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One of the many positive things about having brought a baby into the world is the happiness she has brought to our families and I massively appreciate the support and assistance we've had. This weekend Phoebe's female cousins have come round to play and I love the fact that Phoebe has this support network. Even though she's the youngest of the cousins by over two decades, the grown-up kids of my brother and sister have taken into their already quite tight gang and I know will give her the kind of guidance and advice that parents and grandparents will not. And by that I mean the kind of guidance and advice that will lead her astray and be naughty and have fun, whilst still ultimately keeping her safe. I don't think Phoebe is going to need much encouragement though.
Anyway it has been lovely to see the three daughters of my siblings and me laughing and having fun together. Although they all share two grandparents they are very different people, but I like the fact that the 50% they share binds them together and that my daughter is surrounded by people who love her.
I didn't have much time to interact with my family myself as I have finally and inevitably cracked and bought an Apple Watch. The Garmin one I bought a few months ago had proven to be a bit of a disappointment. It didn't really sync up properly with my phone and looked a bit plasticky. But I still liked the idea of a smart watch. It's certainly not a necessity, but as a man who likes gadgets (and I don't like fast cars or fine art or buying records and so gadgets are the only way for me to spend my spare money) and who is keen to exercise and is attempting to get back into shape, it is a useful tool. And so far, so good. I like the fact that I can pretend I am in Star Trek and communicate (if a little clunkily) by talking into my wrist or dictating text messages, the phone and watch sync effectively meaning all my exercise is automatically listed in my fitness pal and the goals and updates are useful incentives to get moving around. I like the idea of being able to view maps without walking around holding my phone (though my test run of this wasn't entirely successful) and it's got a useful function of a countdown feature that subtly buzzes at zero which will be invaluable when I am doing timed slots on stage. And if my producer wants to message me during a recording of RHLSTP it is now very easy to do so without causing a distraction.
I am amazed I held out this long and I had been thinking of waiting to see if the watch got upgraded and to see how other users felt, but ultimately the sports version of the watch is not much more expensive than the Garmin (though it costs a lot if you end up buying both) and has a lot more functions and connectivity and looks much better. Even though it's really an exercise watch it doesn't feel wrong to wear it during the day and yes, it's a luxury to have it, but it feels like a useful tool. Even if some people will think I'm a tool. Including the me of the past. I will let you know if it improves my life or makes me a pariah. So far I have found it useful and fun, even if my nieces laughed at me when I totally failed to get Siri to talk to me on it. And then my daughter laughed at me too. Because my nieces had. I should never let them see her again.
