Keeping on

It's been awhile since I actually took the time to sit down and touch base here. I think part of that is my new addiction. Another one?!? Yes, another one. It seems that almost as soon as I kick one, I find something else. I wish they were more constructive but it is what it is. So my new one is Microsoft Solitaire Collection. Ironically, I can't stand solitaire, or Klondike as they call it now. I never did love that game. I prefer Spider Solitaire, which is part of this collection. So if Freecell, which I have wasted countless hours of my life playing. Generally, I play it while listening to music when I need to quiet my mind in the evenings. I just play for wins. But the challenge section of this program or app as it wants to be called is really messing with the way that I look at this classic game. It wants me to accomplish very specific goals within a certain time or number of moves. That sort of sucks the fun out of the whole things. There are two additional games in the suite that I was unfamiliar with but find myself enjoying the puzzle aspect of them. One is Pyramid, a game in which you have to clear the board by matching cards that add to 13. It is very strategic and I enjoy it on it's own and also with the challenges that I'm asked to complete. The final game of the five is Tri-Peak. In this card based game, you are required to clear the three peaks by creating runs with the cards. The more cards in a run, the higher your point total, which is crucial for the challenges. You can run up or down but numerically the cards must be in sequence as you remove them. This is another challenging puzzle style game. These five games are featured in a daily challenge, that includes different skill levels. For example, in one day you might be asked to complete an Easy Klondike challenge, a Medium Spider challenge, a Hard Freecell challenge, an Easy Pyramid, and an Expert Tri-Peak. Thankfully, when there is an Expert level challenge the others are usually easier. To complete all five has been taking me around 30 minutes a day. I consider it to be a mental workout every day. Not exactly invigourating but I don't need added stress since I have a job. I know you're thinking this inane garbage and who cares, etc. but for me this is a big thing in my life at the moment that is consuming vast amounts of my time so I am going to write about it. I suspect that when the calendar turns over I'll move on to something else but for now I'm dedicated to completing the challenges.