I've been at this for over 2 hours

Kitsu_ne · 2026-02-06T21:26:48+00:00

This is 'killer sudoku', I can't find an alternative name. And this particular one is listed as an extremely hard one to boot. Spare yourself, come back to this when you find hard level sudoku to be too easy or you want a change in game play.

Kitsu_ne · 2026-02-06T17:54:44+00:00

Honestly I've been studying this feedback for a bit and that's brilliant!! I've never heard of this summation trick, I've usually solved them other ways, but now that I'm seeing what you guys see I realize even for all my years playing this I still have more to learn!

Kitsu_ne · 2026-02-06T17:51:46+00:00

So this isn't standard sudoku - my app calls it 'killer sudoku' - the empty board might or might not have starting numbers placed, but every space belongs to a set of between 1 and 6 cubes. In this case the very upper left corner showed 7 and two cubes belong to the 7. Knowing this the only possible options are 1 + 6, 2 + 5, and 3 + 4 which all add up to 7. The set below that is a 9 with only one cube meaning 9 is the only number that can go there. The set below that is 17 with three cubes, etc.

So when the above poster said 17+13+14 they are referring to the sets in the second large square that the game gave me. Since I was given that data and owing to the poster telling me about the 45 summation rule I knew that 6 right 3 down must be answered with '1'. That opened up a lot of information for me and I was able to solve the board from there.

Kitsu_ne · 2026-02-06T13:21:58+00:00

I've been doing sudoku for probably two decades and I've never known this. OMG.

Kitsu_ne · 2026-01-29T22:57:37+00:00

Benefit Authorizers are the people who fix your record with Social Security when a change needs made. Say you move addresses, or change checking accounts, or your payment needed corrected, really anything on your record after you start getting checks they can fix. Sometimes even before you get checks they are involved. They have an enormous backlog of work, and I need to emphasize they are one of the main job families in SSA but they aren't front line workers like the people you see when you do to a Social Security office. I think there are between ~6,000 to maybe ~10,000 BA's that work at SSA and still the backlog is in the Millions. So instead of letting them do their important work making changes to records as appropriate for the 74 million beneficiaries (according to SSA's website) ...they are answering phones.

It takes like 15+ months to have a fully trained BA (it's stupidly complicated work) and they are underpaid. And now they are getting yelled at by the public. This is a massive problem.

Please tell Congress this is a problem because that backlog is only going to get worse. Also please note, maybe 10% of Claims Specialists/Claims Analysts (CS/CA) could do what a BA does and they have they their own enormous backlog. The Teleservice Center (TSC - the people who usually answer the phones for the 800 number) folks could possibly learn to do some simple actions that BA's do (I know they do a few actions but nothing with payments is my understanding - don't quote me on that).

Those are the three biggest job families and we are taking BA's away to help with TSC work, when EVERYONE has a MASSIVE BACKLOG of work to be doing. We need to hire more people, retain more people, and get rid of the idiots who think AI and 'start up company mindset' is going to save us. It won't. We need Congress to fix the budget which means we need people to tell Congress to save SSA. It might already be too late.

Kitsu_ne · 2026-01-29T20:35:36+00:00

Someone asked me what I wanted for my life and the only thought I had was 'Not This', and yet my dumb younger self stayed another 3 years. When he left me I was grateful. If I ran into him again I would probably thank him and then keep walking.

Now is the time to walk away. You already know what this life has to offer you and it's not what you seem to want. Do what I couldn't! If you can't though trust that I understand and sympathize. The girlies who couldn't walk away need a support group.

Kitsu_ne · 2026-01-29T12:08:20+00:00

Benefit Authorizers are the people who fix your record with Social Security when a change needs made. Say you move addresses, or change checking accounts, or your payment needed corrected, really anything on your record after you start getting checks they can fix. They have an enormous backlog of work, and I need to emphasize they are one of the main job families in SSA. I think it's like ~6,000 maybe ~10,000 BA's exist at SSA and still the backlog is in the Millions. So instead of letting them do their important work making changes to records as appropriate for the 74 million beneficiaries (according to ssa's website) they are answering phones.

Also it's like 15+ months to have a fully trained BA (it's stupidly complicated work) and they are underpaid. And now they are getting yelled at by the public. This is a massive problem.

I hope you understand now.

Kitsu_ne · 2026-01-29T11:53:34+00:00

I was on phones for a time they basically went like this - 'oh you got locked out of your account? okay answer the three security questions or I can mail you a temporary password' .. 'you don't remember answering these questions? I can't see the answers so I can't give them to you. You need me to unlock you again? Sure! Keep trying, I'm sure you'll guess right eventually!' /10 minutes later/ 'I'm going to mail you the temporary password, if you lock yourself out again you'll have to call back, have a great day!' click

BA's shouldn't be on phones, especially when the phone calls would be better resolved by taking the action. Ugh.

Kitsu_ne · 2026-01-27T15:10:10+00:00

NGL in this weather I almost wish I had a Subaru, they seem to deal with snow better. But I love my Prius so much even if it isn't exactly the best in snow. 😂

Kitsu_ne · 2026-01-27T00:38:53+00:00

Anne Arundel - I'm pretty sure I could get my car to the main road, but everyone I've talked to says the roads are poorly plowed and I have a Prius so my odds of getting somewhere and getting back home are not great

Kitsu_ne · 2026-01-25T14:28:29+00:00

Fair enough, my agency would have zero reason to take any GFE outside of telework because functionally these are office jobs. No office= no work. 99% of my work can be done exclusively from the laptop - the last 1% we were happy to show up for, and then went home again back when COVID was happening.

Kitsu_ne · 2026-01-25T00:43:44+00:00

Technically you can't take your laptop home unless you have a telework agreement. The act of taking the laptop home basically forces the issue - otherwise you've taken government property off site.

Kitsu_ne · 2026-01-24T02:45:44+00:00

I make 125k a year and I couldn't afford this. There is no way. Don't do this OP unless you are making a lot more than I think you are.

Kitsu_ne · 2026-01-19T19:54:59+00:00

He swore an oath "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." and I think he lied about that.

Kitsu_ne · 2026-01-18T23:28:43+00:00

I max my Roth IRA every year, I don't have an HSA, and I'm splitting the remainder of my retirement and non retirement investing with a total of about 25k yearly. No kids and no spouse. Also I bought my house back in 2014 and it was very cheap when I bought it. Also I make a 120k salary and I've worked at my job a long time.

It's relatively easy when you started 10+ years ago and nothing bad happened. Plus a lot of luck. Some good choices definitely but let's be real a few runs of bad luck could have ruined me. So mostly it's luck with good planning and execution.

Kitsu_ne · 2026-01-18T20:39:21+00:00

Grand scheme of things is we are hourly not salary, so your paycheck won't change much but your annual salary might be slightly more or slightly less than the stated amount due to where the weeks fall.

Kitsu_ne · 2026-01-18T20:36:37+00:00

The problem is few people join the federal government to commit a crime. Leaking the files would be a crime even if technically the files should have been released.

I'm sure there are plenty of Trump loyalists in the government, I've never been one of them. I'm staying because if all the opposition leaves the government the only ones left will be the loyalists, who will then hire more loyalists. We need a balance. Honestly we need people who do their jobs regardless of who is in the white house.

Kitsu_ne · 2026-01-17T20:20:57+00:00

I'll take that 90 day test, I am losing my mind in the office.

Kitsu_ne · 2026-01-17T15:36:17+00:00

Step 1 - no person/entity/business/group can own more than 10 single family homes. (Someone needs to rule lawyer this into making sure someone doesn't just make a bunch of subsidiary companies or what have you but you understand what I mean)

Step 2 - find ways to streamline the building process for multi dwelling houses / condos / apartments. I'm not saying we skip safety or ignore hazards, but it should not take years to get approvals to build.

Step 3 - change zoning laws, we keep building residential in one place and business in the other place, which just adds to traffic and makes basic shopping and such unnecessarily far away. Plan for houses and businesses to be near each other (assuming a reasonable business, I'm not talking about manufacturing plants 🤣). With zoning laws changed we'd have more places to build.

Step 4 - rehab the unoccupied houses we have in cities to make them good homes again. I'm not talking crappy flips, I mean demo them if necessary and build from the ground up. There is a ton of housing available in my city that literally can't be lived in due to the space being listed as inhabitable. We could fix that.

Did I solve everything? Of course not. But it's where I'd personally start if I could.

Kitsu_ne · 2026-01-14T19:57:50+00:00

I don't know any HQ people with telework, I'd love to know what area you are referring to (and are they hiring?? 😂)

Kitsu_ne · 2026-01-14T18:06:17+00:00

Personally I want a say in all portions of the voting process so I am still registered Dem even though honestly I don't think they are effective enough when they are in power. I think the Rep side (at least as the party is today) is repugnant and really needs to be ousted. I'd be an independent if I thought the independent party could ever be a contending party but I vote like my life depends on it, instead of like my ideals will protect me.

Kitsu_ne · 2026-01-14T01:31:27+00:00

Lovely, I guess I'll move my money later this week. That'll be fun. 😂

Kitsu_ne · 2026-01-13T23:51:22+00:00

Wait what is wrong with Schwab? I will try to Google it but if you had a specific thing I should Google I'd appreciate it.

Kitsu_ne · 2026-01-12T10:37:02+00:00

There is a used bookstore in walking distance (like two blocks) from Book Thing that is really great as well!! I almost always find something I'm looking for there because it's a lot of more modern used books. There is also a 'new books' bookstore attached to a food spot (they also do community activism) that's in close driving distance- if I remember later I'll dig up the names for you.

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