Your Options, L.J.’s Sweater, Etc. February 14, 2001February 17, 2017 Don’t forget the flowers . . . Don’t forget the flowers . . . Don’t forget the flowers . . . GOT OPTIONS? I suppose it’s a little late to be suggesting this, now that the options your employer granted you are deeper under water than a ten-foot tube worm. But for those of you whose options remain, or may someday become, valuable – or who may shortly be receiving a new grant – Kaye Thomas’s Consider Your Options is the book to read. CHEAP THREADS L.J. Kutten: ‘Years ago, I was at a outlet mall. Found a nice sweater with a hole in the arm pit. The store was asking $5. I offered 50 cents. We compromised at $1. My wife sewed up the hole and I have worn the sweater ever since.’ ☞ My kinda sweater. AIRFARES Anon: ‘Travelbyus.com was lauded in your column the other day, and I decided to give it a try. I needed a one-way car rental in March. Travelbyus offers a search for one-way rentals and came up with a car from Dollar at a rate of $200/week, at least $50/week better than the other companies I had contacted. I reserved it and got a confirmation message back from Travelbyus. Their message did not mention the rate — just the dates, car type, and Dollar confirmation number. I called Dollar to be sure everything was kosher and found that they had the reservation, but it was at $300/week. I called Travelbyus. They had no answer or resolution for the problem. When pressed, they commented that they’d been having problems making car reservations work properly. If I had not happened to check with Dollar, I would have had a rude surprise at the car rental counter. In my opinion, this site is not ready for prime time.’ ☞ Well, it does say ‘beta.’ But in any event, you have a point: shop around! And until you have a confirmation you can print out and rely on, don’t count on its being honored. Don’t forget the flowers . . . Don’t forget the flowers . . . Don’t forget the flowers . . .