Good morning berries and cherries, welcome to Day 23 of Rosalia Rambles Redundancy Review.
It took a while, but today I finally got some closure on my application to Poncle from weeks back to be a QA engineer. For all the heart and soul that was put into my application, it has ended in rejection.
This hurts more than I anticipated – especially in the wake of my QA declaration yesterday.
Something I would like to emphasise is how difficult it is to maintain self-esteem in the wake of redundancy. The initial blow of being made redundant, even when it is through no fault of your own, does a massive amount of damage to your faith in your abilities. This gets worse when you try to pick up the pieces and get applications sent off, wondering if this time it will be enough.
Committing to Rambles is honestly the main thing keeping me going right now, even when things hurt like today. I committed to do an article a day and I am going to stick to that commitment no matter how the world makes me feel.
In all honesty my mood has been foul the last couple days, being really irritable about the smallest things and feeling reluctant to be sociable. I feel better when I actually push myself out there, but I am falling into the trap of comfort as well, preferring to close myself off to avoid any other pain.
On the plus side, you would not see an AI having this kind of vulnerability – yes I am taking a dig at AI out of pettiness in my current mood, it fits the vibe of today.
If you want writing with soul, lived experience, and a unique voice in today’s crowd, hire me. I am gaining experience every day, and I would love to work on your projects.
Building on the theme of vulnerability, today’s review is going to be one of the few poisons I allow myself to imbibe on a very infrequent basis.
Relentless is a brand of energy drink in the UK, carrying a wide variety of fruity flavours such as Passion Punch, Apple & Kiwi, and Watermelon.
None of those flavours matter here today, as the only one I can stomach drinking is the originator of the brand, now titled “Origin”. I have had a difficult relationship with energy drinks in the past, developing an outright addiction partway through my degree which compounded with other issues at the time to make me a not very pleasant person.
I strived to make myself “clean” in 2021 as part of a general recovery plan, but old habits die hard, and Relentless Origin is now the only energy drink of its ilk that I can enjoy drinking.
It is on the cheaper end of 500ml cans, especially when compared to Red Bull or Monster, with the price-marked packaging variants usually being around £1 each, and a four pack generally retailing for £3.50 for a pack of four.
One thing I always struggle to communicate with energy drinks is what they specifically taste like. I can convey the general idea of drinking a delicious form of battery acid, but nailing down details is difficult.
The main detail I can point out with Relentless, at least for me, is its distinct lack of an aftertaste compared to other leading brands – the primary reason as to why I can still drink it. Not often of course, I keep myself in check by limiting my intake and making alternative picks in the wake of having one, but some days just call for that little hit of chemicals once more.
That will be all for today, I am going to relax now. Thank you for reading this slightly shorter Redundancy Review with a bit more of a straightforward delivery than usual, I hope you have a good day wherever you are and can also find the time to relax.
Good morning leviathans and wyverns, welcome to Day 22 of Rosalia Rambles Redundancy Review.
I have my own domain now!
No longer carrying the “.wordpress” part, I have a simple .com domain that will look a lot more professional on my CV and be a lot easier to say to people who might want to look up my work.
It is part of a greater upgrade plan I am looking at to take my work to the next level, with the next steps including getting a professional logo for the site and looking at upgrading my phone to make any photography I need to do look even better…
…and considering I smashed the screen up a while back along with the battery being on its way out, it makes practical sense as well.
This is being enabled by the fact I have got almost all of the money I am entitled to out of my redundancy, the only thing I am missing now is my lack of notice pay which I hope to resolve today after my Jobcentre meeting.
Which, yeah, is not something I am looking forward to today. I have a very dim outlook on the unemployment system in the UK, seeing it as a necessary evil for myself currently but having little to no optimism in how they can help me beyond monetary assistance.
I will be receptive to their input and if they can find me a holdover job that holds some relevance to my areas of interest I will be thankful, but having been through the system once before and having those close to me go through it multiple times my confidence in what they can do for me is low.
To be frank, there is a little bit of arrogance in my outlook. The Jobcentre is primarily focused on getting those who have been out of work for a while into a job with a secondary focus on helping people acquire basic skills that they might have missed out on due to life circumstances – right now I fall into neither category.
I have a plan in mind, I know what steps I need to take, and I really do not need a digital skills course that teaches me how to open Microsoft Word when I have been working at the apex of a heavily specialised technological industry for the last three years.
A little bit of frustration this morning, but getting it out every so often feels good.
In honour of the Jobcentre meeting though, I am going to do a variation on my call to action today. Whilst I am looking to start getting into paid writing work, it is more of a desire to pivot than where my career specialty actually lies. So what have I done every day since 2021?
I break things.
For the last four years, I have been working as a Quality Assurance Engineer/Analyst/Specialist, whatever you want to call me the core foundation of my career has been the ability to find bugs in all sorts of software projects – I am even credited on two EA Sports games (F1 2021 and F1 22).
Finding bugs is not just a career for me, it is a way of life. Even when playing games on my own time I am able to find bugs as easy as I breathe, my brain switching into QA mode once I do and seeing if I can replicate it.
I am good at what I do, and I know it. Any software project I get my hands on will be tested thoroughly with a can-do attitude and a tenacity to see it through right to the end.
With that done, it is time to review something from a game today, but considering it is a very recent addition, I will put a spoiler warning.
If you have not played Monster Hunter Wilds Title Update 2 content, please click away now. If you do click away now, thank you for reading today and I hope you have a great day!
With that done, I can get into it, and I am excited because I love Monster Hunter.
I really like Monster Hunter.
I really like Monster Hunter.
From being a complete newbie to the franchise back in 2022 to becoming way too obsessed today, Monster Hunter has wormed its way into my heart for its combat system, ecology design, and “fashion hunting”, the term for making layered armour sets out of different monster parts.
And with Wilds Title Update 2, a fan favourite monster finally returns to the franchise properly.
Lagiacrus was first introduced in Monster Hunter Tri as the flagship monster, releasing in 2009, with their inclusion in Wilds being their first representation in almost a decade, leading to many experienced fans being excited for their return.
For me though, I had no prior attachment to Lagiacrus but I was still excited to fight them for the first time, especially with the inclusion of a form of underwater combat as part of their fight mechanics.
Screenshot taken from the Title Update Trailer – I had taken footage but it seems to have corrupted
Underwater combat was a headline mechanic back in Monster Hunter Tri, being essential to Lagiacrus’s fight back in that game. Whilst the dev team for Wilds did not fully include a full combat system underwater, they did incorporate it into this new iteration.
After Lagiacrus retreats to its nest, it will dive underwater, giving hunters the opportunity to follow. During this fight you will need to use slinger ammo and collapsible underwater structures to stagger Lagiacrus to open a window to attack with your weapons, finalising with a cinematic finishing move once enough damage is done.
The introduction mission to Lagiacrus was extremely fun, not only serving to teach these mechanics to players, but also elaborating on one of the other characters in the Forbidden Lands with very thoughtful writing.
However, that is only one half of Lagiacrus being introduced, as after completing that mission they are now able to spawn in the world regularly, including being able to appear as a “Tempered” variant with stronger attacks and more health.
Tempered Lagiacrus is fucking terrifying.
Myself and my partner only fought a three-star version, supposedly on the weaker end of the scale.
It took us twenty minutes of consistent attacks and effort – longer than some base game tempered monsters, which included my partner fainting twice from the relentless onslaught of attacks.
Which, y’know, people had been asking for more challenge in the game.
And to get a non-spoilery thumbnail for the article, have one of my favourite fashion hunter sets from Wilds.
That does it for today, and that is possibly the most recent topic I have reviewed yet. Thank you for reading all the way if you did, I hope you have a relaxing day whatever you do.
Monster Hunter Wilds is available on Xbox Series, PS5, and PC.
Good morning rebels and ruffians, welcome to Day 21 of Rosalia Rambles Redundancy Review.
Numbers are really getting up there now. Not only is it the three week milestone reached, it is now the month of July, a time where I was supposed to actually be off work to wait out the heat… funny how that turned out.
I continue to be surprised with myself that I have made it this far as well. My redundancy has caused a lot of mental stress to occur which has had the knock-on effect of making certain habits slip some days, but each morning I still get on my laptop and start writing through the grogginess.
My road trip yesterday had a lot of different conversation topics, but the most interesting of which was finding bits of inspiration for how my voice as a transgender woman can influence my writing and stories.
Transitioning is… messy, to say the least. There is plenty of advice from elder trans who have come before you but ultimately anyone who walks that path is going to encounter some challenges along the way, and I think that is one of the main points that needs to be amplified in today’s world.
It is a scary time to be trans, with rising negative sentiment amongst politicians and news media potentially intimidating others to remain in the closet whilst simultaneously making already out people feel uncomfortable in the world they reside in.
For both parties, I have a message, and whilst I may just be one person, I want to use my voice for good:
The world is better with you in it. Do not let the ruling class tell you otherwise. You are important, you are valued, and you are beautiful – however you present yourself, you are amazing for living your truth.
Finding strength in community is what can get us through hard times, and community can take many different shapes. It can be a group of former colleagues banding together to offer each other support during a hard time, it can be a collection of trans people coming together to build everyone up to be their best selves, and it can even be your close group of friends – a found family through shared interests.
If that impassioned speech resonated, you would be impressed what I can do on other live projects – why not consider hiring me? I put my heart and soul into my work every time, leaving an emotional impact on the reader, or using my inherent sense of logic to write clean, consistent copy for professional projects.
With us reaching Day 21, and noticing a trend in my previous entries, it is time for another Hololive song review, one that ties in to the themes of community and found family.
In case it is not already obvious from this being the second group song I am reviewing from them, Hololive English Generation 3 “Advent” are my favourite group within the organisation. Their style, theming, and group coherence made me fall in love from day one with that love never once dimming throughout.
“Rebellion” is their debut song, released just under two years ago at time of writing. True to their lore of being fugitives the song talks a lot about breaking out of cycles & systems, being freed from cages, and lighting fires in their hearts to embrace new found freedom.
The rhythm of the song also helps highlight the ever present theme of “dance”, with the word appearing several times during the chorus. With its heavy usage of synth it really does sound like a song that could be played in a club, dancing the night away to a song about breaking free.
With each Hololive song review I tend to highlight a specific segment of the lyrics, and this time is no different, with me wanting to draw particular attention to the bridge before the final choruses:
“I know that I can still be
The future of this story
I know that I can be free
The one and the only
They tell me that I’m crazy
I’ll never let them stop me”
It says something that I did not need to go back to the music video to get those lyrics right – this final part of the song before launching back into the chorus is slower than the rest but it is the part I always like to listen out for.
Advent’s declaration of wanting to be free in their own story and not wanting to listen to those that put them down resonate heavily with my own experience within life, never wanting to be told to stop. Hearing those words each time I revisit Rebellion brings me immense comfort, much like any time I engage in Advent’s content.
One final thing, knowing that I need an image for the thumbnail…
…god Shiori is so pretty, I can not wait to cosplay her.
That brings us to the end for today. Thank you for sticking with me for three weeks thus far, take it easy whatever you do, and have a great day!
Good morning drivers and racers, welcome to Day 20 of Rosalia Rambles Redundancy Review.
The main thing on my agenda for today is taking a journey with a very close friend of mine. She needs to go pick up some pottery directly from the factory and asked if I wanted to come along, which I gave an enthusiastic yes to. I find myself oddly excited at this prospect, partly for the chance to hang out with someone I resonate a lot with but also the chance to talk in person about how I am feeling.
It has been mentioned a lot throughout this series but the support my friends have given me has really helped see me through some of the darker days. They help remind me why I am here and to keep on keeping on through the pain, uncertainty, and anxiety that has come with being made redundant.
On the subject of purpose though, I feel the purpose of the Redundancy Review has changed somewhat since I started. Initially these mental check-ins were only supposed to be one segment of the review followed by an update on my job search, finalising with the review.
Talking about the job search has fallen by the wayside, if just because having to write constant reminders of what I am applying for makes rejection feel all the worse due to having a detailed record written down. Applications still go out each day, and I am working on a “living CV” page for the site right now, so there is that.
But it is time to make an adjustment to the Redundancy Review’s mission statement, and iterate what my main goals are with this daily series.
Primarily, this is to get me out of bed and working on something each morning. Even if I do not feel like it, or even if my brain is foggy, something goes out to keep the habit
This is a story of my lived experience. The homepage emphasises that no Generative AI content will be hosted here, and I will stick to that always. A machine cannot replicate the emotion behind my words, and I will strive to champion human creativity above all else
Whilst the title includes the word “review”, I am not a critic – there are far better people than me to do that job. I am here to spread joy about the things I love and to try make the world a better place through my words
I am also going to divert my call to action today. Normally I would be asking people to hire me for writing work, but this time I want to give a spotlight to a colleague of mine.
Jordan was the Art Director and 3D Generalist at Immerse, responsible for the look & feel of many projects along with creating some of the most insanely detailed and complicated assets you could come across. His expertise always shined in planning calls, where production would present the idea and his creativity would run wild of what he could accomplish.
He is an incredibly easy going guy, able to act as a steady presence whenever projects hit that inevitable rocky stage, persevering through the hard times with the goal of laughing about it once it was all over. With how long he had been at the company, he was part of the foundation, and it showed through his dedication to the craft.
If anyone reading this is in need of a 3D artist, get in touch with him. You will not regret having him involved.
Time for today’s review, and we are staying in the usual territory of food & drink, but a newcomer into the category.
Yup. I am talking about a brand of boxed stuffing mix.
It came into my mind as I was initially supposed to make a roast dinner yesterday but ended up getting too overheated, changing the plan to a more homely sausage, egg, chips, and beans instead. The stuffing is usually the star of the show when it comes to my roast dinners, and I have Paxo Sage & Onion Stuffing Mix to thank for that.
I have tried supermarket’s “luxury” range of stuffings, I have tried people’s homemade stuffing mixes, and I have even tried Paxo’s other offerings – but it always comes back to the default to me, possibly out of nostalgia.
That said, I do not just mix it with hot water, put it in a dish and call it a day. “Rosa Stuffing” as my partner calls it has two main defining features. The first being an addition to make Julia Child proud: copious amounts of butter, added at two different stages – first a healthy amount after the hot water has been added, and then a few small knobs on top once placed into the dish.
The other is less conventional, an addition that comes from my experience with stuffing growing up. My granny and my mother would always add mushrooms into the mixture to add some extra body and difference in texture, with this small addition now becoming a staple of my own stuffing too.
Mushrooms are a divisive foodstuff, but it is one I can not get enough of in any dish, with the inclusion of sauteed button mushrooms mixed with a rich sage and onion stuffing giving me comfort beyond compare, even in the context of a comforting roast dinner.
With that new esoteric addition to the list of things I have reviewed, I will call it there. Thank you for reading today, please keep yourself cool today, at least in the UK it is supposed to hit between 29-31 degrees in some places. Stay hydrated everyone.
Good morning burgers and fries, welcome to Day 19 of Rosalia Rambles Redundancy Review.
Yesterday’s review was quite fraught with emotion and sadness with the time after having me feel very out of it and a bit spacey, wondering what was going on.
Then I remembered something.
We are coming up to the start of the month.
I am a transgender woman, and have been on estrogen for the last three years now. It is undeniably one of the best things for my mental state/happiness, similar to every step I have taken when it comes to transitioning, making my life actively better.
But, obviously, it does come with some side effects. The most notable of which is the development of a monthly “cycle” for myself similar to what those with a uterus experience, commonly referred to as “periods”.
Now, I am obviously lacking in one biological aspect when it comes to it, and that means I do not have to deal with anything related to blood or pads – a fact I will always be relieved by. That said, I do deal with a majority of other symptoms too, including:
Extreme fatigue
Irritability
Cramps in the torso region
Mood swings
Brain fog
So, yeah. My mind is currently flooded with hormones and that is why I was catastrophising things so hard yesterday, it is actually incredibly hard to think straight when my brain is being like this, so reviews might look a little different until things settle down again.
I did have at least one rational thought during the day, which was thinking about how I have been seeking comfort in familiarity recently, be it video games, food, or old gaming Youtube videos. There will be a time where I elaborate a bit more on this, but right now the brain fog is too strong so I am going to push through.
Despite the issues going on right now, I would still love to be hired for live writing projects. When I am in a rhythm and routine I can push through the period brain to continue to make beautiful projects, and I would be elated to have the chance to work like that again.
Part of my activities yesterday was going shopping at Sainsbury’s with a friend of mine, getting the chance to do a big shop at a location I do not often have the chance to go to – a lot of my friends have offered to go shopping with me at all different places to give me company or help me out… it is really appreciated, especially on days when the loneliness gets hard.
That is unrelated though, the main thing I found at Sainsbury’s was an old favourite drink of mine.
Califia Farms is an American brand that specialises in plant-based milk alternatives, which includes a range of coffee drinks – my personal favourite of which is their “Mocha Almond Latte”, which feels weird to say cause I associate “mocha” and “latte” as two different drinks, but considering how nice it tastes I am not too bothered with the semantics.
This specific drink has been very hard to find lately, and whilst I was initially hyped to see it again I think the recently reviewed Galaxy Mocha Frappe powder might have overtaken it as my cold coffee drink of choice. It goes down smooth enough, but I think I have been spoiled by being able to make barista-style drinks at home.
It is providing my much needed caffeine boost early in the morning, but right now I think the main thing I appreciate it for is the convenience more than anything else, the ability to just open the fridge and have a massive amount of cold coffee ready to go. I know that sounds exceptionally lazy, but when my brain is this bogged down in emotions and hormones, it is the little things which help a lot.
Shorter review, for a brain short on juice. Thank you for reading all the same, I hope to soon be back to providing the high-quality content you all love.
Good morning dreamers and memers, welcome to Day 18 of Rosalia Rambles Redundancy Review.
Despite a sleepy start yesterday, I pushed myself to go to Asda with my partner to buy some supplies for dinner. The humidity was killer, but I knew it was the right decision to go outside and have a walk.
Keeping in the routine has been hard, especially with how my headspace has been lately. I have been sleeping in harder than I have meant to and that means the review comes out later than usual as well. Whilst the routine is still there, the adherence is definitely slipping.
I have talked about it a lot in previous articles, but there is still a fair amount of hurt over how things have played out – every time I think I might be close to starting to heal past what happened, something else crops up or my mind reminds me of things and the pain comes back.
It is hard to reconcile what I want from my career right now as well. I am exceptionally skilled in Quality Assurance, and I have admiration for the idea of going into a senior role to act as a mentor for newer QAs, to share my stories in the hope of building their careers in the way others have for me.
My production credentials are strong, at my first time on the bat I managed two projects simultaneously for an American pharmaceutical company, delivering on time with a healthy budget. This is not to mention how many times I stepped in to help manage other projects when other producers were on leave, even with the missteps I made.
I demonstrate my love of writing every day, even on days like today where I keep tabbing away from the document and focus on something else. I have several instances of using my writing skills in my previous role, from creating proposals for a wide range of clients, to writing scripts for several different project types.
But… I do not know which path to take.
Here is where I would usually do my call to action for wanting to work on live writing projects, but today is going to be a little different. If you read my story and have any kind of career guidance for me, please get in touch. I have the skills to pay the bills but I need some help with what direction to take.
The review today returns to “Rosa Eating Her Way Across Shrewsbury”, with my all time favourite cafe in town, a cozy little venue known as “The Ploughboy”. My partner and I tried it on a whim one day, where it quickly became our favourite spot for cheap but wholesome eating.
Yesterday I got my standard meal, with one small addition to keep me going to the evening – a sausage, bacon, and egg sandwich with hash brown added to it for extra density, paired with a large mocha.
There are no real frills with this one, and that is exactly what I like about Ploughboy. A homely meal prepared quickly for a reasonable price, which at £7.15 for the sandwich and £3.20 for the mocha made this one of the cheapest full offerings I have reviewed yet.
The egg was cooked perfectly with a runny yolk, the bacon was at the perfect consistency for me with the fat cooked properly but the meat itself not being overly crispy, and the crunchy hash browns added the right amount of padding to make this basic brunch last me till the evening without breaking the bank.
Ploughboy is a simple joy for me in town, and a place I return to time and time again.
I am going to call it here for today, as I have gone from rambling to waffling very quickly. Thank you for reading this edition of the Redundancy Review, have a relaxing weekend whatever you do and enjoy time with your loved ones.
Good morning duvets and pillows, welcome to Day 17 of Rosalia Rambles Redundancy Review.
You would think with the fact I had a late night on Wednesday that a part of me would consider taking an early night yesterday to make up for it.
Then the Capcom spotlight happened, where it took until the end for the Monster Hunter Wilds trailer to appear. It was definitely worth it though, and watching the entire showcase was actually rather enjoyable.
However, this means I am absolutely knackered this morning – to the point I think I slept through all of my alarms without meaning to. It is always difficult to write these on nights where I might not have had as much sleep as I needed, though it is weird that today is one of those days when I slept in so hard.
As I was drifting off last night I had ideas of a topic I might want to cover in these mental health check-in segments, but when I started plotting it out in my head it feels like it should get its own spotlight piece, so keep your eyes open for that.
Yesterday I also showed my mentor this website as we were catching up on the work search, and her advice to me outside of complimenting my work was “get that bloody book out there”. When we worked together we often chatted about the kind of life I have had, and how it would be interesting for me to write it in a semi-fictionalised way, marketing it as the slice-of-life story for this generation.
(if you are reading this Gabi, hi!)
It is something I have considered as I work on different projects throughout the day. My main area of interest has always been sci-fi & fantasy epics, telling tales of massive worlds and their conflicts or trials, but considering the amount of events I have lived through and maturing as a trans woman in recent years, it is a very valid idea.
For anyone reading who might want to help make these ideas reality, consider getting in touch and hiring me – creative writing is in the forefront of my mind currently. I would love any and all opportunities to work on live projects which could help fund my other ventures.
As most unemployed people do, I spend a lot of time on LinkedIn. Looking for opportunities, using the job search tool, and lamenting the course my life has taken when I’m wading through AI-generated content that no one has bothered proofreading.
The one that always stands out in my mind is one that said “Avoid these 14 game design zombies!”, with the main content of the post then saying it was 15 game design zombies, but then the also AI-generated image does not count up to 15 and it is missing several numbers on the way to 14. LinkedIn is full of these posts now, with the only fringe benefit being that I am very good at spotting GPT-speak right now.
Outside of job searching though, LinkedIn does actually have a series of five puzzle games currently, with my personal favourite being the subject of today’s review.
Zip is an extremely simple puzzle game on the surface, but the amount of complexity that can be packed into each day’s offering always surprises me.
The premise is straightforward: get from the number 1 dot to whatever the final dot is for that day. Today’s puzzle was getting to number 8 but on previous days it can go as high as number 24.
There is always something satisfying in challenges that go from point A to point B for me, it ties in with my love of building infrastructure in video games – paths, roads, and other means of transport make my heart sing with joy, so a puzzle game that abstracts that to its most basic form was sure to be a success.
It is so much fun that it is engrained as part of my routine now alongside writing these reviews, and it keeps me checking LinkedIn even when I might not feel up to wading through the mess of AI.
With that, we come to the end of today’s review. Thank you for reading, I am going to go have some coffee and brunch – consider treating yourself to something similar, it is Friday after all.
Good morning robots and androids, welcome to Day 16 of Rosalia Rambles Redundancy Review.
I am extremely tired this morning, primarily because of guest-starring in a friend’s D&D game last night. He had included a former character of mine as backup for the party and initially wanted me to weigh in on what they had been up to in the proceeding time.
Discussions took form, eventually leading to me inquiring if he would be okay with me dropping in to reprise my role. I had retired from doing evening D&D games a long time ago, wanting to spend more time with my partner who I was long distance with at the time and just not having the social energy to keep a game going into the late hours of the night.
Was reprising the character fun? Extremely.
Blaze is my main character who is not like me in some way, shape, or form. They are an unhinged bucket of bolts whose main motive in helping the party was to take advantage of the situation to incite a war between two factions in this world, and why?
“It’d be really funny to see!”
Especially given the events going on in my life right now, playing a character who is completely off the wall insane was a lot of fun, more so when it came to improvising his motives and talking about collateral.
Am I still not capable of evening D&D games? Oh yes.
I have started writing this review later than I usually do because of how long it took me to even begin shaking the sleep off to get my laptop out and start writing – even on nights where I have gamed longer than I intended to I do not wake up like this, and it is definitely a social energy problem on my side.
One I am not… entirely hankering to fix, if just because “unable to socialise long past 9pm” is not really a priority issue for myself right now.
What is priority is the fact I have now received my unpaid wages for my time at my old company after shit hit the fan, which means today will be spent budgeting on various different topics, including:
What to contribute to the bills account to keep myself afloat for a while
Investing in some things around the flat to make summer easier and bring the place more to completion
Putting money into savings to help pay for VExpo (vtuber convention) later this year
Potentially going to a restaurant and having an actual date night out with my partner
I am still due money as well, in the form of statutory redundancy payments and whatever I can get from my lack of notice pay, but what I have got has gone a decent way to making me whole again – especially as the job search has hit a demoralising point.
Returning to full time work is somehow existing as a superposition in my mind right now. I am craving the return to routine enforced by someone else, but also enjoying the recovery that comes from not being in that situation anymore. Whilst the lack of a routine is definitely affecting me, there is also a certain amount of peace I am feeling from existing in my own rhythm once more.
Would I appreciate being back in full time work? Yes, especially as it gives me the resources to pursue the lifestyle I enjoy, but am I also considering what other paths might exist for me? Definitely.
If you would like to consider helping me explore one of these paths, please get in touch about hiring me for your projects. The life of a freelancer might not be one I have had a taste of yet, but the idea of jumping from client to client, project to project has an odd appeal to me right now. I would love to work for whoever is reading this!
So, one of the things I did after getting the news of my redundancy was start a game I had in my Steam library for the longest time after getting it in a Humble Choice bundle.
Yeah… I have been playing it a bit too much lately, but I did finish the story yesterday so I feel I can convey some thoughts at least, at least in a somewhat short form.
The core gameplay loop of Death Stranding is delivering packages. Playing as Sam Porter Bridges (portrayed by Norman Reedus), you go all throughout a post-apocalyptic America to deliver all sorts of goods to a colourful cast of characters.
Several hazards present themselves during these journeys, in the form of supernatural “Beached Things” (BTs), MULE and terrorist encampments looking to take your cargo or life respectively, and the ever-present threat of “Timefall” – rain that induces accelerating aging upon whatever it touches, which includes corroding your cargo’s protective containers.
You do not have to do your job entirely on the ground though, as the game provides several tools for making your life easier. Various structures can be constructed, ranging from humble ladders that can help you traverse rock and river, to giving you the ability to make a zip-line network later in the game, allowing you to complete deliveries door-to-door without encountering any threats whatsoever.
Your hands are not the only ones that can build structures though, as the unique selling point of Death Stranding is the integrated online aspect of the game. Whilst it is a singleplayer game and can be played offline; the game becomes significantly more populated when playing online, as the structures that others have built can appear in your world, helping you out when you might need it most.
Hideo Kojima is both the game director and sole writer of Death Stranding, the latter of which I was extremely excited for going into the game. Metal Gear Solid is one of my favourite video game series for its impactful writing, so I was excited to see what Kojima could cook up when fully in control.
The core theme of the game is “connection”, going through a broken continent to connect cities, distribution centres, and shelters into the “chiral network”, hoping to make a new America in the form of the United Cities of America (UCA). Every character you meet is extremely well written, with frequent twists and turns in what you learn about them, never leaving you bored in terms of story content.
That said, I definitely did have some issues with the pacing of the story, and not just because I am a glutton for side content in this game. Specifically from the end of Episode 8 onwards, the game accelerates in such a way that completely shifts the gameplay loop out of sync with what you were doing before.
Whilst it is still possible to do deliveries, and there are one or two required story deliveries still, the game shifts focus into action-mode, with greater dangers appearing as you head back east to the starting zone. These make it difficult to do “standard orders”, which are the bulk of the game’s side content, as the routes become fraught with danger and the Timefall is near constant.
Despite the pacing being an issue, I actually have no issues with the actual story content of the last act of the game. Almost all narrative threads have a payoff, even ones set up as far back as the game’s prologue will yield results, and those that do not are still satisfying enough that you are left wanting more in a good way. Even with the rapid pace of episodes in the endgame, there were still plenty of moments that left me shouting “WHAT?!” at my TV.
My playtime to go through the game landed me at just over 69 hours (nice). This included doing lots of side content between episodes but every minute of playtime was worth it for me – I recommend playing Death Stranding without hesitation. For people who enjoy great stories, and for those who just want a game to enter zen mode with, there is something for everyone.
I am not done talking about the game either, as there are several things I still want to write about it, but hopefully this short review gives enough information on the game to make you consider purchasing it.
Thank you for reading today, writing these Redundancy Reviews honestly keeps me going in a way that is extremely beneficial to my psyche, and with the small audience I am cultivating right now, I am very happy with the direction of my website.
Good morning teas and coffees, welcome to Day 15 of Rosalia Rambles Redundancy Review.
After having a somewhat terrible Monday, Tuesday was… up and down.
One of the high points was getting to take care of my parent’s axolotl, Dottie. He is the second axolotl to have been in my family, with my axolotl Cedric being the first.
Cedric was a very interesting character, she was quite upfront and social with me, even trying to jump into my hand on a few occasions when I was feeding her – doing so by hand as I had always done. Dottie is a bit more of an introvert though, he did not seem too interested in food and did not fully come out of his log while I was visiting.
Yes, the axolotl with the male name was female and the one with the female-coded name is male. There is a metaphor in there somewhere.
But in between talking to this not quite there salamander I was dealing with shit relating to my redundancy payouts, primarily around my unpaid wages and holidays. The company handling the administration is very opaque and obtuse, very rarely providing advice in advance, instead choosing to react whenever myself and my colleagues light fires under their arse.
This was most prevalent in them not sharing the information/formulae used to calculate what holiday we have taken and what our weekly rate of pay is. Once presented with the information it made sense, but it feels weird that none of this was communicated upfront. There is a chance I will name and shame the company once this process is over, I do not exactly have “clout” or anything to make change, but it is part of my story.
Main thing is I am finally getting paid what I am owed, which will help with finances for the foreseeable future and keep me in a position where looking for my next job does not make me too stressed out.
If you reading this would like to make my next job working for you on a writing project, please consider getting in touch! My skills are slowly improving every day and the ability to work on real projects would only accelerate my personal growth.
So, regular readers of the review know I am a big lover of food with many of my reviews taking me around various Shrewsbury eating spots. Today’s review is about food, but something a bit more closer to my original home.
I have mixed feelings about my hometown, a very quiet village known as Codsall. The quietness and quaintness still have their appeal, especially living in a very busy town nowadays, but at the same time there is very little unique there for me now, highlighted further with the local butcher shutting down due to rising costs.
However, one place is still around for me, and it is a place I will always make a pilgrimage to each time I need to return.
Birches Bridge Fish Bar is one of two local chip shops, and in my opinion the vastly superior one. Both have been around since I was little, though Birches holds a special place in my heart as it was the regular haunt after my usual Saturday Warhammer 40k (later just card games) club for a filling lunch.
One menu item in particular always draws me back, and it is in the picture above: the Birches Burger. A double cheeseburger topped with onion rings and the salad & sauce of your choice, my usual picks being onion, cabbage, jalapeno, and garlic mayo for an almost spicy coleslaw-like topping – paired with a regular sized portion of chips to give me a throwback to being fifteen again.
It is your standard chip shop burger. Thin patties with a slight crisp to them due to being cooked in a press, topped with plastic cheese, and placed into a lightly toasted bun. There are no illusions, no fancy additions necessary, just a dense sandwich that brings immense comfort.
However, I do have to highlight the chips though. Birches’ chips always hit hard for me, maybe partially out of nostalgia but something in my chips yesterday sang to me. I forgot to check the signage before I went in but it is around the time of year when chip shops start to serve new potatoes for a short while, and they definitely tasted like it. An almost buttery taste to them, only amplified by the addition of salt and vinegar.
Now for the price: a Birches Burger sets you back £5.50 for the burger alone, and adding on a regular portion of chips is £3.40, bringing the total cost of my meal to £8.90 for yesterday. Looking both at local Shrewsbury chip shops and other takeaways, I would actually struggle to get a meal of that quantity for a similar price…
…of course I have to factor in a £13.50 train ticket in order to get to Birches nowadays but I am purposefully choosing to ignore that in this context.
Even outside of the very reasonable price for the one meal I had yesterday due to the sheer size, the familiar comfort that eating a Birches Burger once more brought to my soul helped ease the wounds of the last couple days, refilling my morale and letting me tackle the challenge of unemployment once more.
That does it for today, hopefully I have not made you too hungry after writing all that (I certainly have made myself hungry). Whatever you get up to today, remember to eat hearty meals that bring you joy and keep you going throughout the day. I hope you have a good day, and I will see you tomorrow.
Good morning scrappers and brawlers, welcome to Day 14 of Rosalia Rambles Redundancy Review.
Yesterday sucked.
It sucked really hard.
The Jobcentre was of minimal help to the current situation, only being able to give me the phone number for HMRC and telling me to take it up with them – which got sidetracked when I got home and found an email from the Insolvency Service saying part of my payout had been denied, a situation many of my colleagues found themselves in.
I was in a foul mood cause of the meeting, and this discovery only exacerbated things for me, to the point I sent a very strongly worded email to the liaison officer handling the company about what I had encountered along with how furious I was at their conduct throughout this process.
Considering we got a response, and I specifically got a letter I should hopefully be able to take to the Jobcentre, we definitely lit a big enough fire under her to get things moving… did not stop her making two fairly egregious errors in my letter initially though but that is me being a bit sour still.
This entire process/journey I am going through right now has been extremely hard on my psyche. Part of the Redundancy Review’s origin is trying to make the best out of a bad situation by using my time to stay in the habit of writing, but that is still what it is: a bad situation.
Having to go back to the Jobcentre is humiliating, especially as I have been in regular work for the last four years. Explaining my situation over and over again reopens any wounds I thought might finally be healing. Every time I have to deal with bureaucratic bullshit to get what I am owed I feel a reminder that the life I knew has fallen apart.
But I can not stop.
I will deal with whatever necessary evils I have to in order to get what I need. I am a fighter through & through, a head-first problem solver in all scenarios, and a bloody stubborn person to the core… however difficult that last one has made things for me sometimes.
God that felt good to get out early in the morning.
There is a positive for myself to look forward to today – I am axolotl sitting for my parents. They are currently galavanting around Europe so I need to go back to my childhood home to not only take care of a gosh darn cutie, but also water the plants in my mother’s greenhouse, some of which are earmarked for me so there is definitely some urgency there.
Still have not heard anything back from Poncle yet either. Starting to get a little paranoid that I might have screwed up the application somehow or my passion at the idea of working there was a little offputting. Hopefully something comes in soon, be it an interview request or a rejection.
If anyone reading would like to help me out whilst I am waiting, I am currently always available for freelance writing work. My emotions go into everything I write and if the above proves anything, I feel extremely intensely about things. Fact or fiction, I aim to introduce passion to everything I write.
Today’s review topic is going to be another Hololive-based one, but instead of reviewing a group’s version of a song, I am going to be looking at a talent’s original creation.
Mori Calliope debuted in the first generation of Hololive English, “Myth”, and has been one of the most prolific members of the organisation behind the now-graduated Gawr Gura. From multiple partnerships across different organisations to performing at her own solo concerts, she has really made the most of her time in the company.
When it comes to her music though, I am usually of a split opinion – either being incredibly impressed with how a song fits her voice or feeling that she might be trying a bit too hard.
None of my worries come through with Lose-Lose Days though, in fact I think it might be the best song she has ever produced in her time with Hololive.
It is her love letter to the other members of her generation, having been released around a month after Amelia Watson graduated and the meaning of the lyrics only amplifying in the wake of Gawr Gura graduating earlier this year.
Considering in the early days Calli struggled with her role as an idol, most notably using a higher pitch in her voice to appear more “cutesy”, seeing her talk about some of her struggles through this song is rather impactful.
“I was all bark no bite
Fighting with God
When it got dark at night
The hours got long”
To me these lyrics speak to Calli trying to find her place within Hololive, working extremely hard to make an identity for herself and possibly coming off a bit abrasive in the process. She is a notorious workaholic in the company so I can fully envision her working into the long hours of the night.
The core message of the song though is her development of her friendship with Myth though, a fact highlighted by a gorgeously animated video by an artist known as DuDuL, someone who rose to fame via Hololive fan animations and his involvement in the community is shown through how many easter eggs are laid around for Holofans to find.
The first two choruses end with the line:
“If I got you, I might just stick around”
This reflects on the song’s overall message of her friendship with the rest of Myth, and how that friendship has kept her around, but the final chorus ends off a little differently:
“I’m gonna smile and make
You guys
Proud”
A frankly beautiful change of wording that caps off a song about personal development in a very heartwarming way, only amplified by her final message written to the rest of her genmates, emphasising that no matter what happens or how things change; they always have their accomplishments together as Myth.
I chose this to review today because of how yesterday went for me. It really did feel like a lose-lose day but I am going to try not dwell on it, I am just going to bandage my bruises and go out into today trying to make the most of it.
Thank you for reading the next milestone edition of the Redundancy Review, we have now hit the two-week mark, and my momentum has no signs of stopping just yet. Enjoy today, and if for some reason your today is hard, you always have tomorrow. Be safe out there.
Rosalia Rambles 