Raul Popadineți

August 18, 2026

Haven’t Seen One Since 1999

We booked Valencia in March. Nobody mentioned an eclipse.

I last saw one in ’99. I was a kid. This time I had my family, a balcony, and a phone.

The street below went strange. Bus lane still painted. Cars still moving. Palm trees. And the sky did that 360-degree sunset thing people tell you about and you don’t believe until you’re in it.

I took two photos on the iPhone 17 Pro. One is the city, looking down, diamond ring over the rooftops. One is just the hole in the sky. I posted “INSAAANNEE” because that’s what came out.

Friends back home couldn’t even buy sun eclipse glasses. Romania had a partial eclipse and nobody bothered. We got the full one by accident.

I wasn’t building that week. The apps were fine. The Indie TM meetup ran. I was on a balcony in Spain watching the sun go out.

Some weeks you’re a founder. That one I was just a dad who got lucky with the weather.

So here’s to accidents you don’t plan. 🥂

About Raul Popadineți

Full-time dad, part-time solopreneur.
Curating the Calm Companies newsletter.
Building my first AI startups: Git Digest, OG Pilot
Creator, investor, and alumnus at Gumroad.