Puzzles

For years I worked in the computer industry. Either as a hardware technician, or as a programmer. During the years I spent as a computer hardware technician, I was going to night school for computer programming and working any number of part time jobs so we could send our four kids to Christian School. About the time our oldest started college, I was able to get a job as a programmer.

Because working with computers and going to school for programming, I found other ways to spend my free time. I would garden, ride my bike, go to the gym, or go swimming. I rarely turned on my computer at home unless it was for work or school. So I never got into playing games, or doing puzzles on the computer. That is until I retired and tried my first Sudoku puzzle.

I must admit that I was skeptical and kept telling myself that:

1. "This is a waste of my time."
2. "There is no way that I am going to like this."


Imagine my surprise when I found out I enjoyed the challenge of solving the Sudoku. I knew I enjoyed the challenge of solving a difficult computer hardware problem, or creating computer programs.

So now I make certain to spend time each day working Sudoku puzzles on my computer. I do this because I feel it is important to keep busy. As my body weakens and I am no longer able to fold the clothes or do dishes, the Sudoku puzzles give me something to look forward to doing. The nice thing about doing these puzzles is I can start one, put it aside, read the paper, do emails, IM someone, and then go back to the puzzle. The Sudoku puzzle I have ranges from level 1 easy, to level 10 difficult. I am now working on level 6.

My son J. sent me a link to a Sudoku site that explains strategy and theory. Today I started reading this site's information and trying to apply it to my game. I haven't master this yet, but I am working on it.