Defending Birkenstocks and Ambien

Before I get into it…Italy is as usual fantastic. Max took off for a few days to Rome and Pompei and now is back. Rachel loves Florence and Tuscany as expected.

I had my first ride of the trip, a very hilly 30 miles with my guide Andreas. Andreas is 53 (I am 52), and has been a rider is whole life. I am in awe of watching Andreas ride a bike. He does not break a sweat. His wheels spin up a mountain effortlessly and his body is dead quiet.

In Phoenix I mostly ride by myself. I like it that way. In Tuscany, I do not want to think about maps and pace…I just want to enjoy riding in the hills of Tuscany.

Xenia, our host, set me up with Andreas last year and it was incredible to have a pace person and the local knowledge. Andreas does not speak English so I get the added bonus of the ride being like a solo ride. For example, today I tried a little small talk after a long climb in which he doubled back for me twice and asked ‘How old are you’ (hoping he would say 29) and Andreas said ‘sure…Expresso about 2 kilometers’. I think we will be great friends.

Next…

Before the trip, Ellen convinced me to get a pair of Birkenstocks. I have no idea what came over me, but yes, as ugly as they look, I bought my first pair. Here is what that looks like in the streets of Florence. I feel like I have entered some final stage of my life:

Now to the important point of todays blog…

The Ambien ‘crisis’ involving Roseanne Barr, overshadowed all the news of today. Ambien was the number one trending word/story on Twitter. Ambien did not have to buy that spot.

Ambien did mind you tweet this at/to Roseanne Barr:

Ambien is a miracle drug (for me). Like any drug, it has major drawbacks. Most importantly, it is addictive. I have blogged the last 12 years about the addiction and how I go on and off it with difficulty. I would only wish my chronic sleep problems on a handful of people.

I consider myself an Ambien expert. I know how my body reacts to it and I control the environment, not so much to keep others safe, but to get maximum efficacy of it. Of course I have tweeted on it. I guess one should not.

And finally…

I shared this on Twitter and it got a lot of laughs and responses:

It’s day two of the Italian Bond crisis and as one would expect in 2018…the world could give two shits. The US small cap index hit all time highs and software continues to eat the world.

I have a freebie ad for Ambien tonight…

‘When the markets are in Turmoil, take an Ambien and BTFD.’