A force has entered my life that threatens to ruin everything I've worked for - my career, my relationships, and my sanity.
Sudoku.
The dark force was introduced to me in March by my dear "friend" Erika. She cautioned me it was addictive but I didn't heed to her warnings. Then again, she sent me home with sample puzzles, so technically, she is an enabler as well.
Sudoku, for those of you who don't know, is of all things, a logical number puzzle game. The logic behind me loving this game escapes me as math is, and has always been, my worst subject. The aim of the puzzle is to enter a number from 1 through 9 in each cell of a 9×9 grid made up of 3×3 subgrids, starting with various numbers already given in some cells. Each row, column, and region must contain only one instance of each numeral.
I had never heard of Sudoku before Erika showed me the ways of the dark side. Suddenly, I notice Sudoku puzzles in the newspaper and puzzle books at stores everywhere. I even found a website where you can play games online and time yourself. (I have learned through this site that I officially suck at the game, whereas about 76% of the players kick my ass in how quickly they can solve a puzzle).
I bought my first Sudoku book at Target about a week after visiting Erika. It contained 100 puzzles and I'm already down to the last 25 in the book. They go from easy, to harder, to tough, and I'm about to start the diabolical level. Reaching level tough means solving the puzzles is no longer fun. At level tough, Sudoku becomes a frustrating guessing game where the answer you think is correct, usually isn't. I'm terrified of what the diabolical level will do to my mind.
I bought a second Sudoku book last week while waiting for the ferry. The book claims to have a years worth of puzzles, but as I told Tim, I give the book four months tops at best before the puzzles are solved.
I can no longer help myself...I play Sudoku all the time now. I play while watching TV at night and before going to bed. Somedays I wake up and think about how many games I can squeeze in between jobs. Tim sighs everytime I pull one of my books out. Even my cat Angel has taken to attacking my pencil while I'm playing as if she's trying to stage an intervention or something.
Where computer solitaire games once possessed me, Sudoku has swooped in to take over. I need help obviously. Is there a Sudoku Anonymous out there?
