From the publishers
WE ARE PLEASED to present our first ever Costco Household Almanac We
have worked with our suppliers to compile a book of helpful tips to maximize
the benefits and usefulness of our products. We also tried to answer many of
the product-oriented questions that members ask us in our warehouses and
call centers. For example, in the “Sight & Sound” chapter, you’ll find everything you need to know about hooking up your new big-screen high-definition
TV set to get a picture as good as the one you saw in our warehouse. And, in
the “Hobbies & Leisure” chapter, you can finally learn how to get all of those
pictures out of your digital camera and into frames and photo albums!
In the Costco Household Almanac, you’ll find tips on everything from connecting complicated electronics to setting up your pantry, with some personal
health advice in between. We thank our suppliers for their participation and
invite you to keep it handy and refer to it often when you need a little advice
from Costco !
Ginnie Roeglin
Senior Vice President
E-commerce and Publishing
IN PERHAPS THE MOST insightful biography ever written about Benjamin
Franklin, Bernard Fay had this to say about almanacs: “These little books were
faithful mirrors of the preoccupations of the times.” As is, I hope, The Costco
Household Almanac, a compendium of advice and pointers geared to life at the
dawn of the 21st century.
Where Franklin in his Poor Richard’s Almanack informed his readers of
“Lunations, Eclipses, Judgment of the Weather, Spring Tides, Planets Motions
and Mutual Aspects,” our book takes you step by step through the process of
shooting, editing, printing, archiving and e-mailing your digital photos. Where
Poor Richard’s noted, “Three things are men most likely to be cheated in, a horse,
a wig and a wife,” our almanac explains how to avoid identity theft. Although
we have omitted noting the “Length of Days, Times of High Water, Fairs, Courts
and observable Days,” we do walk you through the “Seasons of Costco.”
Which brings us to what this almanac really is about: helping Costco members navigate the complexities of today’s world. Financed by Costco’s suppliers, infused with the wisdom of Costco’s members, organized, scrutinized and
written by the editors of Costco’s popular magazine, The Costco Connection,
the Household Almanac has a simple two-part mission:
• To assist members in judging the quality of a product or service
• To help members get the most out of their purchases
We hope you enjoy this unique addition to the great tradition of almanac
publishing, bearing in mind, as Franklin admonished, “We can give advice but
we cannot give conduct.”
David W. Fuller
Publisher
