What else would keep me up this late?

So normally I would be fast asleep right now. Normally. Tonight isn't normal, however.

Enter: Obsession.

Yes, that's right. I have a new obsession: learning to solve the Rubik's cube.

So I am a nerd . . .


Backstory: last night, one of my youth found a Rubik's cube in the church kitchen. Discussions ensued. Egos grew. I figured I could solve the thing by the next day. I told everyone so. They put me up to it. How could I be so stupid.

With the help of the Internet, I discovered that there are 3, 000, 000, 000 possible configurations a methods to solving the thing. I could handle maybe 2, 000, 000, 000 but not much more than that. Still, I purposed to solve it. . . with the help of my online teachers. . . .

First things first: I had to take it apart to see how it worked. Easy enough. But then I learned that if you don't put it together solved, you have a 93% chance of making the cube unsolvable. I prefer the solvable kind and so I followed those simple directions. Thus, in my hands lay a solved Rubik's cube. As fun as it would be to show my challengers a completed puzzle, I would be lying, and that is not so good for a pastor, so I told the truth.

My new intern proceeded to mess the whole thing up horribly. This became the challenge of the day.

So with the "aid" of some websites that I won't disclose, not that you couldn't find them using our friend Google, I tackled the puzzle.

I made some real progress throughout the day: numerous bathroom breaks, the drive to meet a friend (not recommended in high traffic areas), lunch with my family, etc.

Well, long story short (or rather, shorter), I got as far as I could go late this evening. Feeling dumb and defeated, I plugged my current configuration into a Rubik's Cube solver. The program found a solution before I fully released the pressure of my index finger on the left mouse button. This further heightened my humiliation. When I saw that the solution required 50 moves, I felt less dumb.

I completed the cube at 1:28am, Friday morning. It took my 100, 000 moves of the day plus the solver's 50. I am able to retain a little of my pride.

Now the real question becomes: will this obsession be laid to rest as I go to bed in the next few minutes or will it consume my every thought? We'll see what the morning brings.

In the meantime, check out this video of some dude speed cubing. I figure in a couple of days, if I dedicate my time to honing my mad skillz, I'll be giving this dude a run for his money!