starbucks Archives - Michaels Energy

May 04

Energy Efficiency; Best in Show Pedigree, with a Homely Mutt Impression

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant No Comments

Energy efficiency gets a bad rap, but I shall attempt to slap some sense into efficiency deadbeats. I will start by beating the simple-payback-is-bad dead horse one more time. It may giddyup and run as a result. I am quite certain that one of the things that make investment in energy efficiency the homely mutt of corporate decision making is lack of trust in the savings. This is why it has always been bogged down with simple payback. Like, whew, when do I get my money back and break even on this lower-than-penny-stock gamble? I just want my money out....

Dec 08

Love0

Freeridership: Confessions of a Bad Person

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant 2 Comments

On Thanksgiving weekend, I was impulse shopping online at Starbucks.com. I’d like a new insulated coffee tumbler. Once I moved my desired tumbler to the shopping bag and proceeded to checkout, I found that I needed to purchase $75 to avoid the $8 shipping charge. Ok. I’ll just buy coffee, which I always buy anyway at their stores, to clear the $75. On the way to $75, I noticed one pound of coffee added to the shopping bag didn’t move the needle (purchase total). That’s because there was a buy-three-and-get-one-free promotion ongoing. Cool! My box of Starbucks goods arrived with...