In Australia, we call it “turtle necking”. The visual is worse.

I don’t have a lot of stuff and not a lot of expensive stuff, but my top are:

• Instant Pot. I have a tiny kitchen, so being able to do x number of things with one piece of equipment is amazing. Also keeps the heat down in summer instead of oven and gas stove.

• Hiking poles. Got them recently, and they are a game changer. I’ve only ever seen older folks use them, but they got it right. Not only is it easier on my knees, but somehow they feel like they let me go further when I can use my arms as a little push forward.

• Garmin Fenix watch. Keeps me motivated to keep moving, and it serves as a silent wake up alarm so I don’t wake my partner in the early hours.

Honourable mentions:

• A good hand-held flashlight. I use this daily for work and when I go camping. Also great at night when hunting mosquitoes in the bedroom.

• A digital probe thermometer. Also used daily for work, and takes the guesswork out of cooking meats and things at home.

“Don’t do today what you can put off until tomorrow.”

I know it sounds like procrastination, but it helps in particular with high stress jobs where things just keep piling on and priorities keep changing. Don’t burn yourself out trying to get everything done today.

“Everyone has to start somewhere.” and “You’re one step ahead of the people who decide to stay on the couch.”

This helps with just getting started, like if you are a beginner at the gym and intimidated by those fit people who look like they know what they’re doing, or just going solo to a dance class for the first time. Or going on a hike and needing to take a lot of breaks. You’re one step better than where you were before you went. At least now you have a starting point and you can only improve.

Also helps when it’s cold and/or miserable outside because you know there will be a lot of people who decided to not go out, and you end up with a gym to yourself!

I’m not so up on what’s new and such, and I’ve really enjoyed a few games I’ve downloaded:

(Obligatory apology for any link or format issues. On mobile and first time posting.)

Scalak. You rotate and move blocks and pieces around to try to match up edges. Hard to explain. Kind of like the baby’s “put the square in the square hole” toy except for adults. It’s got really nice, calming music, so it’s nice to play before bed or offline on the plane.

MultiSudoku. Off-line sudoku that has five sudoku squares (?) attached together.

Word Hero. I love word games and this has been my favourite. It’s basically Boggle and after each game, it ranks the scores from everyone around the world who played the same game as you. Been playing this for years. Unfortunately online only.

Burnable Garbage Day. Earth has completely filled with rubbish, and a cleaning robot has woken up from a deep slumber to find out why the planet has become this way. Originally a Japanese game so the translations are a bit dodgy, but it’s a really fun play. I think it can be played offline. It’s been a while since I’ve played this.

Mahjong 13 Tiles. The only actual mahjong game I could find that isn’t like the old Windows tile matching game. This is the gambling version where there is no money bets, but you can play against bots. It’s been ages since I’ve played this so I can’t remember if it’s online or offline or if you can play against real people.

Dingbats. Guessing famous idioms from drawings. Can be played offline.

Quell Reflect. Moving a bubble around to capture all the gems. The puzzles get harder as you progress. Can be played offline.

Influence. You start with one cell (think Chinese checkers) and you keep spreading your influence to conquer the other players. Can be played off-line.

What the Forecast. Obnoxious, rude weather app.

Whicons. Minimalist white icon pack for Android.

BirdNET. Identifies birds by their call. I’ve used this in Canada and Australia.

Plant Net. Same thing as BirdNET but photos of plants. Also can confirm it works in Canada and Australia.

Edit: Forgot one game, Slitherlink. I set it to easy and listen to podcasts in the background to wind down at the end of the night. Each hexagon (or whichever shape you choose) has a number, and each number represents the max number of sides that can be selected. Eventually the entire board is connected via one line. You’ll have to read the description, it’s the best description I can give, albeit not a very good one.

Edit edit: This is what happens when I haven’t had my coffee yet. Kakuro is another numbers game like sudoku.