English with an American Corporate Accent - 033

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.

* That's the buzzword for "no more service is available." [That's the trendy word for "no more service is available."]
* I have my right ear burning with something urgent now. [I am sure that there is something urgent that needs my attention now.]
* To save time, we can piggyback on your work to deliver that feature. [To save time, we can leverage on your work to deliver that feature.]
* While we do that, let's take the opportunity to iron out the hardware wrinkles if any. [While we do that, let's take the opportunity to fix the hardware problems if any.]
* Our security portfolio is an organic version. [Our security portfolio is a home-grown version.]

* We had serious performance difference two years ago, now we are bridging the gaps. [We had serious performance differences two years ago, now we are closing the gap.]
* That new feature really gives our competitor a run for their money. [That new feature really challenges our competitor.]
* The status of that project falls into a yellow for me. [The status of that project falls into a "caution" status for me.]
* I have 24 direct reports; wheels are starting to fall off the cart. [I have 24 direct reports; things are starting to fall apart.]
* I am drawing a blank on that name. [I simply cannot remember that name.]

* We cannot use that half-baked prototype. [We cannot use that incomplete prototype.]
* There is a wrinkle to this action plan. [There is a small problem to this action plan.]

English with an American Corporate Accent - 032

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.

* If we have these common functions available, the drivers won't have to do the heavy lifting. [If we have these common functions available, the drivers won't have to do much work.]
* That would be in a single wad for the roll-out. [That would be in a single collection for the roll-out.]
* This is really a real estate issue.  Can we try to pare that down? [This is really a real estate issue.  Can we try minimize that size?]
* I hate to sound like a broken record on this issue. [I hate to repeat this again on this issue.]
* There are a lot of moving pieces in the test area. [There are a lot of changing components in the test area.]
* There's some wiggle room for this project, since it is using a subset of the upper level protocols. [There's some flexibility for this project, since it is using a subset of the upper level protocols.]
* There is already an entry in the plan. We just need to flesh it out or have a pointer for it. [There is already an entry in the plan.  We just need to fill in the details or have a reference pointer for it.]
* That performance enhancement is like to boil the ocean with a few burners. [That performance enhancement is doing very little to the whole thing.]
* John, let me pick your brains on that new idea. [John, let me ask your opinions on that new idea.]
* This will help us as a team to hone in on what configurations will be valid. [This will help us as a team to focus on what configurations will be valid.]
* You are blazing new trails for the team. [Your are trying out new processes for the team.]

English with an American Corporate Accent - 031

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.

* Try to get some low hanging fruit in the first pass of testing. [Try to get some easy results in the first pas of testing.]
* Off the top, I would say eighty percent is in that first category. [Just a quick estimate, I would say eighty percent is in that first category.]
* In order to obfuscate the attackers, you need to follow this procedure. [In order to confuse the attackers, you need to follow this procedure.]
* It looks to me that is the short list we whittle down to. [It looks to me that is the short list we reduce down to.]
* That's off the table for sure; there are many unknowns. [That option will not be considered for sure; there are many unknowns.]
* That's a perfect segue for the next item in our list. [That's a perfect transition for the next item in our list.]
* I did not mean to crash your party. [I did not mean to attend your meeting uninvited.]
* Hi Paul, anything you need right off the bat? [Hi Paul, anything you need right now?]
* If you are going to up-level like that, we really need to see what reports come from the field. [If you are going to summarize like that, we really need to see what reports come from the field.]
* I don't really follow the driver/device dance there. [I don't really follow the intricate driver/device arguments there.]
* Going out on a limb a bit, I believe that this memory leak probably maps to the changes made by Ray. [Just a guess on my part, I believe that this memory leak probably maps to the changes made by Ray.]
* That time slot would be more palatable across the board. [That time slot would be more appropriate for all concerned.]
* Bridges will be crossed when we are there. [We'll do what we have to do when we are there.]

English with an American Corporate Accent - 030

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.

* Everyone is welcome to weigh in on this issue. [Everyone is welcome to give his opinion on this issue.]
* Let's get a best guessmate or swag for these development tasks. [Let's get a best estimate for these development tasks.]
* To get that storage discovery code to work in a month is a nonstarter. [To get that storage discovery code to work in a month has little chance of success.]
* Please note that this is not fully vetted within Adam's org. [Please note that this is not fully examined within Adam's organization yet.]
* I will be on the road and/or in the sticks, so if you need to contact me, it may be hard. [I will be on the road and/or in the back country, so if you need to contact me, it may be hard.]
* The counter was also a diagnostic breadcrumb during development. [The counter was also a diagnostic left-over piece during development.]
* Yes, that project just got integrated was my day job :-). [Yes, that project just got integrated was my officially assigned regular day-time job :-)]
* I am currently maxed-out with support to customers. [I am currently completely swamped with supports to customers.]
* Feels like treading water now. [Feels like not making any progress now.]
* I'm feeling a little under the weather today. [I'm feeling ill today.]
* As part of on-boarding process, you'll learn this new tool. [As part of  the process to join this new team, you'll learn this new tool.]
* Once you sign up for it, you'll be on a very slippery slope. [Once you agree to join it, you'll be on a very treacherous path.]
* You need to give security visibility to the development process. [You need to raise the awareness of security in the development process.]

Beekeeping Field Trip

On my bus rides to the Fragrant Hill for hiking, I saw bee hives stacked up along the bus route outside of Fourth Ring road in Beijing. I was quite curious about this outdoor setup. I had honey, walnut, milk, and oatmeal for breakfast routinely for years. I bought a copy of "Beekeeping for Dummies" to read in August 2008. It was fascinating to read.   Bees are one of the oldest domesticated animals.  Honey bees are quite docile, while wasps are not.
Anyway, on August 14, 2010, I paid my first visit to a bee supply outfit, Carrier's Bees in San Jose, which was very close to my Campbell home. I found it in an Internet search. It was good to see and touch the basic components of a modern movable Langstroth comb hive with explanations and tips from the friendly shop owner.
I got a Livingsocial Roundrock Honey voucher as my birthday gift the summer of last year. Finally I managed to redeem it for a 3-hour class and demo in a place near Hunters Point, San Francisco before it expired.
The class took about an hour. It covered the basic honey bee society, the whole life cycle of a hive, the gears for beekeeping, the seasons, the flowers, and the climates.  The honey bee society is a very centralized one.  The one and only queen in the hundreds of thousands (at the peak of the season) bees in colony lives for 2 or more years.  She is well fed, well attended, and her only job is to lay eggs around the clock.  The picture on the left shows what queen's cell is like. The worker bees (sterile females) have a life cycle of 35 days or so.  The drones (male bees) are only good for mating.

This was the first class in this season.  They could not do demos during cold and rainy winter days.  The bees would be resting in the hive. We were lucky to have a nice sunny Saturday.  The hives and boxes were very minimal, as the colonies kept only the minimum to get through the (short) winter in California.  As the bees work and make honey to fill up the existing boxes and frames, new boxes will be added on top to allow for population growth and honey build-up.  On the left, you see a box with all the frames inside.

After our teacher cleaned up the propolis and beeswax a bit, frames were removed for show and tell and also for further cleaning.  The cleaning job was relative simple and straightforward, because the season is just started.





Starting up, the bees use the frames for both nursery and food store.  The queen drops an egg in the cell. After three days, the nurse bees feed the larvae, first with royal jelly, and then soon wean them to regular food, that is, honey and pollen.  Worker bees drop pollen and nectar into cells. Nectar ripens to honey after adding an enzyme and after some serious fanning by the bees to remove water content.  Pollen is packed. Both honey and pollen are food for the colony.

Now, I got hold of a frame that the combs are almost full, because bees are doing their final puking and touching on the cells.  This is a busy society, and everyone knows what she and he is supposed to do.




Many people react so stereotypically when they heard the bee word :-)  I was happy to have Henry with me on this trip. By the end of class, there are enough people convinced that these bees are really docile. We took our hats and veils off for the picture. Unless we confront the bees directly and threaten them, we do not have anything to fear.  Being on the cautious side is always a good idea though.


The last stop was the tasting of local pollens and honey.  There were eucalyptus, lavender, wild flowers and other varieties.  The honey was more expensive than what you can get in Costco. But, the taste was very distinct and unique.  The mass-produced honey is more uniform and less exciting. Locally produced honey is good for people suffering from hay fever and pollen allergy. I suppose that is a vaccine-like effect, with people taking small doses of the same local pollen in their food.

There are only a few classes in summer for the harvesting of honey. Each class would be 4 to 5 hours. It might be fun to attend one of those as well...

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.]