English with an American Corporate Accent - 029

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 only have anecdotal stories to tell you. [I can only tell you what I've heard.]

* This testing methodology is pretty brittle to me. [This testing methodology is pretty shaky to me.]

* We are closing the doors; but the cows are already out. [We are closing the doors; but it is too late since the cows are already out.]

* He was working with all the slicing and dicing of the hardware project. [He was working with all the details of the designs for the hardware project.]

* There are a whole plethora of things we can do. [There are many things we can do.]

* We'll hit that knee very soon in the arbitration overhead. [We'll hit that threshold very soon in the arbitration overhead.]

* This could be an implementation artifact in our prototype. [This could be due to the way we implemented it in our prototype.]

* Jason's measurement numbers bear this out. [Jason's measurement numbers prove this assertion.]

* I just want to be helpful somehow... so if either of you have a suggestion, I'm all ears. [I just want to be helpful somehow... so if either of you have a suggestion, I'm listening.]

* Yes, scratch that. Now I recall the reason for the so-called local functions. [Yes, forget about that.  Now I recall the reason for the so-called local functions.]

* But most of these new disk drives are spoken for. [But most of these new disk drives are already reserved for people.]

* We have to take this back to chew it a bit before we can get back to you. [We have to take this back to work on it a bit before we can get back to you.]

* We'll do this two-week cadence for our future meetings. [We'll do this every two weeks for our future meetings.]

English with an American Corporate Accent - 028

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.

* We looked into those peculiar I/O response times. [We looked into those unusual I/O response times.]
* There is some funkiness in those numbers. [There is something hard to explain in those numbers.]
* The task fell below the line we have time for it. [We don't have time to do that task.]
* They got a truck load of compute power. [They got plenty compute power.]
* This new issue is a fly in the ointment for the project. [This new issue is unfortunately a small drawback for the perfect project.]
* There's no steady drumbeat for it from our field yet, but there are a trickle of requests starting to come in. [There is no steady request for it from our field yet, but there are a few requests starting to come in.]

* I would definitely take any IDC prediction with a grain (or a bucket) of salt, as they are always wrong. [I would definitely take any IDC prediction with some reservations, as they are always wrong.]

* This would have prevented the fire drill that we just had. [This would have prevented the incident that we just had.]

* It's close enough, and I don't want to muddy up the waters. [It is close enough, and I don't want to mess things up.]

* What we observed jives with the driver log messages. [What we observed is consistent with the driver log messages.]
* We need to come to ground on this pronto. [We need to converge and have action plans quickly.]

* Make sure that we can tread water in that situation. [Make sure that we can hang in there in that situation.]

West Utah Canyons - 2012 Family Travel

Planning Map for the Canyons 2012

This was our first family vacation in 2012.  It was not easy to have our two adult children join us now, as they have work to do and school to go to. The excuse was to celebrate my birthday in July.  But if we waited until then, the whole family would have had a hard time getting together for this one-week long vacation travel.  On the left is our planning map using Google Maps.  I also used Google Documents for a spreadsheet that had all the text information of this map and the lodgings and reservations for this trip. 
I cannot believe how easy and efficient it has become over the last thirty years to travel.  Now we have GPS, online maps, and cellular phones.  I still remember the planning we had to do with those AAA maps and Tour Guides.  The last stretch to the destination is always a challenge.  You are within a couple of miles of your friend's home, but you missed one turn and got lost.  There was no cell phone and there was no easy pay phone to get to. Retracing your steps and back to the main roads were the common recovery procedures.

Family Picture in Sin City at Palazzo, Las Vegas

We drove down to Irvine, California on Friday, June 15, to meet up with Michael, who is attending graduate school at UCI there.  We had a luncheon with my college classmates in San Gabriel on Saturday.  We headed to Las Vegas for the first night. We picked up Joseph in the evening, who flew in from San Jose, California. Las Vegas, the man-made Sin City, has many splendid and magnificent "Towers of Babel" of our time. We had our wonderful breakfast at Palazzo per Joe's recommendation.  I personally cannot never eat enough to get my money's worth.

Zion National Park 2012 Family Portrait

Our first stop was Zion National Park.
We visited quite a few national parks in Colorado and Utah when Jeanet had her college re-union in Denver about 10 years ago.  We were happy to visit this section of the southwestern states.  Because of time, we had to skip the Capitol Reef National Park this time.  I would like to go there some other time.

Mountain Goat in Zion National Park

We took the free shuttle service to see most of the canyon. It was quite convenient and environmentally friendly.

It took us by surprise to see a couple of mountain goats on our drive to the scenic Zion-Mount Carmel Highway. We took this picture from the window of our CR-V.

Bryce Canyon National Park June 2012

Our second stop was Bryce Canyon National Park

The picture on the left cannot reveal the grandeur of the canyon below. It is not just because of my simple and humble digital camera.  There is no true substitute for seeing it for yourself.  I still took pictures, although there are many better pictures out there.  The reason is the same for me and other people. I took them because we were in the pictures :-)  They are really just for memories.

There is also a free shuttle bus service in this national park for some key vista points. I really like this service.

Switchbacks in the Navajo Loop Trail

Here we learned the word "hoodoo," which is a tall, thin spire of rock.  This makes this national park unique.

We did a couple of short hikes in the park the next day including the "hoodoo hike" along the Navajo Loop Trail.  You got a close look at the hoodoo's.  It is well worth the workout.  This shot on the left shows the quick switchbacks on our way down to the canyon. Note that we had three people in the picture at various points of the trail. Michael was a distant dot at the top.

Deer Having Evening Meal in Bryce Canyon National Park

Deer families are common scenes in the Bryce Canyon National Park. They are so comfortable with the environment and they are not afraid of humans at all.

We went to a "star party" one evening for a nice ranger talk and Power Point presentation on where we are in the universe.  It was quite informative.  We are such a tiny speck of dust, but we are so conscious of our existence.  The human race is really a lonely tribe in the vast galaxies.  After the talk, we got a chance to line up to see the stars and planets through the many telescopes set up by hobbyists. The most stunning one for my family was Saturn.  That unmistakable ring was easy to identify. It is so much like a textbook picture.  For that matter, we could be fooled if they just put microfilm there on the eyepiece.

At the star party, I learned to identify the little dipper (Ursa Minor) by first locating Polaris, and the celestial swan (Cygnus) by locating the amber blue-green head Albireo and the bright tail Deneb, one of the Summer Triangle. In the past, I could only identify the big dipper (Ursa Major), Polaris, and Orion.  I hope that I can reliably identify the swan and the little dipper in the future.

Bryce Canyon National Park Lunch in the Picnic Area

We found a nice shady picnic table for our Subway sandwich lunch in the park. There were nearby Subway shops in the parks we visited.  The sandwiches were wonderful to have as lunch.  We had enough of them for the trip and would probably not eat that for a while.

Bison Herd at the Entrance of Grand Canyon National Park

Finally, we came to the Grand Canyon National Park North Rim.  Technically this is in Arizona, not in Utah.  We had been in Grand Canyon a couple of times before, but only to the South Rim.  The South Rim has better access and is more popular.

The drive to the North Rim was quite serene and beautiful.  I really appreciate the roads and infrastructure that get built and maintained. There are a couple of bison herds near the park entrance area. That was our first surprise.

Log Cabin in National Grand Canyon Park

This is the log cabin we stayed at the Grand Canyon National Park North Rim. We had no wireless access and no TV. That's perfectly fine with me.

Jeanet, Joseph and Michael's Mule Ride in Grand Canyon North Rim

We had a one-hour mule ride in the morning on the last day.  The trail was not difficult since this was for beginners. It went near the canyon a few times, but mostly we rode in the woods.

We remembered to slow down on our way back to look for the elk farm that we saw on our way in.  We stopped to take a few pictures.  This Sugar Knoll elk farm is in Glendale, Utah, which, is situated between Bryce Canyon National Park and the Grand Canyon National Park North Rim. We were hoping to find the ostrich ranch we saw on our way to Bryce Canyon National Park, but failed to find it on our way back.

The temperature went up to 110 Fahrenheit at one point near the California border on our way back.  We were glad to be in the car with air conditioning.  We were thankful that the trip was fun, safe, and uneventful.

English with an American Corporate Accent - 027

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.

* Nothing about the device is a given.  We basically have to blackbox the device. [Nothing about the device is a given.  We basically have to treat the device as a black box.]
* The data is mind-boggling. [The data is difficult to analyze.]
* You'll never know where is the next kink of the hose. [You'll never know where is the next issue what would pop up.]
* There are many issues to use that, choose your poison. [There are many issues to use that, make your choice and be ready for a surprise.]
* Flash drive is not a stateless device.  It depends on what have run before. [Flash drive device remembers things.  It depends on what have run before.]
* They have no clues. I have to give the state of the union. [They have no clues.  I have to give an overview.]
* They are all resolved under the hood. [They are all resolved without our knowledge.]
* That is a staged approach. [That is an approach with several stages in the process.]
* You don't want to be penned in a corner. [They don't want to be stuck in a corner.]
* We have a litany of commands invented to help with this new design. [We have a collection of commands invented to help with this new design.]
* You can get a lot of mileage out of this. [You can get a lot of good use out of this.]
* It is the vagary of the firmware that puzzles us all. [It is that unpredictable behavior of the firmware that puzzles us all.]
* Let's do that now in case the problem goes awry. [Let's do that now in case the problem goes wrong.]

English with an American Corporate Accent - 026

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.

* Some of these items in the diagram are scaffoldings for testing. [Some of these items in the diagram are temporary structures for testing.]
* We need something better, log file scrapping just doesn't cut it. [We need something better, searching for that kind of data in the log file just doesn't meet the need.]
* Do you have the necessary equipment? I might be able to scrounge up a card for you. [Do you have the necessary equipment? I might be able to beg and borrow a card for you.]
* If we do that, we throw out the baby with the bath water. [If we do that, we are overreacting by getting rid of everything.]
* Lack of visibility into that area prevents us from doing more diagnosis of the problem. [The lack of means to know what happened in that area prevents us from doing more diagnosis of the problem.]
* Something went wrong.  They bricked the disk drive. [Something went wrong. They completely killed the disk drive.]
* I am spacing out on that name right now. [I just cannot recall that name right now.]
* I am all for chunking things up.  We don't need to do it all this time. [I am all for breaking things up.  We don't need to do everything at this time.]
* Rob took that a lot further.  But I did not plug in to that effort. [Rob took that a lot further.  But I did not follow up to that effort.]
* The party line is that now we'll use Brand X drives. [The official line is that now we'll use Brand X drives.]
* I think that will be a ways away. Let's not worry about it. [I think that will be a long time later.  Let's not worry about it.]
* You should do a complete job first, then you can pick them out in pieces. [You should do a complete job first, then you can examine them carefully in pieces.]
* If you need to camp on it for a month, we may have a problem. [If you need to have exclusive access on it for a month, we may have a problem.]

Safeway Gasoline Spill Incident - An Unhappy Story

Gas prices are up and we still love our cars and our driving.  It is not uncommon to see cars lining up at cheap gas station pumps.  This incident took place in our neighborhood Safeway store.

This is a relatively new Safeway store at 950 W. Hamilton Avenue, Campbell, CA 95008.
One of the special features of this Safeway is its gas station.  Since it opened, it's been one of the cheapest in the area.



On Sunday, February 5, 2012, my wife Jeanet was there to fill up for her Honda Accord.  The dispenser handle broke off, and the gasoline ran off the rubber hose.  She was obviously panicky and yelled for help.  She had gasoline over most of her clothing. The ground was also wet.  She slipped and fell.  Finally, the people inside the store shut off the the pump from inside. She was asked to fill out and signed an incident report.  But she did not get a copy. The attendant helped her to push off the car and she drove home.

Jeanet came back home with the smell of gasoline all over her.  She took a shower and was even thinking about washing her clothing.  I was home and I asked her to take all her clothing outside.  Later we packed it in a plastic bag. She was not thinking too clearly about what might have happened to her.  She was very fortunate.

My son Joseph heard of this after he came home an hour later. We thought it was incredible that they did not even give her a copy of the incident report.  Joseph and I went back to the store to see the attendant Julie A. at the gas station.  We wanted to talk to the store manager.  The manager himself refused to come out as he was "busy", and sent Mr. Juan Rodriguez to assure us that headquarters would review the video tape and investigate the incident.  But, he refused to give us a copy of incident report signed by Jeanet.
We asked him for a business card so that we had a record of whom we talked to. We got one for the store manager instead.  Anyway, we noted their names from the name tags they wore.

We got a call from the claims department Monday to confirm the facts and to check on Jeanet's condition. We were going to wait for a couple of days to see if she had any lingering injuries from the fall.  Jeanet found the email address for the claim person, Angela S., and sent her the update. This person never replied to any emails and always used the telephone for communications.  Jeanet was never able to talk to her directly and had to leave voice messages every time.  Angela called back at her discretion. 

The phone number was 925-467-2418, and now we found that there is a recording asking for the claim number. Jeanet was not even aware of her "claim number" until we received a copy of the "release form."

On April 30, 2012, Angela finally called again, and tried to see whether Jeanet was ready to settle the claim. We were fed up with this corporate game, and agreed to close this simple case.  Angela called the store to make sure that a representative would be there in the afternoon when Jeanet was able to go to sign a release form. This designated person was named Johnathan.

Jeanet went to the store and asked for Johnathan. Some other clerk came out because Johnathan was "busy."  She brought the release form for Jeanet to sign.  Jeanet asked to have a copy before she signed the form.  The clerk agreed.  The clerk went to the back and then walked out again, but told Jeanet that she could not have a copy of the release form because Johnathan said so.  Jeanet was furious and yelled at the clerk that they tricked her. Said the clerk, "Well, it is too bad.  You have already signed it!"
Jeanet refused to leave, and she was ready to create a scene in front of those checkout lines.  The clerk backed off and went back in for more consultations. Finally she came out with a copy of the signed release form you see on the left.


Jeanet did not want to get an anonymous gift card for the compensation, so Safeway issued her a money order of $200 for the damaged clothing, an amount that was agreed upon over the course of many phone conversations. The three-month ordeal was finally over, but it left us with a real bad taste.  I have not had much time in the last few months to write anything on my blog, but I had to write this one up.

Lessons learned
1) For third-world country grocery stores, the layout for the customer service counter should be away from the checkout lines, and preferably not directly visible from the checkout lines.  Stores should hire a couple of macho bouncers for the customer service department.

2) Bring a camera (built-in camera in a cell phone will work just fine), always take a photo on any paper you sign before giving back to the clerk.  You are entitled to a copy of anything you signed.  But, can you trust them? It is disheartening to hear that "Na Na Na, you lose.  You have already signed it." We really don't want to start a fight for that piece of paper.

Where is America heading?

We were hoping to deal with this incident using common sense.  We thought about getting an attorney to represent Jeanet. We resisted that temptation, as Jeanet was not really hurt physically after a few days of observations.  She was shaken up a bit on the psychological front.  Should we have gotten legal counsel to avoid this sort humiliating treatment by the Safeway staff? I wonder what kind of training the Safeway staff is required to take in order to deal with claims?  In the engineering profession, I have to do all kinds of training to deal with export controls, corruption and sexual harrassment every two years.
If we have to retain an attorney's services for small incidents like these, we'll be in a world of frivolous legal litigations. We have to go places with legal guards, especially the rich and famous.  They need legal guards in addition to body guards.
I like Toynbee's model of  the rises and falls of civilizations, which are based on universal rhythms of rise, flowering and decline. Will this great civilization of United States of America go down in history, at least in part, with burdens of legal entanglements? I probably won't see this myself in person; I certainly hate to think about this.

[Names, addresses, and email addresses are desensitized for privacy sake.  I certainly don't want to see the involved get penalized or lose their jobs. They are just working for a big corporate machine and many just have no clue on what's right and what's wrong.  They need to be better trained to deal with claims.]

English with an American Corporate Accent - 025

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.

* The overall timing of these pieces is a bit tight on Platform A, but I'm really not sweating where this is falling for Platform B. [The overall timing of these pieces is a bit tight on Platform A, but I'm really not worried where we are for Platform B.]
* Let us help our customers get their arms around some of their questions and give them a direction forward. [Let us help our customers get a handle on their questions and give them a direction forward.]
* I got your email on that customer escalation. What's the scoop? [I got your email on that customer escalation. What's it about?]
* Oops! I forgot to include you in that email. [Gosh! I forgot to include you in that email.]
* If we could demo that, that would be a good show-and-tell. [If we could demonstrate that, that would be a good story to tell.]
* Let me up-level a bit on this subject. [Let me address this subject at a higher level.]
* They just want to kick the tires a little bit. [They just want to do a sanity test a little bit.]
* What he just said obliterated everything you have accomplished so far. [What he just said wiped out everything you have accomplished so far.]
* They did their own cherry picking on what's important to them. [They did their own choosing on what's important to them.]
* The political tension between these two organizations is very hard to deal with. [The political friction between these two organizations is very hard to deal with.]
* Are we on track for this project? [Are we meeting our interim objectives for this project?]
* How does that manifest itself in that configuration? [How does that show itself in that configuration?]