9.28.2006

Heell...Oops..Hell

I have another update on the coffee thing. This morning, I had the chance to speak to my barista at Peet's. He said that if you bring you own mug in, they make the coffee in the actual mug instead of making it in a paper cup and pouring it into your mug. So, Shenry, if you go to Peet's, your idea works. I can't vouch for any other place though. I just know that I saw it done that way once or twice at another shop. As an added bonus, Peet's will take 10 cents off your order if you bring in your own mug. Spiffaroo.

9.27.2006

Another Answer To Hell

The second company to respond to my coffee condom idea is Deidrich. Here's what they had to tell me:

Ms. Neko,

Thank you for your suggestion. I have forwarded your e-mail to our
marketing team for review.
Please let me know if I can assist you with anything else.


Best Regards,

Patti Graves
Customer Service Specialist
Diedrich Coffee
Gloria Jeans Coffees USA
Coffee People
800-354-5282 ext.6703


Seems like they're blowing me off, but at least I got a response.

Do They Have Diedrich's In Hell?

Another letter outgoing:

Dear Dietrich Coffee,

I have been visiting your --- location in ---- for several weeks now. My favorite beverage so far has been the Mayan Mocha. While I enjoy the coffee and the atmosphere at this location, I have a concern.

Each time I finish with my mocha, I throw a cup, a lid and a sleeve in the trash. Considering how much coffee I consume and how many customers your store has, I can assume that this location alone produces quite a bit of waste. So, I began to ponder what could be done about the situation and I came up with an idea that I'd like to share.

The paper sleeves that fit over the cups to protect hands from being burnt seem to be the most practical product to save, as they generally stay fairly clean. What if Dietrich were to offer an incentive to return the sleeves? Say, for every one recieved, a donation could be made by your company to a local environmental concern. Or, they could be preprinted with some type of coupon or savings offer. This way, Dietrich would save money and gain public applause. Consumers would be encouraged to support your locations. The environment would be saved landfill space and have some portion of forest preserved.

I hope that you will consider my idea. Thank you for your time!

Sincerely,

Letters Incoming to Hell

I have already received a response from Peaberry coffee regarding my idea!! Since they are local, I suppose that they have more time to pay attention to individual emails. Here's what they had to say to me:

Dear Neko:
Thank you for your email.
I will pass it along to the President and VP of Operations.
We appreciate your comments.
And thank you for your patronage!
Sarah Lyons
Peaberry Coffee, Inc.
1299 East 58th Avenue
Denver, CO 80216
(303) 292-9324 x1016
Fax (303) 292-5179


Flippin' sweet!
Today, I am outlining my overall plan and starting some sketches for coffee condom designs. I'll share the sketches when I get home. BTW, I'm sure that if anyone would like to write to Peaberry in support of my idea, it would be welcome. (I didn't use "Neko" when I wrote to them.) If you do decide to support this plan, I'd love to see a copy of the letter you wrote. I sent my letters via email to each company's customer service addy listed on their websites. The nice lady that responded from Peaberry's has the following addy: sarahlyons@peaberrycoffee.com

9.26.2006

Hell's Final Letter for the Day

One more for today folks, then it's homeward bound and rest for Neko.

Dear Peaberry,

I frequently visit one of your downtown Denver locations during my morning breaks from work. I do enjoy your beverages and the shop's location is very convenient. However, I couldn't help but notice that one cup of coffee yeilds a paper cup, a plastic lid and a cardboard sleeve that get thrown away. With the number of customers that your store brings in each morning, all those waste items add up quickly. So, I had an idea that might help to save at least the cardboard sleeves from ending up in the trash can.

You may be familiar with Yoplait's campaign to help fight breast cancer by having consumers return the used lids from their yogurt containers. It seems that a similar strategy could be used by Peaberry to help benefit local environmental concerns. What if, for each sleeve returned to Peaberry, your company donated funds to causes such as the Colorado chapter of The Nature Conservancy or the University of Colorado's "Generation Green" efforts? The benefits for Colorado's environment would be wonderful, coffee drinkers could feel good about choosing Peaberry's, and your company may see some well-deserved positive public light.

Please consider my idea or something similar that gives something back to our environment. Thank you for your time!

Sincerely,


I found out from their website that Peaberry Coffee is actually a local corp. Go figure!

Coffee Condoms from Hell Letter 2

My goal is to finish all my emails to the major coffee corporations today. I'll hit the little guys later on and start up my coffee condoms de arte idea this week.

Here's my email to Peet's Coffee and Tea (where I really get my morning coffee):

Dear Peet's,

Since it's Grand Opening recently, I have made a visit to your 16th Street Mall location in Denver, Colorado, part of my weekday routine. The coffee is delicious and the staff there is doing a fantastic job. However, I couldn't help but notice how much waste my personal indulgence creates. I throw away a cup, a plastic lid and a cardboard sleeve nearly every day.

So, I've come up with a suggestion that I hope you will consider. Why not offer the public an incentive to return the cardboard sleeves? Yoplait has a campaign in which they donate a certain amount to a breast cancer charity for every lid that is returned to them. It seems that a similar idea partnered with Peet's could help benefit wilderness conservation efforts. I've read about some of Peet's community involvement such as the California Coastal Cleanup Day and Aids Walk 2006 on your website. I think that my idea would fit well alongside these causes.

Thank you for your time and consideration!

Sincerely,

Neko

More Coffee Condom Ideas from Hell

As I walked out of the building into the fresh air of my lunch hour, I was again struck with inspiration. Twice in one day?! What are the odds? Here's how it plays out:

Instead of working through the corporate coffee giants, why not cut out the middle-man and take on this beast myself? I can combine my artsy tendancies (if somewhat weak) with my desire to improve the coffee drinking experience! I'll keep the coffee condoms I collect each day and make them into personalized coffee condoms de arte! Then, I can sell sets of the suckers on eBay and donate the money myself to any enviro-charity I choose ~ which will probably be the Nature Conservancy. That could even be a selling point of the product. I can expand into gift-sets and holiday themes! Now, if only I knew someone savvy enough to set up a website for me. I could do it myself, but I haven't the time to learn all the tech-speak I'll need.

Of course, I intend to continue my letter campaign. That way, I can try both angles at once. Whee! I like to be inspired.

The First Little Note From Hell

As promised, I've submitted my idea to Starbucks:

Dear Starbucks,

Not entirely certain that I'm writing to the correct department, I trust that this email with be filtered to the appropriate parties.

Every day, when I've finished with my morning cup of Starbucks coffee, I find myself alarmed at the amount of waste that goes into the trash can. There is a cup, a lid, and a cardboard sleeve to keep my fingers from burning. I can't help but wonder if at least one of those items could be put to good use after I'm finished with it.

Specifically, I am pondering what could be done with the cardboard sleeve and I have an idea that I'd like to offer. Is there some way that the sleeves could be returned? Say, for discounts or some similar benefit?
What if, for every sleeve returned to the store, a donation was made to an environmentally concerned charity? Yoplait yogurt has a similar campaign for which they trade lids for donations to Breast Cancer research. I'd be delighted if Starbucks were to adopt a similar cause, such as forest conservation efforts or recycling initiatives.

Please consider my idea and do this small part toward helping our planet.

Thank you for your time and consideration!


Next up ~ Peet's Coffee and Tea

Trees Don't Go To Hell When They Die

On the way to work this morning, I was struck with an idea. This often happens on my morning journey, despite my brain not having mopped away the cobwebs of sleep so early. Ideas are often jangled and disorganized. But, every once in a while, I'll get a good one; one I can build on and make into something more than just a flash of meandering electricity. And this one is one of those good ones.

This one is too good to keep to myself, and so I'm putting it out there in cyberspace. Setting it free, as it were, like a sparrow from a windowsill. Chances are, I might not get to making it a complete project and I want someone out there to take it and run with it. So, here it is in all its simplistic beauty.

If you're anything like me, you make a stop on the way to work for coffee (could be tea as well). Every morning I stop at the same coffee shop and order the same thing and give the same fake name to the cashier (thanks Shenry). Every morning, I walk away with a paper cup, a plastic lid and one of those brown cardboardy sleeves that goes over the cup so I don't burn my hand. Every morning, I feel the same guilt as I toss the whole package in the trash (sans coffee of course). The only bit of the ensemble that doesn't get stained or slobbered on is that sleeve thingy. Let's call it a "coffee condom", for the purposes of this blog.

It was while pondering these very facts that I had my idea. Why don't I just save the coffee condoms and take them back to the store at the end of each week? Sure, that's not a bad thought but, wait, it gets better... Okay then, maybe I should have some sort of incentive for bringing these things back, like a discount or points or something. After all, aren't I doing the shop a favor? Wouldn't that be 5 less coffee condoms a week that they'd have to spend their profits on? I might be someone who thinks about the environment, but how do we get everyone else to copy? And it gets even bigger...How about something like ~ "For every 5 coffee condoms collected, Coffe Company A will donate a buck or so to Charity B." It works like the pink Yoplait lids. For every so many turned in, Yoplait donates money to Breast Cancer charity. Yoplait increases their sales, Breast Cancer charity gets funding, consumer feels happy. It's win, win, win! It could work for coffee condoms too.

So, someone please take this idea and make it a reality. Since I don't currently have the resources to follow through, maybe someone out there will. For today, I'm going to write to Starbucks, etc. with my idea. Then, I'll work on researching ways to make something happen.

Sometimes, coffee does good things for my brain.

9.22.2006

Ayche Eee El El

So, I'm sitting here at my desk, chowing on a box of grape flavored Nerds and Sweet Tarts and looking over my shoulder. There's nobody there. There's nobody in this office at all today. Why? Because the dreaded plague (the one that I've had for 3 weeks now) has taken them. So, I'm killing time because my boses aren't around and I don't have anything to do.

I get to leave at 3:30 too. Why? There is an "office picnic" that I'm going to. It doesn't sound like any one else is going though. They are either sick or sissy about the weather. But, I see it as an obligation. Besides, I don't get to leave early if I don't make an appearance. Unfortunately, none of the hottie attorneys are planning to attend. AND I'll miss my "pseudo date" with hottie CPA on the rail after work. Oi.

The original point of this email is that I'm here at my desk, crunching these strawberry flavored Nerds (I eat Nerds like you for breakfast!) and realized that I hardly ever read other blogs aside from my own. The one I read the most is Shenry's. If he hasn't posted anything recently, I'll go over his links and pick someone to read about. Sweat Flavored Gummi is my favorite second option. But, I found the Legendary Ghost through Shenry's blog and that's pretty kickin' too. I just don't feel that I give the blogging community much back in the way of appreciation. Guess I need to get around more.

Incidentally, both my cats have their own blogs now. How out of control is that?

9.21.2006

Those Crawling Bastards from Hell

Here's a nice little departure from the cute-fest that's been going on around here lately. I'd be one of the people to watch, rather than chow down. I hate those leggy bastards!

9.18.2006

One Hell of an Employee

Here it is, only 2 and a half hours into the workweek, and already I'm screwing around online! These State gigs are sweet! (actually, I'm trying not to get busted).
In truth, if I actually had work to do right now, I'd be doing that first, surfing second.

Anyway, the point is that I've found these 2 sites that rock. Thought my friends with pets out there (Silver, Roach, Random) could get into these. I've already signed up with the feline option! It's like MySpace for four-leggers.

Catster

Dogster

It seems that I'm getting more and more into the cutsie stuff, huh? Cute Overload has short-circuited my brain! Now all I can think of is bunnies and hammies and skunks and ducks.....

9.13.2006

Holy Eye Lazer Lovely

I thought my wallpaper this morning was cute. Pfeh!
Now THIS is fuckin' CUTE!!!!

Normally, I'm not into pics of people's kids. But, when they're in danger of this degree of mischevious adorability, I am.

Hella Cute

Take a look at what I have on my desktop at work:



Curtousy of Meomi Design. It's so cute!! What nicer way to start the workday than with an uber-cute pink picture on my computer? If you don't have wallpaper with a scantly clad r&b singer or a kick-ass pic of Wonder Woman up, go and download something adorable and slightly weird. (Hey, that kind of describes me)

9.11.2006

Holding Explosive Little Lessons

I'm totally infuriated. Read this and tell me how rediculous it is! It's about a new device called the "Rodenator" that this airport plans to use to explode Prairie Dogs! Sounds like a bad joke, doesn't it? But it made me red in the face to read the article. Don't these people know that there's a much more humane "vaccuum" machine that sucks up the critters alive so that they can be relocated?

I seem to have been on a rampage lately about these animal rights issues. Actually, I have been concerned about them for a long time now. I just recently decided to rememdy the fact that I feel so much guilt about not doing anything to help. So, I'm trying to be more active on that front. It's just that I think my blog is a convenient forum for such concerns. I don't plan to change Little Tragedies into a politial site. But, I do plan to include posts every now and then on the topic. Otherwise, it's business as usual.

Happy Equine Lovers Law

Remember when I posted and asked everyone to call their House Rep.? The Horse Slaughter Prevention Act? Well, good news! H.R. 503 Passed with a vote of 263 to 146. Yay!! Thanks to all of you who called up and supported the bill. Now it's got to go to the Senate for a vote before it goes to the Prez. to become law. So, the battle's not over yet, but if you'd care to make a call or send an email to your Senate Rep., that would kick ass!

9.08.2006

Horrendously Endless Loot Leakage!

My activist molecules kicking in, I went to visit PETA's website moments ago. Apparently, my generous tendencies warranted dropping 20 bucks on animal friendly related products. I thought I couldn't spend money if I didn't go out. Lies, all lies.

I've managed to spend around $800 dollars in one week. Good God! First, I had to take care of bills and debts that had piled up during my long period of unemployment. Then, I had to buy that iPod Nano as a reward for getting a job and maintaining perfect attendance for a month (until yesterday). I'd wanted one forever and damn the consequences. Tomorrow, Silver and I are going to the spa, where I will drop another $200. Yee gods. And I thought I was doing such a good job of restraining myself. Well, it's rice and beans and green tea for the rest of the month. If I spend one more unnecessary penny, I'm going to have to chop off a hand. I really don't make so much money!!

Holy Christ. At least Roach's Passion Party next weekend has some promise of earning me an extra buck or two. I hope the attendance is good and that people are feeling extra spendy on themselves. If nothing else, at least I can write the gas off on my taxes.

Whatever I've got to do to get a place of my own has to be done. Everyday at home lately has been a pressing reminder of how much I want to live alone. But, if I don't stop the wallet hemmoraging immediately, Neko will be going nowhere. I try to remind myself that next month won't bring so many bills. I won't have to repay anyone's loans and I just signed a new agreement with the cell phone vampires in hopes that they won't suck as much out of my bank account as they have been. Must not spend....must not spend...

Jackie Chan Fights Dog Killers In Hell

I just knew that my love for Jackie Chan wasn't misplaced! (My $50 membership fee to the U.S. branch of his fanclub may have been, but my love lingers on.)

He's a good guy.

Warning: This link will take you to a page with photos of the dog killings. Not to gorey, but disturbing all the same.

(Can you guess what Neko is doing in the last hours before quittin' time?)

Hella Gross

What the f&#@ are the makers of candy thinking these days? What Airheads.

gross

And yes, I'm blogging at work.
And yes, I'm still sick.

9.06.2006

Horse Eating Legal no Longer

Today is the national call-in day for voters to urge their House Reps to protect horses from slaughter in the U.S. Horse flesh is regularly sold overseas for human consumption. Almost 100,000 horses were slaughtered last year.

So, call your House Rep. and either say the following or make up your own script:

" I am a constituent, and I am calling to ask that Representative _____ please protect American horses from slaughter and support H. R. 503, the Horse Slaughter Prevention Act. I also urge you to oppose any amendments to H.R. 503. I am very concerned about American horses, and I don't want them to be slaughtered."

So, come on. If I can get off my lazy ass and make this phone call, so can you! If people in other countries want to eat horse meat, let them eat their own damn horses. (Of course, I don't advocate meat-eating of any kind anywhere) It's easy to look up your House Rep. online.

This has been a public service announcement from Neko.