weather service experiencing connectivity issues. Will retry next briefing.
📧 Email Triage
Status: ⚠️ Gmail OAuth still pending (no change from yesterday)
Accounts checked:
Email monitoring offline until OAuth tokens reconfigured (documented in FIX-GOOGLE-APIS.md).
Gantom Orders: Unable to fetch (email access blocked)
Note: Email patterns learning file (memory/email-patterns.md) doesn't exist yet — will create after OAuth restored.
📰 News Headlines
Ed-Tech Sector Challenges:
- NWEA: Key Education Trends 2026 - ESSER funding gone, districts facing tough budget decisions on which programs to keep (4 days ago)
- Ed Week: "Boring worksheet vs ineffective ed-tech?" - Heavy use of technology causing policymakers/parents to call for educators to dial back ed-tech (3 days ago)
- Bloomberg: Ed-tech spending hits $30B - US schools spent $30 billion on ed-tech in 2024 (~10x textbook spend), could double in 6 years as learning outcomes decline (4 days ago)
California Education Funding:
- EdSource: CA wins $4.9B education funding intact - US Dept of Education challenged CA's FERPA policies, agreement reached to preserve funding (1 week ago)
- Sacramento Foundation: $22.2M awarded in 2025 - Local grants + scholarships, 75% stayed in Sacramento region (5 days ago)
Macro Context:
- ESSER funding cliff - Districts cutting programs, tough budget decisions ahead
- Ed-tech backlash - Screen-time concerns, effectiveness questioned despite massive spend
- CA funding secured - $4.9B preserved, but FERPA compliance remains federal focus
ZTAG Implications:
- Physical+embodied play model = differentiator vs screen-based ed-tech under fire
- ESSER cliff = districts need low-cost, high-impact programs (ZTAG's value prop)
- CA funding intact = state programs/grants still viable
- Messaging opportunity: "Joy + movement + social connection (not more screen time)"
📂 Workspace Review
Current Phase: Tier 1 - Executive Assistant
Status: Milestone 2 (Integration Layer) ~70% complete
Recent Activity (Last 48 hours):
RMA outsourcing urgent - Jerry in town THIS MONTH (working/ops/rma-repair-outsourcing-feb2026.md)
- Hundreds of ZTAGGERs reworked from Quan's house (battery swap + safety upgrade)
- Valencia Fulfillment expansion opportunity (RMA/repair alongside fulfillment)
- Jerry can train tech before returning to China — window closing
- Action needed: Contact Valencia ASAP
Quo SMS webhook operational - Fixed Feb 15 (working/ops/quo-webhook-setup.md)
- Business SMS (385) 485-5863 now routes to Telegram
- Manual reply via quo-messaging.py (not auto-reply yet)
Steve Florida shipment - UPS tracking documented (working/ops/steve-florida-shipment-tracking.feb2026.md)
Blocked Items:
- Gmail integration (OAuth token reconfiguration needed)
- Email monitoring paused until tokens fixed
- Weather service (wttr.in timeout today, transient)
Metrics (Current):
- ROI: 15x ($240/month cost, $3,600/month value)
- Time saved: 6 hrs/week
- Target for Tier 1 graduation: 25+ hrs/week saved
Sunday Window (TONIGHT 9:45 PM PT):
- Rebuild scheduled per REBUILD-WINDOW.md
- Review agent findings before rebuild
- Pending rebuilds queued in pending-rebuilds.md
🎯 Priority Flags
URGENT THIS WEEK:
- RMA outsourcing decision - Jerry window closing (see working/ops/rma-repair-outsourcing-feb2026.md)
- Contact Valencia Fulfillment (Kristin or Quan?)
- Document repair procedures with Jerry
- Create tech job spec if Valencia agrees
- Founder sovereignty at stake: Quan doing repairs from house = unsustainable
TONIGHT:
- Sunday rebuild window (9:45 PM PT) - scheduled maintenance per protocol
EARLY NEXT WEEK:
- Gmail token reconfiguration (M2 blocker, documented in FIX-GOOGLE-APIS.md)
- Calendar integration start
- ROI dashboard update
CONTEXT WATCH:
- ESSER funding cliff - Districts cutting budgets = opportunity for ZTAG's cost-effective model
- Ed-tech backlash - Physical play positioning stronger than ever vs screen time
- Jerry in town - QC/manufacturing training happening NOW, don't miss repair outsourcing setup
Summary
Sunday morning, quiet. Weather service unavailable (transient), email monitoring still offline (known issue).
Key sector trend: ESSER funding gone + ed-tech under fire = ZTAG's physical/embodied play model positioned perfectly. Districts need low-cost, high-impact, non-screen programs.
URGENT: RMA outsourcing decision this week. Jerry in town temporarily — window to set up Valencia repair partnership before he returns to China. Hundreds of units being reworked from Quan's house = unsustainable, violates founder sovereignty. Action needed ASAP.
Sunday rebuild window tonight 9:45 PM PT per protocol. No other urgent founder attention required.
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