I got a new thang...

It's simple and it involves Freecell. It's simple because I am. It involves Freecell because... well, just because.

I recall, from time to time, what a co-worker told me about his cohorts on the Evening shift were doing. They had a little contest going for who could move the fewest cards from the Tableau to the Foundation before the final automatic transfer of the Tableau cards to the Foundation begins.

A little background (in case you are unfamiliar with the game):

There are 4 Cell locations (top left) which serve as a holding area for cards. There are 4 Foundation locations (top right) where all cards will (hopefully) end up at the end of the game. And there are 8 Tableau locations (across the bottom) where all cards are initially dealt in seemingly random fashion. You manipulate the cards in the Tableau to free up (first) the aces and then build up, in suit, to the king.

Yes, it is a simple game. In reality, it is merely a 52 piece puzzle. Look at the Tableau as the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and the Foundation as the final picture. So now you have a jigsaw puzzle... if the jigsaw puzzle had rules which stated the puzzle pieces must be stacked in eight piles, the top piece being the only one to be moved, that you must move the cards from the Tableau to the Foundation through the Cells unless they can go directly to the Foundation. That means you cannot move more than 4 cards to free the cards beneath them to go to the Foundation.


See? Simple. The trick is in the manipulation of the cards of the Tableau. And the proper management of the 4 Cell locations. Let's say you want to move 3 cards (Jack, Ten, Nine) to a Tableau pile with the proper Queen on the top. You must have at least three spaces open. Or 1 Cell open plus one Tableau slot open. In our example above, I might move the Queen of Diamonds (Row 6) and then the 7 of Clubs to Cell locations. Then move the Queen back on top of the King of Spades (again, Row 6) followed by the Jack of Spades (Row 7) and the Ten of Hearts (Row 5). That might be one start and it might be good or bad in the long run.

In this shot, I have manipulated the Tableau cards to the point where I have only to move 9 through 6 from Row 6 to Row 2 and the rest of the cards will "fly" up to the Foundation and complete the game. You will also note that the number of cards (lower right in the pic) left to go on the Foundation is 40.


And here, of course, is the proof of success.


But my personal best (so far) is 47 cards left in the Tableau or Cell locations. That's right, only 5 cards had been placed on the Foundation before the Final Move.

And this is what I do all day when I am not playing golf, at the gym, playing other mindless games like Monopoly (or other solitaire games), or paying attention to what I am watching on TV.

And that, my friends, is what retirement is all about.