Today I dove back into solving my 3x3x5 puzzle cube, which I had almost forgotten about. I forgot...

Today I dove back into solving my 3x3x5 puzzle cube, which I had almost forgotten about. I forgot how much I love this thing! It’s such a great and interesting puzzle. It was my favorite cube before I got my 4x4x4, and now I think it’s my favorite again. It’s also making me really want a 5x5x5. Perhaps I’ll buy one this summer.

I still have yet to solve my octahedron. It’s frustrating, not as a puzzle, but as an object. What I mean by this is that sometimes it’s such a pain to twist a side (if they’re not all perfectly aligned) that I’ll get partway into figuring out an algorithm, then have so much trouble mid-twist that I’ll forget what I was doing. So I put that on the shelf for now.

I’m certainly no speedcubing master, but I really enjoy solving them, and I’ve gotten as fast as 55 seconds on the 3x3x3. Nowhere close to being a world record, but I still feel good about it. I can do about 5-8 minutes on the 4x4x4, and I’ve never timed myself on the 3x3x5. The mirror cube is one I’ll never time myself on, because it’s the same as a 3x3x3, but a bit more fragile in construction. It’s already broken once, and I was able to glue the piece back on and make it usable again.

Obviously I love my cubes. I’m a cube-o-holic. I almost always have a cube (or two) on me. As an aspie, thus someone on the autism spectrum, I find that cubes are a very calming thing for me. I adore (read “obsess over”) puzzles, and the cube is a puzzle I can take with me everywhere. It helps me in social situations at times, because I can just start twisting the cube and brings me a bit of Zen. Yes, solving the cubes is a bit meditative. If I’m stressed, cubing can help me center myself.

But I digress. This post wasn’t supposed to be about me as an aspie. Train of thought derailed. I really just wanted to express my happiness (or geekiness) about having rekindled my relationship with my 3x3x5 cube. Sounds silly, I know, but truth be told. I’ve solved the thing 3 times today. The first time I had to refer back to my notes, because I had forgotten what to do at one point. Good thing I tend to take notes as I go, as I have a horrible memory for things I don’t keep up on. I haven’t solved this thing in months. But the fact remains, I loved every second. I paced my office at work, waiting for updates to run on new PCs I’m setting up, and twisted away.

Now, this post is already much longer than I had planned it to be, and I’m not great at ending long posts where I don’t have a specific plan for what I want to say. So I’ll just end with this: I’m gonna go solve it again. ^_^

via Tumblr http://meshboats.tumblr.com/post/53298684802