This is just an OK deal coming from Starbucks. Starbucks at least in Seattle seems to be running deal after deal. First it was the free coffee in the morning with coupon now this nationwide Starbucks deal. Get a Starbucks Iced Grande Beverage for only $2.00 after 2:00PM for morning customers. This is a substantial price cut from the normal $4.00 for Grande Iced Grande Coffees. The only catch (It’s a big catch) you need to show a receipt from your morning Starbucks visit. So basically you’re paying full price in the morning to get the discount in the afternoon, not to mention you spent money on gas to get there. Not a good deal in my opinion coming from Starbucks and Howard Schultz, but thought it was worth a blog post. Offer runs until Septermber 2nd 2008.

This summer eat cheap! McDonald’s is having a summer long promotion on their Hamburgers and Cheeseburgers. Hamburgers will be $0.49 and Cheeseburgers will be $0.59. Best part of all no coupon is required to get this promotion. This promotion is confirmed “national” but subject to local franchise and store participation. So just ask the McDonald’s employee about it and if they don’t give the deal to you just go to another McDonald’s.

Honda Reflex 249 cc Engine 70 MPG

You don’t have to buy a Toyota Prius or wait until the GM Volt comes out in 2010. You can get 120 miles to the gallon right now with a scooter! “The size of a scooter’s engine can range from 50 cc’s to 650 cc’s. A scooter with a smaller engine of 50 cc’s can get up to 120 miles per gallon with a top speed about 48 miles per hour. A larger scooter with an engine of 650 cc’s can get 50 mpg and reach 115 mph (Herald-Zeitung.com). From 2002 to 2007 scooter sales have doubled. In the first quarter of 2008 scooter sales are up 24% (MercuryNews.com).” The purchase of a scooter seems like a very sensible solution to high gas prices.

The Freecycle Network is made up of 4,487 groups with 5,223,000 members around the world. It’s a non profit grassroots movement where groups exchange free stuff in order to keep useful garbage out of landfills. The web site turns trash into treasure. Let’s say you were remodeling your kitchen and you wanted some granite tile. Just search the Freecycle Network search engine and boom free granite tile for your construction job! “Anything that is a tangible item, that would otherwise end up in a landfill can be listed (http://www.ahwatukee.com).” Next time I want to get rid of some junk I’m posting for sure… great idea.

Is the goal of red light cameras for safety or for scamming you out of money? Some say scam in the Las Angelas area based on new research done by the LA Times. When they sold the idea to the public here in Seattle they touted that it would cut down on those running red lights. See the May 19^th 2008 article here: http://www.latimes.com. “In Los Angeles, officials estimate that 80% of red light camera tickets go not to those running through intersections but to drivers making rolling right turns. The city of Los Angeles issued more than 30,000 photo tickets last year at 32 camera-equipped intersections. About 8 in 10 involved right turns, said Los Angeles Police Sgt. Matthew MacWillie, the program’s co-coordinator.” Red light running violations in Los Angeles County aren’t cheep at $381. Rolling red light right hand turns still fetch a hefty $159 for what essentially is a legal turn. Since rolling turns are not a major safety concern in my opinion this suggests (not surprising) that cities motive for installing red light cameras has a lot to do with generating additional revenue and not necessarily about saving lives. I’d like to know your thoughts, please comment.

To get customers back into Taco Bell doors on Thursday they are introducing a new Value Meal. The slogan for the menu is “Why Pay More” The Taco Bell value menu will include 10 items four new products are priced at 79, 89, and 99 cents. Just a guess, but I bet most of the items include some combination of beans, cheese, and rice. The new menu items include the 89-cent Cheesy Double Beef Burrito, Triple Layer Nachos, Melted Three-Cheese Roll-Up, and the Big Taste Taco.

Lowering the fuel cost burden is on everyone’s mind right now so I will continue to write about proven and lesser known ways, like the Smack Booster to save money on gasoline.

Dustin also known as “Smack” developed a device what he calls the “Smack Booster.” All his research is open sourced and for those who do not or cannot follow the plans is available for purchase. The Smack Booster kits are ready for shipping at $170 each http://www.smacksboosters.110mb.com.

I’m not even going to try to paraphrase what the Smack Booster does. Here’s what I could find, “The smacks booster is often referred to as a Hydroxy booster and consists of a small container of distilled water with a conductive additive. When an electric current is passed through the water it produces a gas mix commonly referred to as hydroxy. This hydroxy mix improves the quality of the burn inside the combustion chamber while reducing CO2 and other harmful emissions coming out of the exhaust. This improvement in burn quality makes your engine run more powerfully and smooth while reducing carbon deposits which have built up inside over its working life. The hydroxy output of the booster replaces a portion of the gasoline normally consumed by your engine. Typical mileage gain results have been averaging around 20% using this design (http://www.panacea-bocaf.org/smacksbooster.htm).”
Download the Smack Booster PDF design here: http://www.free-energy-info.co.uk/

So if it’s so good why hasn’t anyone tested it?

Well the design has been tested; lots of people in fact have tested the design. Take the blog http://rebels-roost.blogspot.com/2008/04/modified-smack-booster-finally.html for example. The author of this blog installed the Smack Booster on his van and was able to get 33% additional miles per gallon. From 32.24 MPG up from the baseline of 24.20 MPG. Unless everyone who’s writing about the Smack Booster design is lying it seems to work and definitely needs to be researched further.

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