While I was Christmas shopping, I saw a bin full of new-age "fast action" Rubiks Cubes and thought "meh, why not?" I put it on my list of "Christmas gifts to me" (a habit surely created by years of single parenting) and on Christmas day I looked long and hard at it before I took a deep breath and began mucking it all up. I knew that it may never return to its original state, especially considering that there are no longer stickers on the thing. The colors stay where they are.
Thankfully, in this digital age, there are other ways to cheat. Plenty of Youtube videos exist to help you learn to solve the cube, but the most helpful place of all was actually the Rubiks Cube website. They have a very simple, step by step instruction guide for solving your cube, no matter how tangled up it is.
I must say that I was just a little put off at first by the fact that there is no grand mystery in this little block of irritation. It can be solved with just a few learned sequences. The part of me that struck out on the path to learning physics appreciates the beauty and simplicity of it though, and even though I cannot yet explain it myself, I know that there is actually a mathematical formula that exists around it. (Visit this location for a decent description: http://web.mit.edu/sp.268/www/rubik.pdf )
This cube will be my inspiration for physics classes. Something that appears impossible can often be reduced to basic concepts and elements that are easier to tackle. The fact that something as useless and annoying as a Rubiks Cube could engage generations of children (and adults) proves that we are inclined to problem solving, even if some of us give up more quickly than others.
It didn't take me long to Google... I knew there were solutions available because I'd seen them before. I suppose it's the mark of INTJ efficiency to avoid "reinventing the wheel" but I'm a little disappointed in myself now, after seeing the solution and working through it numerous times. I wish that I'd held off for a while and really put my attention to trying to figure it out. The best I can do now is to watch what the cube is doing as I move through the sequences and understand why they work. Perhaps as I advance through my classes at school I will begin to understand the math that can derive the solution.
On a happier note, I'm proud to say that I did solve a unique problem of my own recently. I was inspired by Pinterest, but their solution didn't quite work for me. I'm sure by now many have seen the "paperclip stuck to the table" solution for holding electronic device chargers where they can be easily accessed. Just in case you haven't, here it is. I had used the idea previously with actual paperclips taped to the back of the table so just a little loop appeared above the table where the wire was, however I rearranged things in my room so this table no longer sat where it was needed. Now there is a desk there, with all kinds of abnormal curves and no really good place to put a clip like this. I tried all sorts of solutions, but finally realized that I have a bunch of magnets sitting here that I play with from time to time. The under-side of the keyboard tray that rolls out is metal...
Now, the paperclip is stuck to a rare earth magnet on the underside of the keyboard roller... and it never falls. In fact, if the clip is ever misaligned so that it would bump into the desk itself as the tray rolls back and forth, the clip just spins around on the magnet so it never gets caught. It was quite a brilliant solution, I thought. Onward to the next problem!
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