Alright folks, today’s little adventure was all about domino sets. Finally dragged my giant box of those plastic rectangles out of storage. Been sitting there for ages.
Starting Simple… Supposedly
First things first, figured I’d just make a simple path. You know, line ’em up straight. Easy peasy. Dumped about a hundred dominoes on the kitchen table. Started clicking them one after another. Took way longer than I thought just to get them standing. My fingers kept knocking them over before I even got to number twenty. So annoying. Had to start that first bit three times.
Got the basic straight line done eventually. Felt pretty proud for about two seconds. Then thought, “Alright, that’s boring. Let’s make a turn.”
The Curved Nightmare
Tried bending the line into a gentle curve. Instantly regretted it. The dominoes didn’t wanna play nice. They wouldn’t stay standing when I put them at an angle for the curve. Felt like wrestling with tiny, stubborn plastic soldiers. One domino near the curve just wouldn’t stay upright. Every other domino I put down nudged it enough to make it fall. I swear, I must have placed that one specific domino ten times. Stared at it hard. Might have whispered threats at it. Finally jammed a tiny bit of blue-tack under its base. Not elegant, but it worked.
Getting Fancy and Sore Knees
Feeling ambitious after the curve, decided to build a spiral. Needed more space, obviously. Kitchen table wasn’t gonna cut it. Cleared a spot on the living room floor. Big mistake. My back started yelling at me after like five minutes. Knees weren’t happy either. Hunched over like a goblin, meticulously placing each piece for the spiral center.
Forgot how precise you gotta be. Like, really precise. If they’re even a millimeter too close, they tip each other over. Too far? Well, then they don’t fall when the chain comes. Had two test runs on the spiral where it looked amazing until… click-click-click… thud. Silence. Dead stop where dominoes didn’t touch. Ugh. Third time, measured the gaps between each domino with a tiny plastic spacer I found. Made it super slow. Took forever.
The Grand Finale (and Disaster)
Spiral looked fantastic. Connected the curve and the straight line to it. Whole setup was maybe four hundred dominoes strong. Felt like a king. Time for the payoff! Got my phone ready to record. Held my breath. Used the end of a pencil to gently tap the very first domino.
The chain reaction was beautiful. Click-click-click-click-click! The sound! Watching that wave snake through the straight line, sweep around the curve, and then plunge into the swirling spiral… pure magic! Felt incredible. Right until the last part of the spiral. Two dominoes somehow weren’t aligned perfectly. The chain hit them… wobbled… wobbled… and then just stopped. The last six dominoes didn’t fall! Just stood there like idiots.
Wanted to scream. Almost did. All that work, all that careful placement, the sore knees… all for an incomplete fall. Stared at the survivors for a solid minute. Maybe two.
Lessons Learned (Again)
- Patience isn’t optional. Rushing means knocking stuff over before you even start.
- Knees and backs hate dominoes. Work surface height matters a ton for comfort.
- Precision is KING. That millimeter gap? It matters way more than you think.
- Always account for the gremlins. Some domino seems cursed? It probably is. Adapt.
- The final fall failing hurts. Maybe do a test run on complicated sections if you can. Less heartbreak.
Overall? Frustrating as heck at times, especially near the end. But when that wave is flowing? Totally worth it. Might need a back massage though. And possibly more blue-tack.