Well, I've almost finished the crossword puzzle in the paper. I've been working on it off and on since this morning.

My parents finish it in an hour....because they want to "keep sharp". Clearly, they're sharper than I am! Of course, they do it together and two heads are better than one. I tried to engage The Hub in this activity, but, after working hard all day driving nails and carrying plasterboard and plywood, he couldn't get into it.

"Oh, I'll look on the internet for help" I said.

"How come the internet is better than me?" he asked.

"Well. Um. It knows more things. Also it doesn't sit there burping."

"That's easy for IT! It didn't just down two cans of soda on top of half a meatloaf!" he said huffily, then went downstairs to the cave/workshop.

I don't think he was really offended - at least I hope not. Did you know that Valleta is in Malta? I didn't.

Really, I think a lot of these clues are a little oblique. I mean, it's true that I can't spell worth a darn, but I think I have a fairly good vocabulary.

You have to get into a certain mindset to do crossword puzzles. It isn't in every day language that "split to join" in any way means "elope". When was the last time you heard somebody use the word "lea" when they meant "meadow"? What "tusla's st." has to do with "okra" is beyond me - but I'm keeping it because a) okra is a word and b) it fits in with everything else.

But things like that remind me of the time I tried to take physics in college - and I even passed. We did an experiment which I didn't understand. I dutifully took all the notes on the readings of whatever the heck it was, but I had no idea what any of it meant. I decided I was in over my head and had better ask for help. Luckily, our prof was a very enthusiastic teacher who came from China. He just thought that physics and the rest of the hard sciences were the neatest thing since sliced bread and had an astonishing amount of patience in sharing his passion with his students. Otherwise I would have never dared to approach him.

"I don't understand what's going on" I said without preamble.

He looked at me with deep concern, probably because I was one of 10 people who didn't fall asleep in class and raised my hand from time to time. "May I see your notes?" he asked.

I handed over my notebook. He studied my calculations then broke out in a big smile, handing it back to me, "Oh, you're fine. Your math is perfect. You understand!" And he walked off!!!

To this day I have no clue what those numbers were supposed to prove. The prof passed me because I came in for help and he found out that I was helping to take care of my grandmother when she was dying of cancer.

The really bad thing is that I think there is actually a mistake in this puzzle. Everything works out for the answer to "short rest" to be "Nabs" not "Naps".

If that's the case then I bet about a million blue hairs called the newspaper this morning. You can't put anything over on senior citizens these days - they keep sharp!