Have you seen this?

This is Su Doku. Su Doku is a puzzle. I like puzzles.

Puzzles keep me occupied on the bus to work. Puzzles wake my brain up in the morning when I am in a bit of a fog. Puzzles keep me sharp and force me to think logically.

You'll notice that Su Doku is a number puzzle. I am way better at number puzzles than word type puzzles. There are two reasons for this. I don't think I have that broad a vocabulary, (I use the thesaurus a lot,) and I can't spell. With number puzzles, 3 always comes before 4, 6+8 always equals 14, and there are only 10 digits for me to make any number I could possibly want. With words, there are 26 letters, multiple ways to spell words depending on location, (honour vs. honor,) and "i" definitely does NOT always come before "e", especially after "c".

I've always had a bit of a calculator head or analytical mind. My favourite subjects in high school next to music were math and physics. I was on the Math League team, (it's like Reach for the Top but math only,) and the Science Olympics team, and even in band I could tell how far out of tune someone was by counting the beats of the offset frequency vibrations. Wow I was a nerd!

I guess I still am a nerd because these puzzles really keep me occupied. I mean, head down nose in the book don't talk to me occupied. Just ask me how many transit stops I've missed since I got this book.

Three. In two days. Twice on the same trip.

Monday at lunch I picked up a book of Su Doku puzzles from the local Indigo. Good deal, only $4! Well, my ride home consists of two subway stops and a 25 minute bus ride. When I was on the train, I didn't even look up until I had finished one puzzle and noticed the doors were closing on stop three of two. At this point I actually considered going to the end and riding back, (only two more stops north, then three back.) I rushed the doors though and made my way to my bus.

On the bus the tunnel vision returned. Again, I looked up only as I finished a puzzle and thought to myself as I looked out the window, "Hey, there's the pizza place I like. Funny, I thought that was two stops past the bus stop for my apartment." It is. So now I had a fifteen minute hike back to the apartment. Just enough time to get into another puzzle right? I got a little bit smarter at this point and put the book away. Otherwise I'd probably end up as a hood ornament as I crossed the street.

So I learned my lesson right? Nope. Next morning I get out the book while on the bus. Luckily the bus route ends at the subway station and I have to exit to go to the train. The subway stop I need however has less distinction. I almost trampled an old lady when I lunged at the doors.

I drove to work today. Don't worry, the book's at home.

All for now, Kef...