GADGET GURU’S MAGIC BOX

Because Mrs Guru is now working from home, GaGu’s mind is being forcibly turned once again to renovations. There’s a whole trickle-down list of jobs to be done, the first of which was for Guru to board the loft. Given the ample insulation of Guru Towers (GaGu will still not have turned the heating on by the time you read this) simply screwing boards onto the joists is a bad idea in terms of both damp and crushing the ceilings below. Cue a kit from LoftZone, with steel crossbeams and recycled plastic legs, which allows even DIY incompetents like Guru to install a raised floor above that lung-scouring fibreglass. It’s not too pricey, either. Time will tell if GaGu’s installation causes a massive collapse.

One thing his trip to the rafters proved beyond all doubt is that Guru’s poor back is not well suited to spending its days bent in two. In general that spine is treated rather well – ergonomic chair from Noblechairs and a standing desk riser from Yo-Yo Desk, if you must know – but it needed a little extra therapy. Cue the JaxJox Foam Roller Connect ($169), a vibrating torture device that helps loosen those tight muscles using an app which doesn’t let you just sack off the unnatural-feeling back bends after 30 seconds. It does ask what workout you’ve just performed before bossing you around; annoyingly, ‘contorting yourself into the loft’ is not one of these.

Not that the family hasn’t been having any fun. Guru invested in some Lego: the epic Lego Technic Liebherr R 9800 Excavator, which is a massive build with some serious post-construction play. It’s motorised, app-controllable, and the cats despise it, much like they do Guru himself.