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THE TOYBOX — When I was young, successfully getting a metal slinky to travel down the entire flight of stairs was a challenge I enjoyed, pretty much every time I encountered a good-quality slinky.
Watching the toy make its own way down the stairs, hopping down each step as it gathered inertia, was mesmerizing. This video made me realize watching a slinky is still just as mesmerizing as it used to be.
My siblings and I had the chance to try to get the slinky down one flight of stairs at a time. I tried to find ways to make it continue longer, but hadn't realized a slinky can travel down a tilted treadmill without needing to stop for anything.
As I watched the video, I couldn't help but cheer for the slinky to keep going. Sometimes it gets close to one side or the other, almost stepping off unintentionally, but it consistently recovers, moving closer to the middle. It also moves toward the back, almost not going fast enough to stay on.
The music in the video makes the effort to stay on the treadmill seem almost inspirational.
The video description mentions another video in which a slinky continued 22 seconds, but the creator of this one decided he could make it go longer. I imagine it took quite a few tries to find just the right angle and speed to keep the slinky going — but I'm sure this slinky went much longer than the few minutes shown in the video.
Now, I want to dig through old toy boxes and see if I can find a slinky to try out on a stair machine.
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