Dory, Soduku and Sudoku

My irrepressible alterego, Dory, couldn't remember how to log back to blog... *sigh* i was wondering if my blogging days were over with one pathetic entry. I managed to find my way back in, though there must be a simpler way. Anyway, I have to blog down my introduction to Soduku yesterday. Gerry told me she would bring some Soduku over.

What is Soduku? I had no clue. I looked it up on the net of course. This was what I found.

"Soduku (or "Sodoku") is a bacterial zoonotic disease. It is caused by a spirochaete Spirillum minus. It is a form of Rat Bite Fever (RBF). The infections are acquired through rat bites or scratches.It can occur as nosocomial infections (ie, acquired from hospitals),or due to exposure or close associations with animals predating rats, mice, sqirrels etc. Soduku is mostly seen in Asia. The incubation period is 4 to 28 days. The intial scratch or wound caused by bite from a carrier rodent will result in mild inflammatory reactions and ulcerations. The wounds may heal initially, but reappears with the onset of symptoms. The symptoms include recurring fever, with body temperature 101-104°C.The fever lasts for 2-4 days but recur generally at 4-8 weeks. This cycle may continue for months or years together.The other symptoms include regional lymphadenitis, malaise and headache. The complications include myocarditis, endocarditis , hepatitis, splenomegaly and meningitis. Mortality ranges from 6-10%."

I was like arggggh.. then I realized I spelt it wrong. It's Sudoku, idiot. The logical puzzle game, invented by the Japanese. Who else would invent such a masochistically addictive game.

Anyway, Gerry brought over these piles of paper with numbers which resemble feng shui numerology charts and explained how Sudoku works.

In a nutshell: "Sudoku (Japanese: 数独, sūdoku), sometimes spelled Su Doku, is a logic-based placement puzzle, also known as Number Place in the United States. The aim of the canonical puzzle is to enter a numerical digit from 1 through 9 in each cell of a 9×9 grid made up of 3×3 subgrids (called "regions"), starting with various digits given in some cells (the "givens"). Each row, column, and region must contain only one instance of each numeral. Completing the puzzle requires patience and logical ability. Its grid layout is reminiscent of other newspaper puzzles like crosswords and chess problems. Although first published in 1979, Sudoku initially became popular in Japan in 1986 and attained international popularity in 2005." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudoku

Don't tell anyone but I'm quite numerically challenged. Numbers just freak me out. I can barely count the scores at scrabble. Thank God Literati does it automatically. Even when I play blackjack, it takes me awhile to mentally add up my cards. *sigh*

But I must say, Sudoku is FUN. Takes a bit of getting used to but once you get the concept, bob's your uncle. Anyway, I'm not even a 24 hour old Sudokuer/Sudokuist and am still struggling through the 'easy' puzzles. Ok, puzzle (yes, I am still working on my first solo puzzle).

So please excuse me if I don't blog for awhile. I'll probably be poring over some Sudoku.