measure twice, cut once

This is an old carpenter's adage. The meaning should be fairly obvious, being basically that of "Take extra time over the planning and the execution should go smoother".

Although originally devised by woodworkers, there is no reason that this saying doesn't apply to other trades, even (perhaps especially) to that of software development. Anyone who has ever taken any classes in formal methodology for software design will know that according to all the theories, they are supposed to spend at least as long designing their system as developing it. Yet how many programmers really sit down for weeks at a time with pencil and paper writing out flowcharts and modular designs?

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Another nodeshell rescued FROM the evil clutches of the NRT

They say to
measure twice and
cut once.
These are wise words -
though I prefer to
measure more than twice,
just because.

You can live your life
in a similar way.
Weighing all the risks
before taking action,
making sure you do not
fuck anything up.

Then reality hits, and
you have fucked up anyhow.
But often worth it and
leads to some growing.

I tried this,
fucked up, and
am so much better for it.
Trying to exist
in the “norm”
never really
worked for me
with any success.

I may not have
made the right
measurements and
may have made
some wrong cuts, but
i am damn pleased
with the results of
Me.