The Daily Valet. - 3/15/21, Monday

✔️ Here It Comes

March 15, 2021

Monday, March 15th Edition

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor in Chief of Valet.

Anyone else get a text from their mother last night asking about the WAP performance?

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf

Today’s Big Story

Here Comes the Stimulus

But the rollout is causing some confusion and a backlog of tax refunds

Just days after President Biden signed the $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill, people around the country reported seeing deposits pending in their bank accounts, reports NPR. That money is expected to be made available as soon as Tuesday or Wednesday.

According to the U.S. Treasury, payments to eligible Americans will continue through the next several weeks on a rolling basis. Most people who are eligible will automatically receive those payments—no action required. The IRS says it will automatically calculate the amount that people receive, based on their latest processed tax return.

Which means that some people could also receive less than they are entitled to if their income dropped in 2020 but they haven’t yet filed their 2020 tax returns. A TurboTax spokesperson told CBS News, "If you haven't filed your 2020 return yet, you should do that now to give your most recent information to the IRS."

But there’s currently a bottleneck at the IRS. According to the Washington Post, the agency has a backlog of tax returns (nearly 7 million) that have not been processed for weeks. And now it has to send out stimulus payments and change the tax code in the middle of a busy filing season.

Where’s the money going once it hits bank accounts? That all depends. For some, that $1,400 will go towards groceries, rent and other necessary bills as “keep the lights on” money. But for about 50% of Millennials, they’re actually planning to spend that money on stocks, according to a survey cited by Markets Insider. Given the shakeups from the GameStop and meme stock episodes, it’s interesting to imagine how this new cash influx could play out.

On the bright side, over 450 people have already pledged to donate a portion of, or their entire stimulus check through Pledge My Check. Donations range from a local organizations and small businesses in their community, to individuals needing help with bills, to nationwide organizations like Feeding America.

↦ FYI: You can check the status of your stimulus using the Get My Payment Tool, available on the IRS website.

Who Run the Grammys? Women.

Beyoncé breaks a record; Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift make history too

It was a historic night for female performers at the 2021 Grammy Awards—a jam-packed but socially distanced show highlighted by some pretty epic live performances (which have been sorely missed during the pandemic year).

Four women won the top four prizes Sunday, including Swift, who became the first female performer to win album of the year three times. Beyoncé became the most decorated woman in Grammy history with her 28th win (plus one for daughter Blue Ivy Carter).

Billie Eilish won record of the year for the second year in a row. She also took home a Grammy for the Bond theme for No Time to Die—the first time a song for a film not yet released has ever won.

Megan Thee Stallion won best new artist, the first female rapper to win the award since Lauryn Hill in 1999. Album of the year went to Taylor Swift, making her the first woman to win three times, reports Rolling Stone. But when it came to performances, it seemed like everyone was talking about the men: Harry Styles, Lil Baby and BTS.

↦ FYI: Variety has the full listing of every category and winner.

Crisis at the Border

Number of unaccompanied migrant kids in U.S. custody up 25% since last week

The number of unaccompanied teens and children in U.S. custody along the U.S.-Mexico border has reached record numbers. According to ABC News, the current average time the children spend in facilities typically designed to hold adult males for 24 hours, has increased to 117 hours—two days longer than the legal limits on custody.

Sending them back across the border is creating another problem: Mexico is struggling to deal with the new wave of expelled migrants. Yet still, they keep coming, and many officials believe the numbers could be bigger than those seen in recent years, after the pandemic and recent natural disasters in Central America wiped away livelihoods.

The White House has stopped short of calling the situation on the border a crisis, but on Sunday House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called it a humanitarian crisis. “What the administration has inherited is a broken system at the border, and they are working to correct that in the children's interest,” Pelosi said. Her remarks came a day after it was announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency will begin sheltering and transferring children who arrive at the southern border for at least the next 90 days.

↦ Dig Deeper: CNN spoke with migrants to hear why they’re making the dangerous journey now.

Meditation Is Up During the Pandemic

Buddhists now offer their own form online ... and it’s nothing like the usual apps

Feeling a little anxious these days? Perhaps a tad scattered? Who could blame you. And you're not alone.

Fitbit recently aggregated its user activity data and the numbers show that people are desperate for stress relief. Meditation saw a massive 2,900% increase globally over the past year. And since so much of it is being done at home, apps have been integral in this fight against stress.

Calm is one of the most popular. The app, which costs about $70 a year, has been downloaded 80 million times. (It jumped to the top of Apple's Health and Fitness category right after Election Day.) Other apps like Headspace, Reflectly and Sleepiest aren't far behind.

Of course, if you want to meditate more in a group setting, you can safely do that now too. According to Mashable, there are free meditations you'll find being offered by Buddhist temples on Zoom that are far different than what you get on meditation apps. These come with extra guidance, guest teachers and discussions after the zen has been achieved. Certainly worth a try, right?

In Other News

Other Things We’re Talking About Today

The stuff on our radar

Dirtbags

March Madness

The Brits Make the Best Shoes

And now buying them is even easier

British men are famously good dressers. But they may be even more known for their ironclad taste in footwear. That could be because, if given the chance, most self-respecting Englishmen are wearing shoes made in England. What's so great about British shoes? In a word, everything.

After all, the country has a long history of making footwear. Like, really long. The first English guild who called themselves cordwainers—an Anglicization of the French word for shoemaker—was founded at Oxford in 1131. The word is actually derived from the southern Spanish city of Córdoba, which was famed for its high-quality leather. And the use of exceptional leather is of great importance to British shoe making.

Of course, the bedrock of any shoe is the sole. And that's where British shoe making really excels—the solid construction is not only built to last decades but only gets more comfortable the longer you wear them.

Case in point: Crockett & Jones, the epitome of British footwear, has just launched a new website with an e-commerce store and debuted an innovative unstructured collection. The casual shoes boast a uniquely flexible leather sole that took over two years to develop. It's unlike anything they've done before and yet remains true to their roots of classic British cobbling. We take a closer look at the art and science behind British shoes and offer up a few stylish options along with other brands worth your hard-earned money (or stimulus check).

↦ Buy: The best British shoes for your money.

What We’re Buying

Now through the 28th, Reebok is hosting a Friends & Family sale where you can get 30% off sitewide (and an extra 50% off sale items) with code FAM. Which means it's a perfect time to treat yourself. Perhaps you need some new workout sneakers? The 10th anniversary edition of the Nano was named one of the best cross trainers for 2021 by our editors.

↦ Get It $130 / $59.98 by Reebok