Puzzling

I love Sudoku. I have been doing them for about a year now. The “easy” ones are done in about 4 minutes. I can do most of the “moderate” ones in 8-10. Every once in a while I’ll try the “hard” level and spend about three quarters of an hour to get it done and then go do an easy one to build my confidence back up. I like the Miniclip interface. I also play on my Palm. The Palm only has one setting and it is about like the Miniclip moderate level. The Palm version also gives you hints if you get stuck and explains why a certain number goes there. I have not understood the swordfish rule yet but it tells me I can eliminate a number in a particular box because of it. I like Sudoku because I don’t like crossword puzzles. I would like to do crosswords but I have never completed one. My dad likes crossword puzzles. Their house is filled with crossword puzzles. I like numbers. I have been looking at how the Palm and Miniclip generates their puzzles. I believe the Palm fills the screen with a finished puzzle and then removes numbers in a pattern until it reaches the difficulty level that has been programmed into it. The Miniclip version looks much the same. I have a book at home of lots of puzzles and there is no pattern to the starting puzzle. I have tried to do the Super Sudoku puzzles that go up to twelve, but they are more challenging than what I am ready for.

The Bedford Christmas Parade

My wife is on the committee that organizes the Bedford Christmas Parade every year. This is the 15th or 16th year for the parade and her 5th year on the committee. She loves doing it. I helped stuff some envelopes and put on some stamps this year for their mailer. She designed and maintains their website. I am very proud of her for doing this for the kids and the community. Everyone should come to the parade!

Local election results

Brad won! I am a little disappointed in the coverage of the local elections on the "local" radio. Our FM 105.5 Super Oldies is syndicated so they would break in once in a while and say who won some of the national races but no local stuff. I drove 45 minutes to work and still didn’t know who won the sheriff race. Oh well, it’s all over now and all those signs can disappear.

Other blogs

The two blogs I have added so far are:
Walk in Brain - My cousin Wes
Scheiss Weekly. Just as it says. - My long lost 8th grade teacher
Well maybe not lost but it's been a while. Was it 8th?

My first post

Thanks to WF for nudging me a little. I probably look back later and think, "It seemed like a good idea at the time..." More to come.

Doug