The Big Huge Ball Game...Of Frustration!

My daughter works P/T in a game store. It's a charming store with games, puzzles, t-shirts, books, and even music. But the thing I find the most fun is a huge ball located in the middle of the floor, a giant marble game.

And it's frustrating me to no end.

I've been picking up my daughter at the end of her shifts--something I'm glad to do. There's a lot of fun games in the store, even a couple on the counter you can try out yourself. They're fun, but I have more fun trying to get the that little steel ball though the various traps.

There's three choices to begin the journey. I've mastered the first track. The second track is currently giving me fits. I can get about halfway through and then it falls apart. I know if I had more time--like if I had the thing in my house, or if I worked at the store and had some down time when no one was there--I could complete the puzzle. I usually only have a few minutes of practice time before the store closes.

I thought about how much games and puzzles have changed in such a short period of time. When I was my daughter's age, almost no one had a personal computer so video games were a luxury of arcades. We had board games and puzzles--much like the ones in the store. Now, when I think of games, my mind goes to the electronic versions. I'll bet somewhere there's an electronic version of the big ball of frustration puzzle available to download.

Still, it's not like the real thing. I'm hoping I'll be able to complete the puzzle one of these days. Time will tell.