Wednesday, November 17, 2021

Puzzled

It's week two of the long-term special ed class at the adult transition center, and I'm starting to get the feel for the schedule. Since I'm basically an interim person here, I decided not to make any major changes to the way the class is run. Why start from scratch when there's a routine that's already working? 

After lunch, the class has "leisure time". This consists of a half hour of board games and a half hour of "student choice". The girls have been working on a jigsaw puzzle. 

And I stayed far away from the jigsaw puzzle. 

I love jigsaw puzzles. I can get lost in them. I don't do them much anymore as I don't have a place to really set them up, and when I have down time, I'm generally knitting (or crocheting). 

But, this puzzle was what the girls were doing, and I wasn't going to go and do it for them.

Until I was invited...

I stayed away for nearly a week. It was around Thursday that the aides informed me that the girls had been working on this particular puzzle for a very long time, and they wanted to get it finished so they could move on to another. Well, okay then... 

It was Monday of last week that I really got sucked in. I spent my off time standing over it. (While they were on some task or other, I could stand over the puzzle. While they were outside on break, I could stand over the puzzle.) 

And, as I do, I got most of a corner complete. (The puzzle was about halfway done when I started. I probably got a little under a quarter more of it done.) That's where I ran into a problem. 

There was this one piece that belonged in the spot. It fit two of the surrounding pieces. But it didn't fit the third. So, I set it aside.

I had maybe six pieces left. They belonged in that corner. But they didn't fit into the eight blank spots left. 

I walked away. 

The aides returned. Sydney returned. I showed them the problem. 

Clearly, the puzzle was not going to be completed. It was time to give it up as a lost cause. 

On Tuesday, the girls started a new puzzle.

And I am again determined not to ruin their fun by doing it for them. But then Sydney called me over...

12 comments:

  1. That last sentence made me grin. lol

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    1. We've almost got the edge done (it's circular). I got a good portion of it put together today. (Well, the girls got a lot done, but I pieced together their work into a more complete picture.)

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  2. I see lots of puzzles in your future....

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  3. I love jigsaw puzzles! Unfortunately cats and jigsaw puzzles don't go together well.

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  4. I used to like puzzles but I haven’t done one in a long time.

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  5. So with a bit of an algorithm on your hands to assemble with pieces of the remaining jigsaw at odds, I do wonder has anyone committed an error with the positioning or locking criterion of the processed jig saws in the overall puzzle?

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  6. When I was younger I wasn't jigsaw puzzle fan, but who knows now.
    Coffee is on and stay safe

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  7. Oh, I love puzzles to! Jeckle has one that isn't finished from last holidays, so I am giving him a few days of these holidays to finish before I dive in. Then I have a puzzle from my birthday to do, and then... there's always a puzzle on the go in our house.

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