When my previous independent pharmacist went out of business, they transfered all of my prescriptions to the nearest Walgreens. I switched to another “independent” that was part of Rite-aid’s network. The staff were poorly trained in customer service communications, passive aggressively taking control of every conversation and then not listening. I had multiple instances of prescriptions being lost or delayed, in one case for weeks. The owners didn’t care why I as a customer found these experiences frustrating and eventually told me I should just go to Walgreen’s. I did and the customer service has been so much better. Independent isn’t always better.

You can also get extended service updates from Microsoft for at least a year. $30 for up to 15 computers, although there are also a couple of ways to get then free. 1000 bing rewards points, or enabling Backup to sync your settings to OneDrive are supposed to both means to get them that will become available soon.

Regarding The example given in the article, lying to get out of a social obligation , memorize this phrase: “I have a prior commitment.” People seldom challenge it or ask for details. It isn’t a lie, it is merely non-specific. That prior commitment could be as simple as “I made a commitment to myself to not do things I don’t feel like doing” or “I need to walk the dog” , descale the tea kettle or keep an appointment.

It’s nobody’s business but yours or perhaps your spouse’s which applies.