Today, after meeting with President Obama, BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg told reporters in Washington: "I hear comments sometimes that large oil companies are greedy companies or don't care, but that is not the case with BP. We care about the small people." He later apologized and said he spoke "clumsily."
REALLY?
Methinks Public Relations at BP might be as bad as Spill Emergency Planning.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
Blood, sweat and tears
June 14th is World Blood Donor day... did you know? The employees at the donation center didn't til they walked in today. I passed on donating at work last week, so I stopped by tonight on my way home.
Like everyone else, every time I give, I get to answer the same questions from the last donation:
Have you ever had a transplant?
Have you had a tattoo in the last 12 months?
And, then there's the questions of what your partner or former partners did before meeting you.
But, tonight, as I was clicking through the self assessment (always hoping to get the "right" answer), I saw a new one. Right after "have you ever been diagnosed with Hepatitis," there it was... Have you ever been diagnosed with Babesiosis? I read it quickly and erroneously as Babeosis (pronounced, in my imagination, Babe O sis). And, then followed that with my own questions:
What, exactly, are the symptoms of Babeosis?
And, Just how many opinions must you receive to be officially diagnosed with it?
I quickly decided I had been infected... because, of course, I'm awesome.
So, a few minutes later when Prem, the Red Cross associate taking my vitals, sat down, I asked him... "What is Babeosis?"
Prem, in his nicest, educated, somewhat condescending tone, corrected me... Babesiosis (correctly pronounced Bobby see o sis) is a parasitic disease much like Malaria, but spread by ticks.
It took no more than that description... I am cured!
Like everyone else, every time I give, I get to answer the same questions from the last donation:
Have you ever had a transplant?
Have you had a tattoo in the last 12 months?
And, then there's the questions of what your partner or former partners did before meeting you.
But, tonight, as I was clicking through the self assessment (always hoping to get the "right" answer), I saw a new one. Right after "have you ever been diagnosed with Hepatitis," there it was... Have you ever been diagnosed with Babesiosis? I read it quickly and erroneously as Babeosis (pronounced, in my imagination, Babe O sis). And, then followed that with my own questions:
What, exactly, are the symptoms of Babeosis?
And, Just how many opinions must you receive to be officially diagnosed with it?
I quickly decided I had been infected... because, of course, I'm awesome.
So, a few minutes later when Prem, the Red Cross associate taking my vitals, sat down, I asked him... "What is Babeosis?"
Prem, in his nicest, educated, somewhat condescending tone, corrected me... Babesiosis (correctly pronounced Bobby see o sis) is a parasitic disease much like Malaria, but spread by ticks.
It took no more than that description... I am cured!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
First things first...
After the Valdez spill in March of 1989, Exxon Oil Company seemed to take a less aggressive approach to cleanup than the nation expected. Following the scenes of clean up crews with paper towels on the evening news, many people sent their shredded Exxon Gas Cards back to the company with just a touch of oil added to the envelope. Here's the thing...at the time, the Valdez spill was among the largest man-made environmental disasters. It spilled an approximate 250,000 gallons of oil in Prince William Sound.
No one knows quite yet how much oil has been spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. But we're beyond day 50 and the estimate is between 12,000 and 25,000 gallons are pouring in daily. Do the math. 600,000 to 1,250,000 gallons have been released into our water, our environment.
On Sunday, Tony Hayward, CEO of BP said, "I'd like my life back." He has since apologized for being insensitive... but Mr. Hayward, with all due respect from a former BP Amoco employee...
I want my ocean back first.
No one knows quite yet how much oil has been spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. But we're beyond day 50 and the estimate is between 12,000 and 25,000 gallons are pouring in daily. Do the math. 600,000 to 1,250,000 gallons have been released into our water, our environment.
On Sunday, Tony Hayward, CEO of BP said, "I'd like my life back." He has since apologized for being insensitive... but Mr. Hayward, with all due respect from a former BP Amoco employee...
I want my ocean back first.
Monday, June 7, 2010
"Serving" you since 1973...
If you know me, then you know that I am a bit of a language -scratch that - Grammar freak. Grammar is at the core of many of my pet peeves.
As an example, just this morning, I was listening to the radio on my way in and, lo and behold, one of the personalities said, "irregardless." Honestly... once and for all... IRREGARDLESS is NOT a word. Just use your language skills to figure it out:
ir = not or without, (e.g. irregular - meaning 1 a : not being or acting in accord with laws, rules, or established custom)
regard = : attention, consideration (e.g. - regarding the question at hand...)
less = without
Put it all together - erroneously - and you get a combination that is a double negative and for all intents and purposes (a saying that will be noted later), is of no meaning.
Next item on the soapbox... while out at lunch today, I saw an example of misused quotation marks. I know that we forget the rules of grammar and language over time, but I honestly thought this was one of the easier punctuation marks to remember. Clearly, I was wrong.
(Note: to reduce confusion, I am refraining from using quotation marks around the sign wording)
The sign reads :
"Serving" Breakfast and Lunch since 1953. "Kids" eat free.
Do you think they mean that some people would call what they do "serving" while others think of it as "ignoring?" Or that someone eats free and, if I were to go there for lunch with my mother, I could eat free? (I am her kid, after all) I call my dog, Smokey, my son... does that mean they'll feed him too?
I'm not the only one driven insane by quotation marks...Check out this site: http://www.juvalamu.com/qmarks/
Finally, for this entry anyway, (For you, Gigi, and because I noted it above) a hint for all. Please know your cliche' and its meaning before use. I had a manager that would massacre the cliches. After every bloody (meant in the way of massacre, not of British cursing) use, my co-worker and I would cringe, laugh and repeat.
A couple of classics:
"Bleeding like a stuffed Pig" (how much can a stuffed pig bleed?) and "For all intensive purposes" (we didn't work in a hospital, but perhaps useful for the pig).
Now that I think about it...I'm glad he never used "Balls to the Wall."
As an example, just this morning, I was listening to the radio on my way in and, lo and behold, one of the personalities said, "irregardless." Honestly... once and for all... IRREGARDLESS is NOT a word. Just use your language skills to figure it out:
ir = not or without, (e.g. irregular - meaning 1 a : not being or acting in accord with laws, rules, or established custom)
regard = : attention, consideration (e.g. - regarding the question at hand...)
less = without
Put it all together - erroneously - and you get a combination that is a double negative and for all intents and purposes (a saying that will be noted later), is of no meaning.
Next item on the soapbox... while out at lunch today, I saw an example of misused quotation marks. I know that we forget the rules of grammar and language over time, but I honestly thought this was one of the easier punctuation marks to remember. Clearly, I was wrong.
(Note: to reduce confusion, I am refraining from using quotation marks around the sign wording)
The sign reads :
"Serving" Breakfast and Lunch since 1953. "Kids" eat free.
Do you think they mean that some people would call what they do "serving" while others think of it as "ignoring?" Or that someone eats free and, if I were to go there for lunch with my mother, I could eat free? (I am her kid, after all) I call my dog, Smokey, my son... does that mean they'll feed him too?
I'm not the only one driven insane by quotation marks...Check out this site: http://www.juvalamu.com/qmarks/
Finally, for this entry anyway, (For you, Gigi, and because I noted it above) a hint for all. Please know your cliche' and its meaning before use. I had a manager that would massacre the cliches. After every bloody (meant in the way of massacre, not of British cursing) use, my co-worker and I would cringe, laugh and repeat.
A couple of classics:
"Bleeding like a stuffed Pig" (how much can a stuffed pig bleed?) and "For all intensive purposes" (we didn't work in a hospital, but perhaps useful for the pig).
Now that I think about it...I'm glad he never used "Balls to the Wall."
Friday, June 4, 2010
Growing up Georgian
Another excerpt from "Not my native tongue" to lighten the mood:
We’ve all got our own stereotypes of different people and parts of the country. It’s human nature to take what you have heard as the truth until you’ve seen it for yourself. But, after spending the first 15 years of my life in Atlanta and then setting out on my travels to other parts of the world, I learned of one that never crossed my mind. Apparently, some people not from Georgia believe that we eat dirt. Now, without ever having been to New York, I would venture to guess that not everyone there is rude, walks fast and lives in Manhattan. I would also go out on a limb to say not everyone in California looks terrific in a swimsuit. And, finally, while I may be stretching it, I don’t think everyone in Las Vegas is related to the mob. So, let me help you out… beyond the mud pies I made as a kid, I’ve never eaten dirt. In fact, I don’t know anyone who has (there was that one episode of Oprah that talked about getting iron from the red clay, but I’m going on record as saying that doesn’t count).
That’s right, I said it. We don’t eat dirt. And, while I’m at it, I’ve never (knowingly) eaten roadkill, opossum or otherwise. I have heard of some who have eaten squirrel but, frankly, it sounds too gamey for my taste.
Now that we’re clear on that dirt-eating thing, let’s move on. We, and by we I mean a good number of people here, do walk around barefoot. Not because we can’t afford shoes and not that we have extra toes or webbed feet that don’t fit in Manolo Blahniks, but because it just feels good. It’s not natural to want to wear shoes - we all fight it as children – so why did you stop fighting it? My shoes are off as soon as I’m home. And, as long as it’s warm enough outside (55 degrees or more), I’m only wearing flip-flops when I do need to guard the bottoms of my feet. One word of caution – and I’m dead serious about this – when and if you decide to go barefoot, sandaled, mandaled (man sandals) or flip-flopped, make sure you have properly cared for your toenails and toes. Few things will draw more attention than poor pedi-maintenance.
We’ve all got our own stereotypes of different people and parts of the country. It’s human nature to take what you have heard as the truth until you’ve seen it for yourself. But, after spending the first 15 years of my life in Atlanta and then setting out on my travels to other parts of the world, I learned of one that never crossed my mind. Apparently, some people not from Georgia believe that we eat dirt. Now, without ever having been to New York, I would venture to guess that not everyone there is rude, walks fast and lives in Manhattan. I would also go out on a limb to say not everyone in California looks terrific in a swimsuit. And, finally, while I may be stretching it, I don’t think everyone in Las Vegas is related to the mob. So, let me help you out… beyond the mud pies I made as a kid, I’ve never eaten dirt. In fact, I don’t know anyone who has (there was that one episode of Oprah that talked about getting iron from the red clay, but I’m going on record as saying that doesn’t count).
That’s right, I said it. We don’t eat dirt. And, while I’m at it, I’ve never (knowingly) eaten roadkill, opossum or otherwise. I have heard of some who have eaten squirrel but, frankly, it sounds too gamey for my taste.
Now that we’re clear on that dirt-eating thing, let’s move on. We, and by we I mean a good number of people here, do walk around barefoot. Not because we can’t afford shoes and not that we have extra toes or webbed feet that don’t fit in Manolo Blahniks, but because it just feels good. It’s not natural to want to wear shoes - we all fight it as children – so why did you stop fighting it? My shoes are off as soon as I’m home. And, as long as it’s warm enough outside (55 degrees or more), I’m only wearing flip-flops when I do need to guard the bottoms of my feet. One word of caution – and I’m dead serious about this – when and if you decide to go barefoot, sandaled, mandaled (man sandals) or flip-flopped, make sure you have properly cared for your toenails and toes. Few things will draw more attention than poor pedi-maintenance.
Things ain't what they used to be...
Today, while reading the news, I just kept thinking about Marvin Gaye's song, "Mercy, Mercy Me" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9BA6fFGMjI&feature=related).
It's a sad state of affairs and, while we don't know all that is happening, we know that our wildlife is suffering. It's not a hard path of logic to follow... we will all see the impact of this oil leak somewhere in our daily lives. I found this picture online today... (If you don't know, the brown Pelican is the Louisiana state bird) it speaks volumes.
I try to keep the blog upbeat, but sorry...there's nothing funny about this.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Happy Birthday, Grandma
She died five years ago Valentine's Day. And, while we were never close, there will always be a part of me attributed directly to her. She was the steadfast German...stubborn, hardworking and - even witty. She was the matriarch of the family, most times driving us crazy (and, through that, providing us many smiles and laughs over the years). She had an iron will and a silken hand. She was deeply rooted in her faith and easily voiced her opinion (which was often in direct conflict with mine). But, she was the mother of three, grandmother of eight, great-grandmother of 5 and she was ours.
Today marks the date of her birth 102 years ago. Happy Birthday Grandma and thanks for everything.
Today marks the date of her birth 102 years ago. Happy Birthday Grandma and thanks for everything.
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