gistfile1.txt

// original version (my mental model)
func AddMessage(msg string) {
   this.mutex.Lock()
   messages = append(messages, msg)
   this.mutex.Unlock()
}

// worker goroutine
func worker() {
   for {
      case msg := <-some queue
          // addMessage(msg)
          if this.immediate {
             // save
          }
      case <-ticker:
          // save
   }
}
func save() {
 this.mutex.Lock()
 messages := make([]string, len(this.messages))
 copy(messages, this.messages)
 this.mutex.Unlock()
 // go save messages to the database
 }
}