Once I bought my first JNCO jeans, I guess it was just a matter of time before I bought another pair, and my birthday was the perfect excuse to treat myself.

This time I went for the 34” Rhinos. I thought the Twin Cannons were big, but these are MASSIVE!

I’ve added a photo archive to the blog to make it easier to find articles by their photo. Feel free to have a look!

These are my current in-flight or about-to-start personal little projects:

• This blog (in progress) — I’ve been successfully maintaining this blog for over 3 months now, so I guess it ought to be reclassified as a “hobby” rather than a project by now ☺️

• 14-day uniform (in progress) — I’m rebooting my wardrobe for autumn, adding a few more muted colours to the mainly black pieces I’m wearing now, while keeping quantities down and keeping things relaxed and very casual.

• Lose weight (to do) — Due to some comfort eating, I’ve put on a few kilos and am getting close to 25 in BMI. Time to bring it back down to 23! It always used to be easy for me to lose weight — I’d just skip biscuits for a while — but it’s getting harder and harder these days, so this time it will no doubt take a bit more effort and dedication.

• Create the perfect toolbox (to do) — Good tools make everything a lot easier, so when we finally move into our new apartment, I want to do so equipped with a new toolbox filled with good versions of all the tools I need.

• EDC reboot (to do) — I keep carrying my old, almost empty backpack around every day, as my umbrella won’t fit in my small bag. I want to get a sling bag just big enough to fit a brolly and an iPad, like the Aer Day Sling Max, and then curate a few more bits and bobs to go in it.

• Figure out my career path (in progress) — I’m in a good job with a good employer and have no plan going anywhere, but nevertheless, I need to keep an eye on my future employability. The kind of roles I used to do seem to have all but disappeared, so I need to make sure I build towards something that’s a bit more sought after these days.

A while back, I started thinking about rebooting my wardrobe, and as autumn is getting closer, I’m back at it.

I’ve changed course slightly. Instead of trying to create the perfect system for every situation, I’m focusing on what I wear every day, 99% of the time.

I’m calling this my 14-day uniform.

I would love to just have a good old Casio watch, but there are two reasons why I have a smartwatch instead:

1. I need a silent alarm to wake me up in the morning without waking my husband.
2. I want a step counter that counts every step instead of just those when I carry my phone so that the number looks higher.

For many years, I had a Fitbit. It did these two things very well, and I was happy.

But then four events roughly coincided in time. Firstly, Google bought Fitbit and demanded to get all my data. Secondly, I bought an iPhone Pro Max, thinking the bigger screen would make reading more pleasant than a normal-sized phone. Thirdly, London became the phone theft capital of the world and I started worrying about having my phone snatched when taking it out to skip the ads in the podcast I was listening to, or whatever. And lastly, I went to Korea and was able to buy an Apple Watch on the cheep.

That was why I decided to get an Apple Watch. I wanted a non-Google, phone-snatching-preventing iPhone remote at a discount.

I have now had my Apple Watch Series 11 for 10 months and feel there are a few things I want to get off my chest, so here’s a very honest review.