A Letter to BP

Wednesday, 9th June 2010


Dear BP,

It was with shock and dismay that I read in this mornings edition of the Metro that while you are apparently doing all that is possible the oil leak in the Gulf may not be closed off until August this year.

My initial reaction was utter disbelief shortly followed by anger.

As far as I understand it the leak is occurring at 5,000 meters below the surface and since the blow date of the 20th April 2010 has leaked between 12,000 and 100,000 barrels of oil per day. The resulting spill is spreading both in a slick on the surface but also as plumes underneath the surface causing enormous damage to both the local wildlife, ocean dwelling species and enormous damage to local businesses.

My question is why is the oil still spilling after 50 days and why on earth didn’t you have a contingency plan for this kind of occurrence? Telling me that this type of thing hasn’t happened before so there isn’t a plan for it isn’t good enough BP as that just makes me even angrier.

How the hell can you have the sheer arrogance to drill that deeply with no plan of what might go wrong? Without examining every possible option and putting a plan in place? What gives you the right to damage my ocean and 50 days later say that you can’t stop it until August.

I call it my ocean because it is - its part of the planet I live on and therefore my duty to defend and care for it. That means there are 6,826,100,000 (est.) people looking at you worldwide BP and we all want to know what makes you think you can steam in and drill for oil in our ocean and then not have a plan for when things go wrong? We all want to know the answers and we all hold you accountable for the damage to the wildlife, the damage to local businesses and the knock on effect you’ve caused.

I can only hope that lessons will be learned from this experience and Barack Obama uses his power to learn “who’s ass to kick” and then keep kicking until we have both an answer to what happened and an assurance that it will never happen again.

The main lesson that has to be learned BP is that your company is dying as sure as dolphins and pelicans are dying in the Gulf. Your trade has a sell by date BP and companies like you are running for extinction when the oil runs out? And you know it don’t you? That’s what’s driving you to explore more and drill deeper than ever before because you and I both know you’re running out of time. This is leading you to desperation and all the time your trying to outrun the wind mistakes will be made and accidents will happen. Face up to it BP and find a new business. One part of your business is BP Solar, one of the worlds leading providers of solar panels, so why not invest more in that? Or put some of your estimated annual profits of $13.6bn (2009) towards finding a replacement for oil. Wouldn’t that be a more sensible move? You’ve got enough money in the bank to keep paying your staff and direct all efforts towards R&D so be brave and take the step towards change.

Now get on with it BP and clear up this mess you’ve made and get ready to defend yourself because we all want answers and some prettied up press release isn’t going to be good enough. We want real answers and we want them soon.


Jenny Bennett

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/829989-obama-i-d-have-sacked-bp-chief

Life and Work

Work is a funny thing really isn’t it? Its something most of us have to do and a place where we spend more time than at home and yet so many of us dislike what we do.

The first thing we need to get straight is that most people do not work for any reason other than they have to and very rarely do people choose their careers they just kind of ‘happen’. This is a very important fact as it is going to help back up the statement I am about to make:

Your job is just what you do, it is not what defines you and does not change who you are. Your work provides with the funds to do what you enjoy doing and there is no reason to be miserable in a job you hate when you could be actively looking for something you love.

How depressing would it be if someone were to ask your friends what the greatest thing about you was and they all replied that you were a great worker? Wouldn’t it be brilliant if they said you were adventurous, happy, generous or kind? There are so many other things to aspire to that are more important than being really good at your job. If you are in the medical profession please ignore this statement and continue to be really good at your job – that could really backfire on me couldn’t it?!

I’m not saying that people shouldn’t work. I just think if you find that what you do for work makes you unhappy then find something else – life is short and incredibly precious so why waste 40 hours each week doing something you detest?

Not all you career ambitions are within your reach for example if you really fancy the idea of being an astronaut but know this isn’t going to happen why not learn more about the universe, the stars and planets – no it won’t make you any money but you would be as close to it as you could be and the chances are you’d be a happier person for focussing on something you love.

If you are unhappy in your job please look for something else – I hear people everyday telling me that they don’t like their job so don’t follow the crowd, be a trend setter and take a step closer to what you love.

There are 168 hours in every week and you spend 40 of them at work which leaves you with 128 hours to do what you want! Doesn’t it seem daft to do something you don’t like when you could spend those same hours being happy?

Dear South West Trains

Dear South West Trains

As you know you have recently been through the considerable expense of placing ticket barriers at most stations and I am sure my season ticket costing a whopping £3008 per year went towards this.

For anyone who is unfamiliar with these gates the basic premise is that you cannot get onto or off of a station without feeding your ticket through the barriers first of all. I personally am happy with the barriers as, fingers crossed, it means less people travelling without buying a ticket – if I have to pay an extortionate amount of money to get to work so should everyone else!

My problem is with the staff on the trains who insist on waking me up / disturbing me at every available opportunity to check I still have the ticket I used to get onto the station each morning.

I now have to plan to leave my house 5 minutes earlier than usual because you’ve only installed 4 gates at Haslemere which is an incredibly busy station and then have to stand for ages at Waterloo while people can’t get out either because the barriers don’t recognise the tickets. These barriers must have cost a fortune and yet there seem to be even more staff on the trains checking tickets and working on the barriers for when they don’t work – where exactly is money being saved here?

So I’m finally on the station and on the train, the train departs and within 5 or 10 minutes I’m being asked to show my ticket again even though I’ve just put it through the machine. So I settle down to read / sleep / work / daydream and just as we go past Guildford, which has the same barriers as Haslemere, I am asked again for my ticket because the staff member can’t remember who he / she has already asked. Sometimes if I’m really lucky I’ll be asked once more around the Woking area making a grand total of 4 times asked to show my ticket within around a 40 minute period.

Then the train pulls into Waterloo and as I leave I go back through another barrier to prove I had a ticket for my journey and then continue on my way to work making a grand total of 5 times my ticket has been checked in one direction.

What is the point of spending thousands of pounds on the barriers if you’re still going to ask staff to check tickets? Where is the money or efficiency saving?

Either use the barriers or use the staff and please stop bothering us while you try to decide which option to use. The journey to work in a cramped, dirty and uncomfortable environment is bad enough without having to prove you’ve paid for the experience.

To Witness Love

I went to a wedding this weekend of 2 very good friends and had an amazing time but the one thing that will stick in my mind is how they looked at each other.

When Zoe walked through the door everyone started with the photos and saying to each other how beautiful she looked but you could tell she couldn’t hear any of it. All her eyes were focussed on was Carl waiting at the top of the aisle for her; she had this massive smile on her face and truly looked like the happiest woman in the world.

Both of them were the total definition of ‘only having eyes for each other’ and it made you feel very privileged to be around such love and at the risk of sounding very cheesy you could honestly feel it in the air.

When they made the vows you could tell that no one else existed to them at that moment and they were speaking those words to each other with 100% meaning and heartfelt agreement.

I wish them all the happiness in the world and can’t even begin to explain how well they suit each other.

If I had to make a bet on a couple that would last forever (apart from my husband and I that is!) I’d put all my money on Mr & Mrs Black.

xxx

Its the 29 thing again.....

I’m sorry, I really am. I know I’ve done this before but now 29 is really coming round (next week) I’m starting to freak out more than a little.

I’m sat here trying to plan a trek to Kilimanjaro, seeing the pyramids, buying a house, having children and getting a driving licence all in 12 months using only my savings which currently accumulate to £1.00. Not likely is it?

This means I have to prioritise my life – something I am really really really terrible at at the best of times but when there is a time limit involved it’s so much worse!

I can either:

* See the pyramids and make it my holiday next year and get in some more diving as well which would be good.
* Put our house buying plans off for at least another year and book the Kilimanjaro trip
* Get MUCH better at driving so I have some hope in hell of one day being able to drive a car without having a total panic attack.

I cannot have children or buy a house in the time frame so I know I should forget those but they really are the most important to me. Why is it the things we want the most are so hard to get – is that what makes them such a challenge. I wonder what it feels like to realise you’ve finally got it and you can move on.

Does everyone feel like this? Like your torn between so many different options or is it just me who not only wants my own cake but everyone else’s as well to eat?!

I know I should forget about Kilimanjaro as well but I’ve recently had this great idea for a book I’d like to write and as its about Kilimanjaro its kind of necessary to go to get the march on it. Problem is it costs about £5k which leaves me with only £4999 to go when I take into account my savings and even then that’s a repayment of £624.87 per month which is more than a little steep.

The driving thing is the bottom of the list really and I’m only being annoyed by it because I’m so rubbish at it – please don’t reassure me, I know I’m not very good and that’s that.

I just feel such an urge to do everything at once and I’m making myself unhappy in the process. Utter madness.

Does everyone get funny about 29 or is it just me? I have a feeling 30 is going to be a bit of a relief really…….

Sorry for such a ramble but sometimes it’s just easier to get it off my chest.

x