Ellah,
We Michiganders are nice people. We have to be to survive in this cold weather. LOL.
Don't be concerned with the sum totals yet. I don't even consider them. You need to get the basic workout done first and do a lot of them. When you do that, you will see the numbers developing. Then you can concentrate on that sum total stuff. The difference of 3 only applies when you take the the number that came out and make pairs....(example 1-4, 2-5, 3-6, 4-7, 5-8, 6-9, 7-0, 0-3) and then you need to do something different with these pairs.
Another thing is a double.............example.....599.....you take the 1 number that is the single number which is a 5 (there are 2 nines in the number and we don't want that)............and double it.........and put it on the end with the 9 in the front. The new workout number is 955....
Ellah, this system won't win everyday. You need to do your workouts.....start with January 1st of this year...........put the date on the top of your paper and start doing your workouts dating them, marking your wins from the bottom 2 lines. Save those papers - don't throw them out..............then, go back and analyze and look at your workouts.
Practice, practice, practice......forget the sum for now and the difference of 3...just like when you started arithmetic.......simple first, then more complex.