(for context on what this series is, please see my Day 1 post here: Redundancy Review: Day 1, “A New Beginning” – Rosalia’s Rambles)
Good morning fixers and repairers, welcome to a double feature for Day 81 & 82 of Rosalia Rambles Redundancy Review.
Did I miss a day out of my commitment for writing every day before my convention trip? Yes I did. Do I have a good reason for it? Yes I do.
I have been enjoying myself and relaxing. I had a friend over for a roast dinner yesterday which took up a lot of my energy in terms of preparation and then I played a lot of Helldivers 2 to continue unlocking stuff from the Halo warbond.
That said, I did make a marginal improvement to Rambles as a whole by upgrading the top navigation bar: adding in a dedicated Redundancy Review button to navigate to all of these articles, and adding in both my fiction & commissions right at the top bar to advertise that part of the website.
Taking several factors into consideration, the primary factor of which is my rent going up by £40 at the start of October, I definitely want to put more effort into advertising the fact I am available for writing commissions or quality assurance contracts. Part of me realises that returning to the stable corporate structure might not be in my foreseeable future, and as much as the freelance life unsettles me a little bit; there are a fair few benefits that come with it as well.
Specifically, freelancing gives me a higher chance of remaining remote in my work lifestyle, which I would very much like to do for the foreseeable, both for personal preference and to help try to maintain the idea of remote work becoming the norm in the coming years.
For those who might not be aware, I consider myself a “remote work advocate”, to put it in LinkedIn speech. I believe remote work is the ideal way for people to work and whilst there are definitely going to be a fair few exceptions within that statement, I feel remote work needs to be more widely adopted across different industries – especially in the increasingly volatile tech industry.
I see a lot of techbros talk against remote work, saying that nothing beats the in-person energy of experimentation and bouncing ideas off of each other… and to some extent, I agree.
Brainstorming ideas in-person can lead to more off-the-cuff suggestions, but I feel it should skew more towards regular team days that focus on both work and relaxation. Gather people together for meetings where they can discuss how things have gone in recent months, where improvements can be made, and then follow it up with an evening of relaxation together, either going out for a meal or engaging in an activity.
Remote work leads to healthier people and higher productivity. At least in my case, the fact I am working in my own space without the distraction of people talking to me or coming by my desk for a chat leads to me getting my work done a lot quicker, especially when taking into consideration that one of my (many) neuroses is that I really struggle to work when I am aware of someone looking over my shoulder or perceiving my work in any way.
I am working, you do not need to stand over my shoulder and assure yourself that I am doing so. It will get done, so leave me alone and let me work…
…god help me if I end up getting an in-person role in the future, in my now almost five-year career as a QA I have worked a grand total of seven days in an in-person setting, and of those seven days only three of them could be classed as actually doing my job since one of them was getting to the office for the first time and being toured round with the remaining three being in-person meetings where I spent more time commuting than I actually did contributing.
It would be one hell of a socialisation experiment, but ultimately, even if I am not the most social person at work, I still get the job done.
Want to hire me and watch me prove that? Get in touch! Quality assurance, fiction writing, technical writing? I will do it all and am more than happy to work within your budget to find a solution that benefits both of us.
Time to head into the review, and considering a well-known card game accessory manufacturer is currently going through a lot of bad publicity due to stupid decisions regarding AI usage and Harry Potter licensing deals, I think it will be good to review a deck box from what is quickly becoming my favourite manufacturer.
An aside, fuck you Ultimate Guard. Your Katana sleeves were actually some of the best on the market but I cannot in good conscious support you given the decisions you have made over the past weeks.
Anyway, here is the Gamegenic Squire Plus 100+ XL Deck Box, in the Teal/Pink colour scheme because the trans vibes must be immaculate.
I am not entirely sure when this particular deck box was released, but I definitely think it was at least in the last year or so, and if we go by how little stock of these exist within UK stores currently, it is reasonable to assume they are quite popular – a sentiment I fully understand now that I have my hands on one.
The headline feature of the Squire Plus over the regular Squire is the addition of the transparent hard plastic card case that can store a single standard-sized trading card. This is specifically designed around the immensely popular Magic: the Gathering format “Commander”, which features a single card chosen to be your commander.
It presents an extremely novel solution to the eternal problem that many Magic: the Gathering players face: remembering what deck is stored in what box. With your commander displayed prominently on the outside of the deck box, it not only allows for finding the deck easier but it also allows your decks to become display pieces themselves, proudly showing off your favourite creations on your shelf.
Additionally, the magnets on the lid of the deck box are extremely discrete compared to other magnetic deck boxes I own, barely being visible on the box or the lid itself leading to a very slim look when all put together.
The MSRP of these deck boxes is listed at $27.99, which converts to roughly £20.78 as of time of writing. I got this a little cheaper than that from chaoscards.co.uk (not sponsored, but a big fan) at £17.95, which I consider a more than worth it price point for the quality you get in exchange.
Now to figure out which deck I want to put in this thing.
That will do it for today, thank you for reading this double feature of the Redundancy Review. Wherever you are, I hope you have had a very good weekend with plenty of relaxation, and that the Monday blues do not get to you too much tomorrow.
For more information on the Gamegenic Squire Plus, visit the product page here: SQUIRE PLUS 100+ XL CONVERTIBLE – Gamegenic
Rosalia Rambles 
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