Yesterday's "Sudoku Story"

This is a story that may be better hearing it out loud - I get very excited explaining how all the hubbub seemed to continue spiraling more and more out of control.


1:00 - I recieve an email from our boss asking cube-neighbor (CN) and I to stop by to talk about a project

1:02 - CN and I walk in and catch our boss playing Sudoku. CN inquires what this game is. I am visibly gleeful and containing my excitement from even the thought of sudoku as boss explains the game.

1:05 - Boss asks me the question I always hoped to be asked: "Do you play Sudoku?"

1:06 - Boss says he has never attempted a 5-star Sudoku...I assure him he would have no trouble finishing one.

1:20 - I receive an email from my boss telling me he finished the 5-star

1:21 - I congratulate him via email

1:22 - He responds saying he used probability to figure out two squares, then asks if that is cheating or okay. I immediately tell CN and we have a good laugh.

1:25 - I storm into boss' office with a websudoku (level: evil) printed puzzle, tell him that CN and I agree that it didn't count.

1:26 - CN walks in yelling "CHEATER!!"

1:30 - CN sees Triva quiz in the paper and tells us how his family used to play them all the time

1:32-1:50 - Boss and I (and one of my office friends (OF) also joins around 1:40) attempt to answer the questions (and get nearly every one wrong). One question was "what is the shape made from honeycomb." I reply "A guy at my church wrote a song about bees [it was on Jodi's New Orleans CD], one of the lines was 'Hexagons are the foundation of our society.' So Hexagons." (This was my victorious moment for the day).

1:51 - Boss racks his brain over what 6, 28, and 496 have in common. CN, OF, and I look at the answer (they are all perfect numbers). CN and I do not know what a perfect number is.

1:53 - OF takes us in the hallway to attempt to explain a perfect number...but the point wasn't fully made.

1:56 - I proclaim "I'll call my mom! She was a math teacher!" I head back to my cube.

2:00 - My dad answers the phone in las vegas, I explain what's going on a little and ask if I can speak to mom. He wakes her so she can take my call. (noon in Las Vegas, my mom stays up kind of late playing sudoku and watching Forensic Files...)

2:02 - Mother (a little groggy) has a hard time remembering what a perfect number is. CN comes to his cube and decides to google it. He does. I read the definition to my mom, and they both try to explain to me what it all means.

2:10 - We go back to our boss' office, where another coworker has joined the fun. Our boss is close to figuring out the puzzle. He figures it out (but not knowing that what he's figured out means they are perfect numbers). We fill him in on what we've learned about them (did you know there are only seven perfect numbers??)

2:20 - CN and I stop by our funny coworker's cube to ask if he knows what a perfect number is. This leads to a discussion about pi. This coworker knows a lot about pi. I say something to the effect of "Pi! 3.14.....that's all I know...." Coworker rattles off 7 post digit pi numbers. I mention the movie Pi, which none of us had seen, I speculated that it was probably about this guy obsessed with pi. Funny coworker says "hmm, me too. French Silk." CN and I laugh it up, and I walk back to my cube.

2:25 - I open my email to see an email from my mom. This is what it said:

1,2,248,4,124,8,62,16,31 = 496

Love,

Mom

2:25 still - I snort louder than I have ever snorted before. I am embarassed.

2:30 - CN comes back, I show him my mom's email. We laugh.




After 1.5 hours of Sudoku, emails, trivia, perfect numbers, my parents, pi, and loud embarassing snort laughs, I remembered that I cannot help but love my job.



Then I made a bunch of charts.