1. Greg's First Rule is the rule that you are currently breaking.
2. Be sure that the piece of equipment you are about to modify already works as originally intended.
3. You can't say you know where it isn't if you don't know where it is.
4. Don't try to check out two newly designed and built devices at the same time.
5. Murphy's Rules do not rule, they just sometimes happen
6. It is a better ability to be able to make a quick decision and act on it than delay a decision. When you make decisions quickly and you find the decision was in error, you can easily make another decision to correct the incorrect decision. If you are slow to make a decision, you will be even slower decide you need to correct a bad decision.
7. Learn skills and techniques to be able to organize your work and do mundane tasks quickly and mindlessly, the sooner you finish such a task the better off you are. If the job is going to last a long time no matter, you can have your mind on other more interesting topics while getting the job done. Besides, mindless tasks are usually done more accurately.
8. The item with the longest backorder, needs to be ordered YESTERDAY. Quit putting it off !!! If it is going to take 6 weeks to get, the 6 weeks starts only from the time you actually place the order, not when you first STOP putting it off.
9. You cannot make a call phone call to the east coast if you don't make it first thing in the morning. Soon they will be going to lunch, then you will be going to lunch, then they will be going home. Most other businesses close at 5:00 PM. That is 2:00 our time and we usually take lunch between 1:00 and 2:00 !!! Makes sense doesn't it ?
10. You can make a device "fool proof" but you can't make it "damn fool proof". (this phrase was a gift from Mike Galvin, former Supervisor at NBC Washington Construction Department)
11. Two birds separately may be able to fly, tie them together and even with four wings, they will not be able to fly.
12. It is important to know the difference between working and goofing off.
13. A "two man job" is a job that takes two people to do. If one person can do the job, IT IS NOT A TWO MAN JOB!
14. "When I say 30 I mean 29.9 -- There is no such thing as 30"
15. Never quote someone by saying  "...but you said"
16. Never attempt to fix something that is broken by taking something apart that is working.
17. Never confuse activity with progress.
18. Its not how you play, its how you LOOK when you play.

CABLES and CONNECTORS

• When assigning pin numbers to a multi-conductor cable, always use one of the Beldon color codes. The exception is the telephone color code which is fine for telephone paired cable. The resistor color code is for resistors, not wire.
• All "cables" shall have the same type of connector on both ends. (with the exception of male and female) if there are different types of connectors on either end, it is called an "adapter". "Adapters" are under 6 feet long. "Cables" can be any length.
• "Cables" if labeled, should always be labeled the same thing on each end. There is no "input and output" on a "cable".
• The rule of thumb for deciding if a cable should be labeled is - "label it if you cannot see the other end"
• "Patch Cords" shall have the came type of connector on both ends. (with the exception of male and female) the difference between patch cords and cables are that patch cords are short (less than three feet).
• When wiring a connector, don't cut off the unused wires. If you have to add a single wire to the connector as a spare or whatever reason, if you have cut them off, you will have to re-wire the whole connector.

• Always use Stainless Steel Binder Head Screws on Electronic Projects
• Always use Counter Bored Black Cap Screws on Mechanical Projects
• Over build everything, the bracket you think will only be holding a few pounds may be holding two hundred some day.

• All Wires in an electrical panel must be long enough to be able to reach all of the breakers.
• Never share a neutral (white) wire between two hot (black) wires. Someone may re-arrange the panel and move one of the wires causing both blacks with a shared neutral to be on the same phase of power.

• Never make a firm mechanical connection before making a good solder connection.
• Neatness hardly ever counts, being able to trace the wire always counts.
• The best route between two connections is the one that is easiest to follow.