Buzzwords

With thanks to friends at a large advertising agency in Toronto, the following buzzwords were gathered mostly from their large automotive client who used them liberally. Always get a chuckle when I think of the context in which these would have been uttered. If you've heard any new buzzwords, please leave your comments for all to share.

1. Repurposed
2. Anecdotal
3. Between the goal posts
4. Bogey
5. Top-box
6. Synergies
7. Bubbling up
8. One could say
9. This is two-pronged approach
10. Rules of engagement
11. Level-set
12. Under the radar
13. 40,000 foot view
14. Bringing ideas forward
15. Strategizing
16. At the end of the day
17. Diagonal slice
18. If you will
19. Noodle
20. Dialoguing
21. Cross functional
22. Bundle up
23. Silo's
24. Buckets
25. Integrated cross functional
26. Thin edge of the wedge
27. Deep dive
28. Right out of the chute
    

2005 1st Quarter Business Sayings

2005 was a very good year. Lots of angst in the boardrooms and meeting rooms about growing sales and market share. Didn’t seem that the good times would never end. And they didn’t…not in 2005. Picked up a great deal of mangled sayings that year. Here are the first of them:

1. Gut check / Gut instinct
2. You are peeing on me and telling me its raining…nice try!
3. Flushed out
4. Sell them like popcorn
5. The secret is in the pudding
6. As soon as its announced that the new blonde is coming to school, the old blonde is dead
7. We are in the soup and don’t know what’s coming down next
8. Don’t know when we are going to be hit with the turnip
9. Go back and stroke it
10. One foot on the casket
11. Curiosity teaser
12. Picking the fly S out of the pepper
13. I don’t want to mow your lawn
14. Prime the pump
15. Common sense ain’t that common
16. It is but it isn’t
17. The proof is in the numbers
18. Don’t equip it, strip it
19. Exactly right
20. Way, way, way
21. Too much vanilla ice cream makes you sick
22. Anthropomorphize
23. Let’s be seagulls
24. Put it on the hood
25. Scooped out of the chute
26. Trying to chase too many rabbits and not catching any
27. Consensed
28. Let’s not let a few details ruin a good story
29. The pig in the snake
30. Jump through a brick wall
31. Cheeks in the seats
32. The challenge is to decide what the challenge is
33. The objective is the goal
34. We have to find a way to achieve the objective
35. If you go and ask and the answer is no, then you have to make a decision
36. Coming down the pipe
    

X Trail vs 9-5

The alternate title for this story could have been, “It keeps going, and going…”.

Our long-in-the tooth Nissan X Trail is still in the family continuing to provide extremely solid and reliable duty. It shares the garage with a Saab 9-5. I swear the X Trail goes to sleep each night with a smug grin on its face.

Simply put, the X Trail just goes about its business without complaint. It drives very smoothly (for a non-car). Has decent acceleration for a 4 banger. And actually handles the twisties fairly well. Black with tan interior. Going on 115,000 kilometres.

It sits up high with a good view down the road. Has great all-round visibility. Above average fuel economy.

Versatility not an issue. The rectangular shape combined with flat fold-down rear seats produces very usable interior volume. It comes in handy for transporting materials from Home Depot (too many occasions to remember), furniture from Ikea (we have more Pax units than student housing), plants and gardening supplies. We have moved houses and apartments. We have set up booths at trade fares. We have even moved into and out of a retail store.

And we have not necessarily been kind to it. We remember to change the oil every 6 months or so. We finally replaced the cracked windshield after a year. We wash it every so often. Clean the carpets…actually we have never done that. But we do shake out the rubber floor mats every so often.

It does eat rear brakes though. We found Sheridan, a fantastic repair shop in Oakville that does great service at reasonable prices. Basically, it drives well, handles everything thrown at it and doesn’t complain with the minimal servicing.

With the addition of winter tires, we have plowed through three winters north of Toronto, where it snows every day from December to April. Changeover cost $60 and completed in 45 minutes.

The Saab…

A tad more high-strung unfortunately. Gun Metal gray with gray leather interior. Now slightly over 85,000 kilometres.

2.3 LitreTurbo engine goes like a bat out of hell. Especially in ‘sport’ mode. Fold down rear seats that lie flat allow versatility not expected in a premium sport sedan. Lovely heated leather seats take the pain out of the cold winter mornings.

Needs TLC on the servicing however. Even though the service intervals are around 24k.

Kept clean to within an inch of its life. Sally, my wife openly laughs at that. Dash painfully clean; carpets spotless; seats ‘fed’ each month to keep supple.

Moved houses and kids apartments a couple of times. Handles skiis and snowboards easily.

Long highway drives to Ottawa and Montreal a real pleasure. The 9-5 gobbles up the highway with ease while drinking Sunoco Premiun at a relatively thrifty rate. Unless in ‘Sport’ mode.

To sum it up: needs lots of love, complains a bit, takes a while to warm up. But rewards with a great driving experience.

And the winner is…X Trail!

Actually the Saab was ahead down the stretch. Winter tire changeover did it in: $180, 2 1/2 hours.

X trail grin keeps getting wider.

The Unfinished Marathon

I did not complete the race.

I entered my first marathon after experiencing a few years of success running in numerous 10k’s and half marathons. By then I had become a serious runner and had achieved my personal best in a 10 k. Was in great shape.

Did not show enough respect for the distance however.

Toronto Marathon. October. I had been training hard. Long runs to build up endurance combined with speed work on the local high school. Unfortunately I never actually ran the full distance during training. Felt confident that I could do it during the race. This would come back to haunt.

Began well enough. Right pace. Breathing well. Comfortable.

Light rain began shortly after the start as we headed east from Nathan Phillips Square. It stayed until near the end and kept the temperature cool.

Kept up the pace after the slight downhill to Lakeshore where we headed west toward Parkside Drive. In a great pack of runners all chatting and moving well. Wet but not cold.

North on Parkside for the climb to St. Clair. Uphill all the way combined with short, intense inclines. Slowed a bit, but still at a comfortable pace. Attacked on the inclines to keep motivated. Speed work came in handy.

At the right onto St. Clair, facing the long, straight route into East York, realized a couple of things: first, ‘this was a dam long race!’; second, ‘what was that pain in my left knee?’. The folly of never having completed the full race distance in training reared its head.

Increasing pain in the knee as we crossed Yonge Street. Still confident though when I realized that I had hit the halfway point in under 2 hours. Ahead of schedule even with the slowing pace. Finishing in less than 4 hours still seemed possible. Foolish thought.

The transition from confidence to despair happened quickly.

Through leafy Leaside still heading east and closing in on the 30 km mark, the rain combined with the cool temperatures and the increasing pain in left knee to knock me out of the race.

Pace slowed to a walk. Eventually stopped to try and ‘stretch it out’. Didn’t help.

Runners and even walkers passing constantly.

Finally made it to a medical tent. Shivering cold. Wet. In pain. Mentally devastated. In inconsolable despair. Defeated. 13 km from the end of the run.

Waited along with the other unfortunates for the ‘clean up’ bus. The vehicle following the last runners picking up those not able to finish.

Took over an hour and a half to make it back to the finish line. Longest 90-minute ride of my life.

The bus dropped us off about 50 yards from the finish line. Time clock still counting. Well past 5 hours. Not many people around. Found my bag, changed quickly and went home.

Didn’t talk about it for quite some time. Loosing to myself not something I wanted to share.

Stop running competitively for quite some time after that.

Unfinished business…