105 days of summer, Meta lays off thousands for AI, and Waymo gets caught in the rain

Waymo's self-driving cars cannot handle rain (relatable!), Meta cut 10% of its workforce to fund more AI, and thanks to a fun calendar quirk, this is the longest summer we’re getting for years.

Let's get into it.

This is the longest summer we’re getting for a while, so please plan accordingly.

If your Memorial Day Weekend was a wash, don’t fret. You have lots of time to make up for it. 2026 is giving us the longest possible summer thanks to Memorial Day falling on May 25th and Labor Day landing on September 7th, which is the earliest start and latest finish the calendar can offer. That's 105 days of summer. Personally, it feels like my calendar is usually working against me so I’m counting this as a win. And if this isn’t motivating you to finally schedule the group trip you’ve been planning in the group chat, just keep in mind that summer is a full week shorter next year. And the next time we get to experience a super long summer like this? 2037. You have been warned.

Meta laid off 8,000 people this week, and the memo Zuckerberg sent about it was something.

Meta cut roughly 10% of its workforce, about 8,000 people, the latest in a string of tech layoffs fueled in part by the AI arms race. Zuckerberg's memo emphasized "success isn't a given" in the AI race, which is considerably more detached than the emotional message he shared back in 2022. Among the first to go: workers on Meta's integrity team, the people responsible for removing malicious content and hate speech, as well as cybersecurity and content design staff. So the people making sure the platform isn't a cesspool? Fired. Meta spent $72.2 billion on AI infrastructure in 2025, with that number expected to hit at least $115 billion this year. The money is clearly there. It's just not going to the humans anymore.

Waymo’s self-driving cars don’t know how to act when it rains.

Waymo temporarily halted service in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio after its robotaxis decided driving into flooded streets was a totally normal thing to do. Atlanta’s self-driving fleet seemed particularly befuddled by heavy rainfall. In one instance, an unoccupied Waymo car drove into a flooded road and got stuck for about an hour before it could be recovered. Meanwhile, in another Atlanta Waymo gone wild, a journalist was actually in the vehicle when it got stuck in floodwaters, and reported that the car didn't appear to be slowing down as it approached standing water. Waymo had already recalled over 3,000 vehicles earlier this month to fix the exact same issue but admitted it hadn't finished developing a "final remedy" for avoiding flooded areas when it issued that recall. The future of transportation is here, it just can't go outside when it's raining. 

Nobody talks about getting your marriage license even though it’s lowkey the most important (and bureaucratically chaotic) errand of your life. You're planning this enormous, beautiful, emotionally loaded event and then suddenly there's this very unglamorous government office standing between you and legally becoming someone's wife. We did it though. License in hand and I'm choosing to believe the hard part is behind us (it's not, but let me have this).

Marriage license fit check! Because if the government is going to make you fill out paperwork to prove your love, you might as well look good doing it. Did I walk in there like I was about to sign something life-changing? Yes, because I was. Did I go home immediately after and change into pajamas? Also yes. But for that one glorious hour I was a vision in white. Shop the look below and wear it to city hall, a brunch, a garden party, wherever the summer takes you. Just make sure you have something comfy ready for when you get home.

If your calendar looks like a game of Tetris (and you’re losing badly) this one's for you. Taking some time back doesn’t require a new productivity system or another pay-to-play app. All you need is a recurring calendar block that takes less time to set up than it does to read this sentence. Seriously, 30 seconds will buy you back an hour each week.

The hack: Open your calendar right now and create a recurring 30-minute hold, twice a week. Title it something vague and professional-sounding: "Admin," or "Focus Block," whatever reads as plausibly work-adjacent will work. Set it to busy. Done. You now have an hour of precious protected time built into your weekly workflow. Future you loves this for you!

For the girlies who already do this but let people override it anyway: The block only works if you keep your boundaries. Treat this time like a real meeting. That means declining the 3pm "quick chat" that someone tried to schedule directly on top of it. "I have a conflict" is a complete sentence. They don't need to know the conflict is you eating lunch in peace.

For the "but what do I even do with it" crowd: Focused work, a walk around the block, prepping your lunch in the office kitchen, planning out the rest of your week, or simply staring at the wall while your brain resets are all valid options. There are no rules. The point is that the time belongs to you and not to someone else's agenda.

Bonus micro-hack: Keep a running tab of things you keep pushing to the back burner and plan to tackle them during these dedicated blocks. Whether it’s getting caught up on that quarterly report or finally booking that doctor’s appointment, you won’t skip out if you know you’re using your time wisely.

Thanks for reading!