English with an American Corporate Accent - 023

This is another collection from recent meetings and trips. It works best if you can find a native English speaker with exposure to corporate America to elaborate on the finer points that I cannot cover well here.

* I'll ask the questions first. Please feel free to chime in. [I''ll ask the questions first. Please feel free to add yours.]
* If we have to jump through hoops to get there, we have a bad design at the outset. [If we have to do through extraordinary steps to get there, we have a bad design to begin with.]
* It is a totally bogus question. Why do you have to ask what the system is like? [It is a totally nonsense question. Why do you have to ask what the system is like?]
* This one-stop shopping will be convenient for the customers. [This one single contract point will be convenient for the customers.]
* We got twenty minutes to the top of the hour. We should be able to complete this review. [we have twenty minutes to the end of the hour. We should be able to complete this review.]
* I like to get your usage model in order to talk to my engineers. [I like to know how you use this in order to talk to my engineers.]
* Let me call you right after this concall to get to the nitty-gritty of this requirement. [Let me call you right after this conference call to get the details of this requirement.]
* Another option is to tinker with the new hardware to get a feel of it. [Another option is to play with the new hardware to get a feel of it.]
* Enough doom and gloom for this difficult technical issue, let's move on to the next topic. [We have discussed enough on the down side of this difficult technical issue, let's move on to the next topic.]
* Going forward, the intention is to maintain this transparency so that customized code can be removed. [From now on, the intention is to maintain this compatibility so that customized code can be removed.]
* We will not comment on this news; this is the party line. [We will not comment on this news; this is the the official stance.]
* That is Ninja programming to me; you have to know what you are doing. [That is really some programming to me; you have to know what you are doing.]
* You have the pen, you have the control for the project. [You are the one writing the requirement document, you have the control for the project.]

Our Mother - Always in Our Hearts

Our Mother

Our mother, Yuhsin Ko Lee, was born on August 21, 1927, in Shan Yao, Jiangxi Province, China and passed away on July 15, 2011, at her home in Davis, California, at the age of eighty-five.

Growing up in a farming village, mother developed a tenacious and intrepid character after losing her mother at a young age. She was spirited and bright, though the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War stopped her schooling. In the midst of war-torn China, mother met father, Hsueh Lee (deceased), and they married in 1947 in her hometown. Due to civil unrest, mother fled with father to various places. Their longest stay was three years in Hong Kong, where their eldest child, Tzong-yu, was born, and where mother heard the Gospel, received Jesus Christ as her Savior, and was baptized. In 1954, the family moved once again, settling in Taiwan, where the rest of her three children, Maria Li-ching, Churng-fung, and Si-yang (deceased), were born. While father held a middle school teaching position for the following thirty-plus years, mother devoted herself wholeheartedly to the family. Not only did she faithfully manage the household and lovingly raise her children, she fastidiously monitored her children's learning. As a result of her dedication, we were each able to complete our college education despite difficult circumstances. Mother's selfless devotion to the family had been our greatest blessing and model. For twelve years, she tirelessly cared for our youngest sister Si-yang throughout her ongoing illness until her eventual passing. In his later years, father suffered from three strokes. It was also mother who patiently and uncomplainingly cared for him and supported him. Even the grandchildren, all grown now and leading productive lives, trace their upbringing to their grandparents.

After father passed away in 1991, mother moved to the United States. First, she accompanied Churng-fung's family to Wisconsin where Churng-fung pursued her advanced degree. Following those blissful years, she joined Li-ching's family in California and settled there, returning occasionally to Churng-fung's home in Taiwan. Throughout those past twenty years, mother participated in church life, increasingly depending on the Lord, calling often on His name and enjoyed His love. Early this year, mother was confined to bed rest due to her congestive heart failure condition. All of her children rallied to care for her -- Li-ching tended her full-time; Tzong-yu traveled to Davis regularly, spending innumerable weekends with mother; while Churng-fung made a special trip from Taiwan to visit mother in May. During those months of illness, whenever mother heard brothers and sisters singing and praying out in the living room, she would joyfully echo with "Amens" from her bed as she enjoyed the Lord's comforting. At the time of her death, both Tzong-yu and Li-ching, who resided in the States, along with their families, surrounded her, accompanying mother to peacefully complete her journey on earth. The comfort that mother received in the Lord and from the saints was evident from her countenance. We are grateful to the Lord for His grace toward her.

We thank the Lord for giving us such a mother.

[NOTE: These will be used in the Memorial Service for my mother on July 23, 2011. I came up with a Chinese draft with Li-Ching. Churng-Faung did the beautiful final editing. My niece Tina took this and translated to an English draft while I did the final editing. We are proud to do this for her and we are sure that she is proud of us as well. She is always in our hearts.]

我們的母親

我們的母親 李柯玉馨女士，生於1927年8月21日中國江西上饒，卒於2011年7月15日美國戴維斯家中，得年85歲。

母親生長於農村，因年幼喪母，養成堅忍獨立的性格；母親生性開朗健談，聰敏過人，惜因中日戰爭爆發而輟學在家。1947年母親在家鄉與父親--李雪先生(已逝)相識相愛，在戰亂中結為夫妻。跟隨父親輾轉流離，在香港調景嶺三年中，生下長子宗虞，期間聽得福音，接受耶穌為救主，受洗歸依主名。1954年一家人再度遷移，在台灣相繼生下三女：麗卿、春芳與思琰(已逝)。在父親擔任中學教職三十餘年間，母親勤儉持家，無微不至的照顧兒女，同時嚴格督促子女課業，使我們都得以完成高等學業，在無依困頓的環境中得以自立。母親對家庭盡心竭力，成了我們兒孫最大的祝福與榜樣。么妹思琰天生殘疾，母親日夜照料長達十二年；父親晚年三度中風，也多虧母親耐心照顧扶持，無怨無悔，如今孫輩也個個長成，品性端正，都源於父母親的恩澤所賜。

父親於1991年辭世後，母親遷居美國，先到威斯康辛州陪著春芳一家求學，享受天倫之樂，後再與麗卿一家長居加州，也間歇往返台灣春芳家休養。二十年期間參加召會生活，對主耶穌愈發信靠，常呼求主名，享受主愛。今春(2011)，母親因心臟衰弱臥床靜養，麗卿全力照護，宗虞來回奔波照應，春芳亦於五月飛美探望。臥病期間，當母親聽見弟兄姊妹在客廳唱詩禱告時，都會喜樂地在臥床上以“阿們”回應，得主撫慰。母親臨終之際，在美居住的宗虞與麗卿兩家兒孫們，隨侍在側，平安地陪伴母親走完她在地上的行程。母親在主裡在聖徒中所受之安慰，洋溢於眉宇之間，使我們感謝主對她的恩典。

感謝主，把這樣一位母親賜給我們。