Clearing my head with Sudoku

Thank you - today is a holiday and I could sleep in. I didn’t hit the bed until 12:30 AM this morning after spending over 3 hours trying to clean up my son’s computer. He opened an AIM message from a friend, went to a link, and ended up with the “Freeprod” virus on his computer. I was finally able to remove it by using the “add/remove” function on the control panel. I’m still not sure if I have taken care of it. As much as I love computers this type of thing is a major annoyance.

To keep my head clear while I was working on the computer, I did a couple of Sudoku puzzles. I am “addicted” to the simplicity and logic and try to complete a couple a day. I first heard about them via a BBC online story. Apparently a great many of the UK commuting nation are also addicted. Although you can find puzzles on line I wanted something to play with while I waited out soccer and football games. So I went to Borders and was surprised when I realized I was “late” - there was a large display of Sudoku books. I picked a couple and found the best was “Master Sudoku” by Carol Vorderman. She starts off with a large group of easy puzzles and works her way through medium and difficult puzzles; giving tips and techniques along the way. It was great beginner book. However, I found that my ability to solve the difficult puzzles declined rapidly. I have left her book for a while and moved on to “Sudoku Easy Vol. 1” By Will Shortz. I can’t put the numbers into the puzzle fast enough as it all falls into place - elegant and immensely satisfying.