Base Rate

Read the fine print in travel ads and brochures and you're apt to conclude that everybody travels in pairs. Invariably, prices for tours and cruises are "based on double occupancy." So what happens to those who prefer to go it alone? They may well have to pay the dreaded "single supplement," which can add substantially to the cost of a trip. Few aspects of travel are as misunderstood as the single supplement, which partly accounts for the dismay--even anger--it engenders in many solo travelers.

Energy regulators rejected a request by the publisher of Consumer Reports magazine that they revoke the rights of power suppliers in the western U.S. to charge market rates and require sales based on costs. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said the petition by the Consumers Union of the United States, which claimed western power prices during the first half of 2001 were "far above what is reasonable" to encourage the building of new power plants, was moot.

Merck & Co., the giant pharmaceutical concern, topped Fortune magazine's annual ranking of the most admired American companies for the second year in a row, the magazine said Wednesday. Merck, based in Rahway, N.J., scored the highest overall rating in the six years the survey has been conducted. The results appear in the Jan. 18 issue of Fortune, which appears on newsstands Monday. Second was the rubber products company Rubbermaid Inc., based in Wooster, Ohio, up from fifth place a year ago.

With bills for pretty much everything steadily rising, some people try to keep a lid on monthly costs by opting for "measured" phone service. What that means is they're charged a fixed rate for a limited number of local calls, plus a per-minute rate for any additional calls. If you don't use your phone a lot, it can be a really good deal. Too good, apparently. Or so the bean counters at AT&T seem to have concluded. Beginning March 1, the company's base rate for measured phone service will jump $3 a month to $15.37 from $12.37 — a nearly 25% increase.

Former “Sex and the City” star Cynthia Nixon says she is gay by “choice” - a statement that has riled many gay rights activitists who insist that people don't choose their sexual orientation. Here's what Nixon, who recently shaved her head to play a cancer patient in a Broadway production of “Wit,” told the New York Times Magazine: “I gave a speech recently, an empowerment speech to a gay audience, and it included the line 'I've been straight and I've been gay, and gay is better.' And they tried to get me to change it, because they said it implies that homosexuality can be a choice.

So I've been worrying a lot about recoupment lately and ... What's that? Not up on recoupment? Don't worry. Recoupment didn't even merit its own entry in the Webster and American Heritage dictionaries I consulted. But if you look closely at rental car advertisements or scan rental agreements, you'll see that recoupment is rampant. In general, the term means recovery, reimbursement, the gaining back of an equivalent.

Unfortunately, the salaries cited in "Supply of Skilled Machinists Is Tighter Than Ever" [March 18] are an exception to the rule. With the perks and salaries Superior Jig is offering, their base rate charged to their customers must be $150 to $175 per hour. Regretfully, 99% of the manufacturing industry's base rate is $45 to $65 per hour, and annual salaries of $20,000 to $35,000, excluding benefits, are more the norm. The manufacturing industry is a true laggard as far as wages go, despite the fact that machinists contribute to nearly all phases of what we have and what we can do. It is truly one of the most unappreciated and unrewarding trades, henceforth the shortage of skilled machinists.

The City Council is expected to pass a 10-phase water rationing plan tonight, but the utilities committee plans to recommend that the council refrain from immediately putting it into effect. "There's no reason to activate something if the public is already doing better," said Bob Dixon, the utilities director, noting that customers cut back water consumption 32% last month.

The cost-of-funds index for savings institutions in the 11th Federal Home Loan Bank District, which includes California, Arizona and Nevada, rose for the first time in nine months to 4.504% in June, up from 4.480% in May, the FHLB said. The index measures the interest paid by thrifts in the district on deposits, advances from the FHLB and other borrowed funds.