The Rube Goldberg Marriage Proposal

Marriage can be complicated. Everyone knows that. But marriage proposals can be complicated too – just ask Robert, a Gizmodo reader who constructed an elaborate Rube Goldberg machine to deliver his girlfriend’s engagement ring. Watch the big moment zip-line in.

Robert says:

I”m a big fan of Gizmodo, it’s been my homepage for almost 5 years now. As most of your followers are, I am a geek. When I decided to propose to my girlfriend of 9.5 years (I’m also big on procrastinating) I thought I’d build my first Rube Goldberg machine to make things a bit more interesting. Originally, the plan was to rent a storage space and build an elaborate homage to Rube, with a target duration of 1 min or so. Once I received the ring from Blue Nile that plan was fast-tracked and I built the machine in my buddy’s spare bedroom in 1.5 days, with a target duration of 30 secs. All my buddies and family doubted my ability to pull it off, so I documented and videotaped the whole event. In the end the machine barely lasted 15 secs, and didn’t work 100%, but damn close. My girlfriend is now my fiancee, and she and I have a very memorable engagement.

Hats off to you, Robert, and congratulations. Meanwhile, the bar raises a bit higher for the rest of us…