(for context on what this series is, please see my Day 1 post here: Redundancy Review: Day 1, “A New Beginning” – Rosalia Rambles)
Good morning timekeepers and watchmakers, welcome to Day 429 to 454 of Rosalia Rambles Redundancy Review.
As I have said many times in the past: it has been a while. Constantly getting trapped in my own head, trying to navigate what seems like an impossible job market, and wondering whether or not the things I have to write down are worth it at all.
Usually when I come back to the Redundancy Review it means I have something I want to get out there and writing is the only way I feel I can comfortably convey it, or at the very least, I want to be able to wield my emotions for good rather than letting them bottle up into an almighty crash out at the expense of myself, others, or myself and others.
The Redundancy Review has gone on longer than I expected it would. What started as a way to practice writing daily whilst chronicling my job search became a way to monitor my own feelings as I returned to work after my initial redundancy, tracing the highs, the lows, and every single rapid inversion of my own mental state in near real time for a good part of 2025… less so in 2026, which you know, could count as its own reflection of 2026 because whilst this year has held plenty of positives, there has been so many negatives as well – on both a personal level and a “I cannot control this shit but it still makes me depressed” level.
Additionally, this current period of unemployment has gone on longer than I initially expected, currently cresting above the three month mark, although with the state of the job market it is a superposition of:
- A long period of time for someone who has been able to get interviews but has not had any success yet
- Not that long at all considering some people will spend an average of six months searching with some searches going into the year plus mark if they even get lucky after that
The fact I am able to get interviews, especially for roles that are outside of my current wheelhouse, helps reassure me that I am capable of working still, and the most common bit of feedback I receive being that I come off well with an eagerness to learn, but someone else has more experience in the specific area I was interviewing for and would make a better fit… which usually means an internal candidate but there is only so much bitterness I can hold over that before it would outright consume my soul.
What has gone on far longer than I could have ever expected though?
Me.
There is some solace I take in looking back at how I was in previous years, and whilst I clearly see the loss of potential there was in my past, I feel a certain comfort in seeing my past self talk about how long she anticipates to be in a point in her life, with the result usually being that the road keeps on stretching out longer than I could have ever imagined, and that whatever I worry about in the short-term usually ends up working out in the long-term.
I am still probably going to worry about where I will be three months from now, as I continue to apply for jobs and wonder if this next interview will finally be the one to free me from the crippling uncertainty that comes with waking up each day.
But I will always try to move forward. Even when the world feels against me, even when nothing seems to go my way, and even when all hope feels lost.
I keep going. Best I can do some days.
Right, time to scroll through my camera roll and see what is in my backlog that is worthy of a review…
…yeah that will do.
A tradition my partner and I have kept up even during this unusual time for us is taking a trip on the train every Friday to go to a local town to go shopping for a bit, usually going to Asda to get custom pizzas from the counter there because our local one is usually never open and the quality being far below when it actually is open.
It seems silly to put on paper, but “Pizza Friday” has been something he and I have tried to do consistently for the four years we have been together, and getting to continue experiencing it together even during rougher moments is a light that keeps me going.
Although… the review today is not going to be about the pizza, it is about the preamble to getting the pizza, as there is a lovely coffee shop in extremely close proximity to where we end up called Coffee #1, a small chain of shops (albeit owned by the same group that owns Caffè Nero in the UK) which offers one of the best professionally-made mochas I have ever tasted, alongside a good selection of savoury and sweet delights.
My usual go-to as part of these excursions is a three piece selection: a large mocha, a ham and cheese toastie, and a piece of rocky road. Together this comes to an admittedly steep amount of £13 exactly, which would not be far above other chains in terms of pricing, though definitely something I have slowed down on going all out in recent weeks.
That said, the quality of each individual item is above and beyond what I would expect from any of the larger chains like Costa or Starbucks.
To start, the mocha is unbelievably creamy whilst still retaining a strong hit of coffee in each sip, and I want to give a random shoutout to how solid the mug feels to hold. Usually when it comes to coffee shops I find myself intensely disliking the tiny handles that usually come on mugs, whereas this is a solid handle to grab onto and sip as the caffeine takes hold.
The ham and cheese toastie is the highlight for me though, as this simple staple often sets me up for the rest of the day, with the key difference being that it is not put into an industrial toaster oven like is the norm among other chains, but it placed into a ridged panini pressed, ensuring the cheesy top of the toastie is both melty and with a slight crisp alongside the inside being gooey and delicious.
Finally, there are very few ways you can mess up a piece of rocky road… although my controversial opinion is adding cherries or raisins into it, whilst being the traditional route, is actually a surefire way to ruin what should be a decadently sweet treat. Tangents about the optimal road construction aside, this is a perfect piece of rocky road, having a good balance of biscuit, chocolate, and marshmallows.
Whilst a full spread like this is probably going to be cut back on for myself in the foreseeable future to help manage funds, it makes me happy that I was still able to indulge like this to help keep my spirits up in the darker times.
I definitely think I am off track for my initial goal of 180 Redundancy Reviews this year, but I am still here, and I am still thankful for you reading this far. Wherever you are, I hope you are keeping yourself safe the best you can. The world continues to be an unusual and scary place to exist at times, especially when things change rapidly.
I am still here, and you are still here. We should celebrate that.
Rosalia Rambles 
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