diff --git a/2024/ruby/day_03.rb b/2024/ruby/day_03.rb
index d307b67..76c9227 100644
--- a/2024/ruby/day_03.rb
+++ b/2024/ruby/day_03.rb
@@ -1,9 +1,22 @@
-input = DATA.read
-  .gsub(/don't\(\)(?~do\(\))do\(\)/, "")  # part two
-  .scan(/mul\((\d+),(\d+)\)/)
-  .map { _1.map(&:to_i) }
+# input = DATA.read
+#   .gsub(/don't\(\)(?~do\(\))do\(\)/, "")  # part two
+#   .scan(/mul\((\d+),(\d+)\)/)
+#   .map { _1.map(&:to_i) }
+#
+# pp input.sum { _1 * _2 }
 
-pp input.sum { _1 * _2 }
+# because I felt like using a flip-flop...
+input = DATA.read.scan(/(do|don't)\(\)|mul\((\d+),(\d+)\)/)
+input.unshift(["do"])
+
+sum = 0
+input.each do |dodont, *mul|
+  next unless (dodont == "do")..(dodont == "don't")
+  next unless dodont.nil?
+  a, b = mul.map(&:to_i)
+  sum += a * b
+end
+pp sum
 
 __END__
 xmul(2,4)&mul[3,7]!^don't()_mul(5,5)+mul(32,64](mul(11,8)undo()?mul(8,5))