Ernest is 42 years old and has been out of work for two months. he lost his position as a program manager when his company merged with another larger company. he made a great deal of money during his time as manager and saved quite a bit, so finances are not an immediate concern. he has not been actively looking for work, and he feels sluggish, sleeps much more than he did in the past, and spends most of his time watching tv.

James river jewelry is a small jewelry shop. while james river jewelry does sell typical jewelry purchased from jewelry vendors, including such items as rings, necklaces, earrings, and watches, it specializes in hard-to-find asian jewelry. although some asian jewelry is manufactured jewelry purchased from vendors in the same manner as the standard jewelry is obtained, many of the asian jewelry pieces are often unique single items purchased directly from the artisan who created the piece (the term manufactured would be an inappropriate description of these pieces). james river jewelry has a small but loyal clientele, and it wants to further increase customer loyalty by creating a frequent buyer program. in this program, after every 10 purchases, a customer will receive a credit equal to 50 percent of the average of his or her 10 most recent purchases. this credit must be applied to the next (or 11th) purchase.