It’s official — I’m a sucker for challenges. About a week ago, I was introduced to Spider Solitaire. Believe me, the game has been on my computer since the first day I installed Windows XP years ago, and I have never played it. The game is really a rather brainless game (to me at least because it does not challenge the brains much). All one has to do is to clear the table by arranging sequences of cards.

I got interested in the game because the person who introduced the game to me said she had a high score of 1209. To get that score, one had to clear the table in 91 moves. It must have been a great achievement because she had trouble breaking that score. And I suppose failure brings boredom to life. She stopped playing the game. For me, it was to become a “new” challenge. I thought to myself that it’s only a computer game, and it must be possible to equal or get beyond 1209.

But I left it at that. Until yesterday, that is.

So here I was, sitting in front of my computer on the eve of Merdeka Day. I was supposed to work, but everyone’s out enjoying themselves with the festivities that I couldn’t bring myself to type out a single word for an assignment I was to hand out to my students this coming Thursday.

I started playing Spider Solitaire. And you probably guessed it: I scored 1209.

Nearly 24 hours later, I was playing again. I know it’s one of the least patriotic activities anyone can engage in on Merdeka Day, but it’s a public holiday. And I assure you: I am not addicted to the game. I am not saying that I have never been addicted to computer games. I have. But only few games have got me hooked, and there are even fewer games that I enjoyed playing. Spider Solitaire sure don’t make it into the list of my favourites; it’s just not in the same league as Day of the Tentacle (I just had to mention this game–my favourite!).

Guess what happened. With my incessant clicking, I beat the high score (and shortened the the lifespan of my mouse along the way). I got 1213 in 87 moves.

Yeah, I know I’m crazy to even take pictures of the computer screen just to prove I got such a score. But do I have a choice?

Now that I have gotten more than the person’s high score, I wonder if she’ll start playing again. I’m sure my playing days are over. I won’t even dream about playing this game every Merdeka Day. Spider Solitaire’s nothing like Scrabble, the game I bring out quite religiously on Christmas Day just to challenge anyone who comes to my parent’s house for a visit (and in the process feel good by beating them with a really high score). This year, I may get my sister to challenge me in a few games of Spider Solitaire; she’s been one of those who could and have beaten me in Scrabble games before.

But until Christmas comes along, I need to look for another challenge. Perhaps I shall try my hand at baking apple pies.



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Related Links:

Related “What Not To Do On Merdeka Day” Links:
• What Not To Do On Merdeka Day (The one that started it all)
• Things Hasn’t Changed On Merdeka Day (the sequel)
• What Not To Do On Merdeka Day Part 3