For the last year, Kaoru has been doing Sudoku puzzles in the newspaper. She's started buying Sudoku puzzle books as well, and swears that Sudoku is helping her keep mentally sharp.
Myself, I'd settle for mentally awake, so I decided to buy a Sudoku app for the iPhone. I actually researched it, and went with the app recommended as best for beginners, though it only had 50 puzzles on it.
It came with a tutorial, which I took advantage of, having never challenged Sudoku before. Then I tackled the first puzzle. It took me an hour and a half. I couldn't believe it! I just assumed that I was about the densest person in Japan, especially since puzzle #1 was surely the easiest puzzle.
So I redid it, and cut my time down to 65 minutes. Enough: I moved on to #2, and finished it in 15 minutes.
Today, I finished #40, and decided to go back and challenge all the old puzzles to see if I could improve on my original times. I figured I was now pretty damn good at this. I smiled in anticipation of acing #1, but it was still damn difficult. It took me just over 30 minutes.
I moved on to #2, and finished in 10. It appears that #1 was NOT an easy, level 1-type puzzle.
I mentioned this to Kaoru, and she said she'd like to take it on. I figured she'd embarrass me, but she couldn't even finish it (she said she was tired, and she prefers working on paper). Anyway, I'm pleased that I'm not mentally impaired.
A final note: We went for our regular flu shots tonight. After the Swine Flu, I had no desire to repeat the experience with the seasonal flu. Hopefully, now I won't.
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