The Daily Valet. - 11/8/19, Friday

✔️ Get More Sleep and Get Ahead at Work

Friday, November 8th Edition

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor in Chief of Valet.

I slept in today ... it was a strategic move to help my career.

Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf

Today’s Big Story

Get More Sleep to Get Ahead at Work

Sleep can affect work, but work can also affect your sleep

Anyone else feeling sluggish at the end of this week? Are you, like me, feeling like that the extra hour we got from the end Daylight Saving Time didn't do as much as we'd hoped for? Okay, cool.

We all know that sleep (or lack thereof) affects our mood. But it turns out, it might affect our work—and even our salaries—more than we might think. The New York Times quotes a study published last year in the Review of Economics and Statistics that found that workers who live in locations where people get more sleep tend to earn more than those in areas where people get less.

The theory being better-rested workers are more productive and are compensated for it with additional income. And if you're under-slept and sluggish, you might not even be able to handle your regular workload. "If you regularly get less than seven hours of sleep, you're not at your best," Thomas Balkin, PhD, director of behavioral biology at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research told WebMD. "The less sleep you get, the worse you do at your job."

But studying sleep can be complicated. Multiple studies have shown that higher-income employees sleep less than lower-income ones. And this is most likely because big earners are spending more time working, so they have less time for sleep. Working more adds stress, and stress disrupts sleep.

Of course, you don't need a doctor to tell you that if you're well-rested, your life will be better. But it's good to get the reminder and the actual science is pretty staggering. For example, tired doctors make pretty serious mistakes, and tired students get substantially lower test scores. In fact, it's believed that delaying school start times to 8:30 am or later would contribute $83 billion to the American economy within a decade.

So try to get some sleep. If not for your health or well-being, than for your bank account.

↦ FYI The National Sleep Foundation has some tips on coping when your work is interfering with your sleep.

Why People Got Mysterious Valentine’s Day Texts Yesterday

This likely made for some awkward exchanges

Yesterday, people across America awoke to find that their phones had suddenly received (or worse, sent) text messages originally intended to be sent around Valentine’s Day 2019. Wired is reporting that the problem appears to have affected a wide range of devices and carriers, and has since been resolved, according to Sprint and T-Mobile. AT&T and Verizon haven't confirmed yet.

A Sprint spokesperson told the Verge a "maintenance update" last night caused the error. "The issue was resolved not long after it occurred," the spokesperson said. "We apologize for any confusion this may have caused."

The confusion was rampant, as you might imagine. While some reported tense text interactions with people they'd since broken up with, others were more tragic. One person said they received a message from an ex-boyfriend who had died; another received messages from a best friend who passed away.

We had a feeling you’d enjoy The Daily Valet. Shouldn’t you also have a valet to use daily as well? Stay tuned.

Is Bloomberg Running?

The former New York mayor is getting pieces in place

Beto might have just bowed out, but it looks like Michael Bloomberg is jumping in the ring. Just when I thought the field was getting whittled down, the former New York City mayor is reportedly filing paperwork this week in at least one state with an early deadline.

According to CNN, Bloomberg has privately expressed concerns about the strength of the 2020 field and is reconsidering his options, in part, because of the outcome in this week's elections in Virginia, where investments from his gun control group helped Democrats win control of the General Assembly.

In terms of where he'd fit within the pack, he'd be much more moderate than Bernie or Warren—likely more comparable ideologically to Biden or Buttigieg. However, among Democratic primary voters, the polls show far more support for liberal candidates than truly moderate ones ... aside from Biden.

But even if Bloomberg enters the race immediately, it'd likely be impossible for him to qualify for the next debate on Nov. 20th. The deadline is just six days away, and he'd need 165,000 unique donors and four polls showing him at 3% or higher. Maybe he's timing this to enter the fray just as we're getting sick of seeing the other front-runners. Not entirely a bad move.

Coca-Cola Is Launching a New Sparkling Seltzer

It’s their first new beverage in a decade

Coke's trying to elbow its way over La Croix by shelving their unpopular "sparkling Dasani" and launching Aha, a new brand of flavored seltzer. Sparkling water sales have soared as consumers switch from soft drinks to healthier options. In 2018, bottled sparkling water volume grew by 26% to 531 million gallons, according to data from Beverage Marketing.

With healthy competition from brands big and small, Coke is trying to position the new offering as something different. Two of Aha's eight flavors, Citrus + Green Tea and Black Cherry + Coffee, will contain 30 milligrams of caffeine (a touch less than a can of Coke). But not too different: Aha will be sold in cans, not bottles, reports CNBC.

↦ Find It: Aha is set to go on sale through out the US in March.

Other Things We’re Talking About Today

This ode to the car cassette adapter

The virtues of high-end hand sanitizers

Starbucks’ mildly confusing holiday cups

Weekend Pairing

Midway + a Classic Daiquiri

Veteran's Day weekend seems like the perfect time to catch an American war-time epic on the big screen. Roland Emmerich, the German filmmaker known for such big-budget disaster movies as Independence Day and Godzilla, has restaged World War II's Battle of Midway. Just six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, this clash between the American fleet and the Imperial Japanese Navy marked a pivotal turning point in the Pacific Theater during the war. The film is the ultimate underdog story and features an all-star cast—from Luke Evans and Aaron Eckhart to Nick Jonas and Mandy Moore. Woody Harrelson and Dennis Quaid also play the legendary Navy Admirals Nimitz and William "Bull" Halsey.

What goes with a high-flying film celebrating heroic feats of fortitude? A classic daiquiri, of course. You see, wartime rationing made most booze hard to come by, yet because of Roosevelt's Good Neighbor policy (which opened up trade and travel relations with Latin America, Cuba and the Caribbean), rum was easily obtainable. So during World War II, rum-based drinks (once frowned upon as being the domain of sailors and bums), became extremely fashionable. And the nice thing about the cocktail is it's more of an equation than a recipe.

↦ Make It:∘ 2 parts light rum∘ 1 part lime juice∘ 2 tsp sugar (or simple syrup)Pour into a shaker with ice, shake until well-chilled and strain into a coupe glass.

What We’re Buying

Whether you consider yourself a wine connoisseur or not, you need to own a few good glasses and have a bottle or two on hand for guests. These modern glasses from CB2 are not only a good deal for glassware (just under $24 for a set of four), but the smoke grey glass gives off a more sophisticated, sleek and sexy vibe than standard clear. So they'll stand out in all the right ways—no matter how much you know about wine.

↦ Get It $6.95 / $5.91 at CB2