Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh

PART 1 Expression

1. I was a nervous wreck the morning that I was going to tell my boss at Oracle that I was quitting.

wreck: informal, someone who is very nervous, tired or unhealthy

He looked a complete wreck.

a nervous/ emotional wreck.

The attack had left her an emotional wreck.

wreck的另一个意思： an accident involving cars or other vehicles

car/ train/ plane wreck

His father died in a car wreck.

2. Surprised and flustered, I hurriedly mumbled an awkward "no, sorry" and walked away as fast I could.

fluster: (v.) to make sb nervous and confused by making them hurry or interrupting them 使慌乱

Don't fluster me, or I'll never be ready on time.

flustered: (a.) confused and nervous

I always get flustered in interviews.

3. We went out every once in a while to try to drum up some more sales.

drum sth up: to get support, interest, attention etc from people by making an effort

He travelled  throughout Latin America drumming up support for the confederation.

The organization is using the event to drum up business.

4. LinkExchange is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: 一个千载难逢的机会

My intuition already knew that joining Apple was a once in a lifetime opportunity to work for the creative genius.

a window of opportunity: 一个短暂的有利时机  a short period of time that is available for a particular activity

Delay might open a window of opportunity for their rivals.

5. I've lost a lot of money when UI decided to bet the farm instead of taking money off the table.

bet the farm/ ranch (大牧场): informal, to risk everything that you own

Do we really want to bet the ranch on this deal?

6. He told us the ballpark number of what they were willing to pay.

ballpark/ ball park: (n.) 棒球场

in the (right) ball park: informal, close to the amount, price etc that you want or are thinking about

Their estimate is in the right ball park.

a ballpark/ ball-park figure/ estimate/ amount: a number or amount that is almost but not exactly correct

He said $25,000, but it's just a ball-park figure.

7. This whole situation felt life déjà vu, except this time the numbers were bigger.

déjà vu: [ˌdeɪʒɑ: ˈvu:]

法语词，似曾相识的感觉（未经历过的事情或场景仿佛在某时某地经历过的似曾相识之感）

8. He's generally portrayed as an intelligent, introspective, and proper British journalist-turned-venture capitalist.

introspective: tending to think deeply about your own thoughts, feelings, or behavior 内省的

a shy and introspective person

introspection: (n.) 内省；自我反省

The night time dream is meant for introspection.

9. One of my earlier ideas was to open up a Subway sandwich franchise with Alfred somewhere on the Stanford campus.

franchise: permission given by a company to someone who wants to sell its goods or service特许经销权

a franchise holder

a franchise agreement

The beer is brewed under franchise. 

10. My mood as a strange mix of apathy and relief.

apathy: the feeling of not being interested in sth, and not willing to make any effort to change or improve sth 漠然；无动于衷

The campaign failed because of public apathy.

PART 2 Sentences

1. One day, I woke up after hitting the snooze button on my alarm clock six times. I was about to hit it a seventh time when I suddenly realized something. The last time I had snoozed this many times was when I was dreading going to work at Oracle. It was happening again, except this time, I was dread going to work at LinkExchange.

This was a really weird realization for me. I was the co-founder of LinkExchange, and yet the company was no longer a place I wanted to be at.

2. I thought about how easily we are all brainwashed by out society and culture to stop thinking and just assume by default that more money equals more success and more happiness, when ultimately happiness is really just about enjoying life.