advice
If you're entering the work force for the first time (although this probably pertains to lots of older employees too), all the details of insurance, taxes, and 401(k)s can be daunting/boring/confusing. Ron Lieber at the New York Times has pared away the extraneous bits and created a
"primer for young people starting their first job," including helpful advice like why it's important to get health insurance, how to fill out your W-4, and why it's good to take advantage of the built-in "raise" that comes from a company-matching 401(k). Sure, this is all basic stuff, but that's the point. Ya gotta start somewhere.
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above and beyond
Unlike Drew's story
about IKEA from earlier today, Philip had what sounds like insanely good customer service from Costco—which is a good thing, since both the original table he purchased and the replacement table Costco's delivery guys brought were missing key pieces.
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customer service
Air Canada has heard you loud and clear, and they're going to start making sure they have decent customer service reps on-hand to help you the next time your flight is canceled, delayed, or re-routed. And
you'll have to pay for it: "$25 one-way on short-haul flights and an extra $35 one-way on long-haul routes within North America."
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assistance
You may already know about WIC—"Women, Infants, and Children," the government program that provides nutritional assistance to "low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women," and to their children up to age five. But a lot of people don't know that
if you receive WIC or
if you're a low-income senior, you may also qualify for their farmers market program, which means you can take advantage of the same fresh-from-the-farm bounty as those coke-snorting yuppies who'll buy anything with the word "heirloom" stamped across it.
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