Words to live by

"Spaceflight will never tolerate carelessness, incapacity, and neglect. Somewhere, somehow, we screwed up. It could have been in design, build, or test. Whatever it was, we should have caught it. We were too gung ho about the schedule and we locked out all of the problems we saw each day in our work. Every element of the program was in trouble and so were we. The simulators were not working, Mission Control was behind in virtually every area, and the flight and test procedures changed daily. Nothing we did had any shelf life. Not one of us stood up and said, 'Dammit, stop!' I don't know what Thompson's committee will find as the cause, but I know what I find. We are the cause! We were not ready! We did not do our job. We were rolling the dice, hoping that things would come together by launch day, when in our hearts we knew it would take a miracle. We were pushing the schedule and betting that the Cape would slip before we did.

From this day forward, Flight Control will be known by two words: 'Tough' and 'Competent.' Tough means we are forever accountable for what we do or what we fail to do. We will never again compromise our responsibilities. Every time we walk into Mission Control we will know what we stand for. Competent means we will never take anything for granted. We will never be found short in our knowledge and in our skills. Mission Control will be perfect. When you leave this meeting today you will go to your office and the first thing you will do there is to write 'Tough and Competent' on your blackboards. It will never be erased. Each day when you enter the room these words will remind you of the price paid by Grissom, White, and Chaffee. These words are the price of admission to the ranks of Mission Control."

—Gene Kranz, January 30, 1967, to his segment of NASA's flight control team the Monday after the Apollo 1 disaster

"It starts with how we view women."

right on, james brown.

Suggestions to be taken with a grain of salt

Steve Jobs's Best Productivity Tips

the caustic-corporate-monster thing aside, herr jobs was massively productive. here are some of the ways he shaped his work life for maximum efficiency (just, you know, maybe don't do the whole verbally abusing coworkers thing?).

from http://lifehacker.com/steve-jobs-best-productivity-tricks-1632476352

1. Get rid of the crappy stuff and focus on what matters (make it easy to focus on what's important, which will probably mean saying no more often).
2. Delegate responsibilities (and don't multitask).
3. Get more life experiences (a diversity of experiences better informs your work and success).
4. Assess your life daily and change what you need to (if too many days in a row you're displeased with how you spend your day, it may be time to make some changes).

Thoughts, thoughts . . .

 

and one proposed response: http://jezebel.com/if-you-care-about-women-and-still-support-the-nfl-you-1631903485

Questions for Discussion:

1. Is a six-game suspension adequate punishment for a player who beats another person?
2. Especially considering some dude who smoked a joint was suspended for a year?
3. Why did the NFL wait to fire Ray Rice 'til the video -- which they'd previously seen and which squared with the accounts Rice and his wife had already given of the incident -- went public?
4. Is there room in the NFL for domestic abusers?
5. Is a boycott of the NFL throwing the baby out with the bath water?

No caption required

(file this under "more styling with band-aids.")

Word.

from http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2014/09/henry_lee_mccollum_cleared_by_dna_evidence_in_north_carolina_after_spending.2.html

Cool-weather breakfast

noting this recipe so i can try it myself . . .

recipe and photograph from http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/whole-wheat-zucchini-pancakes/

Whole Wheat Zucchini Pancakes

Yield: About 12 pancakes
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 cups buttermilk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup grated zucchini
Maple syrup and butter, for serving

Preparation:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugars.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together buttermilk, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla extract. Pour liquid ingredients over dry ingredients, stirring until just combined. Fold in the zucchini.
3. Heat a griddle or pan to medium heat. Spray with cooking spray. Pour about a 1/2 cup of batter onto heated skillet. Cook until surface of pancakes have some bubbles and a few have burst, about 3 minutes. Flip carefully with a spatula, and cook until browned on the underside. Continue making pancakes until the batter is gone. Serve pancakes with butter and maple syrup, if desired.

Note from the recipe's originator -- We use white whole wheat flour, but you can use all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour. These pancakes freeze well. Wrap them in plastic wrap and place in a freezer bag. Will keep in the freezer for up to 2 months.

Aiyup.