Brown Furniture, and a Cactus, + Four Recommendations

I used a 28-80mm f/3.3-5.6 Nikkor G lens on a Nikon D700 to photograph this domestic scene. I set the aperture at f/8. That is where the lens performs best.
This lens weighs a bit less than all the coffee granules in a 200g jar. I drink Nescafe Gold Blend if that helps you visualise it. Just the contents - not the jar. So this lens weighs about the same as a dozen mice, give or take a mouse, if you can round them up and keep them on the kitchen scales for long enough.
This lens isn't at its best indoors in poor light.
Recommendation 1: Use this lens out of doors on a nice day.
There are approximately 1,700,000 of these lenses. This was the kit lens for the Nikon F55, F60, and F65 cameras around the turn of the millennium. It comes in black and silver finishes. I have used both. Currently I have black. Oddly, I prefer silver.
Recommendation 2: Buy the colour you like, not the colour the merchant has available.
I have sold two previous copies of this lens, believing its cheapness and poor construction quality to be unrepresentative of who I am.
Recommendation 3: Know who and what you are.
This lens will focus as close as 14 inches. That's about a little finger longer than a 12 inch ruler. That is quite close by ordinary lens standards. Good for pretty flowers in the garden, or a close-up of your cat's nostrils. Ken Rockwell always photographs his expensive wrist watch to demonstrate close focus. But he is wealthy and I am not.
If you break this lens, it doesn't really matter. You can probably get a replacement for less than 50 (dollars, euros, pounds). But it's unlikely you'll break it because photographers are mostly careful with their equipment.
Recommendation 4: Continue being careful.