By Lauren Selman | Bio
This was first published at The Life of Lauren with the title "Adventure Starts Today". It is kindly republished here with permission.
This morning, I woke up at 6:30am to get on the road. My lack of sleep over the past couple days is finally hiting me as I stumble out of bed, down the stairs and to the airport. I was blessed because my friend Melissa took me to the airport. (Thanks hun!)
By Jim Selman | Bio
Do you know that terrible sinking feeling when something really bad happens that you didn’t expect—something that you know will have a major and probably permanently negative impact on your life and the lives of those you love—and there is nothing you can do about it?
Many of us have these kinds of feelings whenever we witness a disaster or tragedy unfolding on the news. We can’t get the pictures of what is happening out of our minds. We proclaim, “It’s awful”.
By Jim Selman | Bio
We’re all witnessing the horrifying disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Most of us are running the gauntlet of emotions from sadness to anger. There is a lot of handwringing as the Gulf Coast girds itself for yet another devastating blow. It is not clear if this will be worse than Katrina, but that possibility looms large. We can rebuild after a hurricane. The damage from an oil spill of this magnitude can last for decades—or for all eternity.No doubt British Petroleum will pay. The Valdez cost Exxon upwards of $5B I’m told. Since these costs get passed on, the fact is that, at the end of the day, we all pay.
Following the Valdez, I was hired by one of Exxon’s subsidiaries to craft an alcohol and drug policy. We worked with about a hundred individuals representing a cross-section of the company from the CEO to ship captains and union representatives to office workers. Over eight weeks, we debated the ‘rules’