Good morning dancers and jivers, welcome to Day 26 of Rosalia Rambles Redundancy Review.
It is a beautifully quiet Sunday morning right now. The day started with rain outside which has now developed into it being cool and cloudy as I wait for an IKEA delivery to arrive, with not much planned beyond that.
Building on the theme of yesterday being the odd feeling of my redundancy feeling “liberating”, Sunday would always be tinged with sadness slash anxiety due to my burnout feelings – enjoying the day but dreading dragging myself back to my desk on Monday, an emotion that has been replaced with a similar but different one.
There is still some amount of dread I feel on a Monday, as I mentally gear myself up to go delving on LinkedIn again and look at job postings but in a way it is less oppressive than what my burnout felt like. In a way I have more freedom to structure my day around different periods of job searching and working on different bits of writing work.
But with freedom comes responsibility, with one of the main things I am definitely struggling with is discipline. I write these reviews every day but I find it hard to keep up with my mind flitting between different personal projects, wanting to tell all the stories at once without finishing any.
It is something I will improve on as time goes on, although for now I am going to continue to enjoy my sleepy Sunday.
For the weekdays though, I am still available for writing work and both money & getting experience on professional projects again are insanely good motivators.
Going to be a straightforward review today as well, talking about my favourite piece of IKEA furniture: the Kallax.
Whatever purpose you need storage space for, the Kallax can handle it. Easy to build, infinitely versatile, and available in a range of attractive designs, it can fit into any room and any style with ease.
My favourite feature of the Kallax is how many inserts are available for it, both from IKEA and independent sellers. On my one specifically I have these laser cut stands that are supposed to be used for books, but as you can see from the image, I use them to support a copious amount of plushies.
Board/card games are also ideal for the Kallax, with many standard sized boardgame boxes fitting perfectly into a Kallax square for a tidy and presentable solution.
I am not sponsored by IKEA in any way, shape, or form, but considering how much I shill for the Kallax in my everyday life, there would be no greater honour if the opportunity ever arose.
Short, sweet, and to the point. Thank you for reading today’s shorter review, I am going to go back to snoozing. Enjoy some relaxation yourself.
Good morning knights and squires, welcome to Day 25 of Rosalia Rambles Redundancy Review.
A later start today, but it feels nice to be relaxed for the first time in a while. This whole experience I am going through puts me under varying amounts of stress day-to-day, so having an afternoon yesterday and a morning today where I do not feel that as hard as I usually do is an incredibly liberating feeling.
I do not think I have used that word enough in regards to some parts of this journey: “liberating”. It is a weird one to use considering how redundancy has completely upended my life, but it has also brought benefits to me.
There was no denying I was going through some degree of burnout in my old job. I was still delivering what was needed of me on the daily but I also struggled to get out of bed some days in the lead up to the end times – dragging myself to my desk and putting on my best face.
It was honestly the people that kept me going a lot of the days, I worked with extremely talented and personable people who made even the hardest times go by quicker. The culture, even with all of us working remotely, was what kept me in till the bitter end.
(god getting woken up at 3am has thrown me off today, struggling to keep my mind on track)
But now that I am out of work, there definitely is something positive from being away from the tech sphere and doing my own things. I have struggles but I also have runway, leading to me existing in this flip-flop of zen and panic, but ultimately letting my mind recover from the experiences I have been through.
Writing every day is helping with that too. Being able to sit down and express myself through the written word is a peaceful feeling even on the days where my brain does not want to co-operate with me, and I remain ever thankful for anyone who takes time out of their day to read my words.
The dream is still to be able to make some form of living off of writing, be it being hired as an in-house copywriter for a company or freelancing my way around, always finding something new to work on. Is this a lofty goal in the age of AI? Of course, but what I am building for myself is an identity of human creativity, what I aim my “brand” to be in a way.
If you are looking for someone to write something thoughtful and emotional, consider hiring me. This project is but a fraction of what I am capable of, I would love to prove my worth against a wide range of works.
Eating my way around Shrewsbury
Yup, that is right. Welcome back to another exciting edition of talking about somewhere to eat in Shrewsbury!
With my redundancy payments coming in, and after putting money into both bills and savings accounts, my partner and I resolved that we would go out for a proper meal at a restaurant. We tour cafes and small eateries pretty frequently, but it had been around two months since we had last gone “out out” as it were – for obvious reasons.
Considering I was going to pay, it was my choice as to where we would go, and I picked one of the best places for burgers in town: The Beefy Boys.
The Beefy Boys is a small-scale chain restaurant with only four locations across the UK: Hereford, Cheltenham, Bath, and of course, Shrewsbury. Very good going for a group of four friends who came together over a love of cooking, a wholesome start that reflects in the quality of their food today.
After we got seated by the extremely friendly staff, we got to work on deciding what we wanted. Beefy Boys is one of the few venues I have seen today that offer free refills on soft drinks, a very good offer considering the asking price of £4.25 with both myself and my partner getting three glasses worth out of it.
With food though we decided to be a little more indulgent. One of the main differences at Beefy Boys is that you can decide what kind of burger patty you want:
You can go for a standard smashed patty, which comes with two thin patties on the burger
You can go for a thicc patty, cooked pink in the centre
You can go “Oklahoma-style” smashed patty, which has onions pressed in during the cooking process
Or you can go for “Cali-Style”, which is a thick patty grilled in mustard – mimicking how the fast food chain In’n’Out do their “animal style” burgers
Everything beyond a smashed patty incurs an additional charge, but having the freedom to upgrade your burger however is a very nice touch on the menu.
For myself I got what is known as the Pizza Boy with smashed patties. This is a burger topped with pepperoni, marinara sauce, a big lump of breaded mozzarella, and served with a garlic and herb dip on the side. I am a lover of all things cheesy, and this hit the exact spot I was looking for when coming back to Beefy Boys.
My partner got the Bacon Boy with the thick patty and an egg added on top. Unsurprisingly, this burger contains a large amount of bacon, coming loaded with crispy bacon strips, bacon jam, and baconnaise. A solid choice for any porcine purveyors out there.
When it came to sides, we know from past experience to only order one portion of fries, as doubling up with the absolute majesty of these burgers leads to feeling extremely bloated… that said, an old special has now made a permanent home on the menu in the form of chicken kyiv fries – fries topped with chopped chicken strips, garlic mayonnaise, and garlic butter.
These are an extremely indulgent treat, but are oh so worth it. We finalised our sides with an addition I specifically wanted in the form of mac and cheese balls, which came with a little side of chipotle ketchup. These were crunchy, creamy, and absolutely divine when paired with the sauce, perhaps a little overkill considering everything else on the plate.
To finalise, we decided to get milkshakes as our dessert, which is where “indulgence” started to slowly eek into “overkill”. They were absolutely delicious, extremely thick and a very generous portion, but I had to stop at least twice during mine to contemplate what I had done.
Now, for the price breakdown:
Two refillable soft drinks: £4.25 each for a total of £8.50, where we both got three glasses each out of it
Pizza boy with smashed patties: £13.70
Bacon boy with thick patty and an egg: £16.15
Chicken kyiv fries: £12.50
Mac and cheese balls: £7.70
Biscoff milkshake: £8
Banana milkshake: £7
Total cost of meal: £73.55 8% service charge: £5.88
Total cost overall: £79.43
A very expensive meal overall, but hopefully the price breakdown shows the general impression of what you get for your money at Beefy Boys. Additionally, the service charge is discretionary, and you are able to remove it from the bill if you want.
But you should not. Not only because service staff definitely deserve the extra boost where possible, but also because every time we have gone to Beefy Boys the service has been immaculate. Staff are friendly, the food comes out promptly, and the overall atmosphere inside is fantastic.
It was a worthy date night out after two months of stress, and whilst the current situation prohibits doing it on the regular, I will definitely be returning to Beefy Boys.
Thank you for reading today, hopefully I have not made you too hungry – but if I have, I hope you can treat yourself to something indulgent today too. It is Saturday after all, and the week has been a long one.
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 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.
Good morning lizards and wizards, welcome to Day 8 of Rosalia Rambles Redundancy Review.
Summer is here in full force in the UK, and especially the humidity here is not doing me any favours. Makes it hard to focus during the day amidst everything else going on.
Not sure if it is because of the heat, but I am struggling to write this morning. Everything I do for the redundancy review is off the cuff, nothing is written in advance so it is all my personal thoughts and feelings written out online.
I think today might be a shorter one nonetheless. I took pride with how much I wrote yesterday but right now I just want to rest a bit more.
On the days I am doing well though, I can smash through writing like nobody’s business. You can find out how if you decide to commission me for writing work – would not exactly use this as a shining example, but you can check out other pieces in my portfolio if that would interest you.
The review section will also be shorter, but it will be covering my current favourite breakfast item.
Right now there is nothing better for me to start my day than a delicious buttered crumpet, and when it comes to branded bakery products in the UK my pick tends to be with Warburtons. A pack of six is relatively cheap from most leading supermarkets here, and they crisp up extremely well with my toaster on its “3” setting.
Whilst my preference is salted butter, my partner has a bit more of a sweet tooth and chooses to top his with Lotus Biscoff spread, making it a very decadent treat of an afternoon but one that tastes incredibly good.
In my opinion, crumpets are also versatile in their applications outside of being eaten on their own with a spread – several recipes exist for crumpet pizza online and I have even gone as far to use crumpets as the bread for a breakfast sandwich at one point in time, shunning the conventional muffin.
Short, sweet, and to the point. Sometimes it is good to stay in the habit even if you do not have much to say.
I hope you have a good day, please try to stay cool and relaxed wherever you are.
Warburtons Crumpets can be found in all good UK supermarkets.
Good morning slugs and snails, welcome to Day 6 of Rosalia Rambles Redundancy Review.
Part of what I have been emphasising in this series and my job search in general is the idea of staying in a routine – keeping to a regular wakeup time, having a regular breakfast, and writing this series of course.
However, I am finding myself wanting to adjust exactly what my routine entails in terms of sleep schedule. Thus far I have been trying to operate on what has been my average working routine, waking up at around half 7 to start doing things at 8 and working through to around half 4.
The issue with this is that I have lost the reasoning behind that routine. I liked coming in early at both jobs I have had because a lot of other people would start later than me, and having a longer amount of time before the daily stand ups started let me organise what tasks I wanted to get done before everyone else came in.
So I am doing a trial run of setting my alarm an hour later, and taking a more flexible approach in how I tackle the day in terms of what I get up to. Whilst I am eager to get back into work for a variety of reasons, there is no denying that I still have some degree of burnout from my previous roles and having some extra sleep each day will probably make me more effective at what I need to do.
In terms of the job search the main thing I am waiting for right now is waiting to hear back from a handful of roles I feel extremely passionate about. Considering how effective seeing people’s LinkedIn posts have been in finding roles I am interested in, it is actually paying off more to scroll the main feed and search out recruiters/roles rather than actually going to the “Jobs” section of the site.
That said, I am still available for writing work if you want to hire me. I can range from concise and to-the-point writing or developing a long elaborate piece that explains everything in minute detail – if anything I have written interests you, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Considering how warm it has been lately near where I live, and the temperature gauge on the fan in my room is reading a lovely 29 degrees Celsius, I think today’s review will benefit from being my other choice of hot weather beverage outside of a milkshake.
I fall into two specific categories when it comes to alcoholic beverages:
I can’t drink, on account of being on medication that is advised to not drink while I am on it
I don’t drink, specifically because even without the medication I am a goddamn lightweight
Outside of that, I am also not the biggest fan of the taste of alcohol – it always hits the back of my throat in an unpleasant way.
All this to say, I was absolutely elated when I saw the Asda near me had stocked Old Mout Berries and Cherries No Alcohol Cider. My partner introduced me to this stuff near the end of 2021 and, along with other no/low alcohol ciders, has become one of my treat drinks of choice.
Especially prevalent in the no alcohol version is a greater appreciation for the flavours of the fruit in the drink itself. Getting a pleasantly tart hit of cherry followed by the smooth & sweet flavour of raspberry makes each sip a delight, each component having its time to shine without an overabundance of alcohol.
My preferred way to have this is usually along with some kind of spicy food, with my top two picks being either my homemade chicken wraps paired with some kind of hot sauce, or an Asda Pizza Counter pizza topped with sliced jalapeno. I can not think of a better way to relax in the evening.
Think that covers everything for today. Thank you for taking the time to read my work as always, and I hope you are able to stay cool in the summer heat – treat yourself to something cool and refreshing.
Good morning friends and foes, welcome to Day 4 of Rosalia Rambles Redundancy Review.
Yup, I am going to be writing this even on a weekend, even if I did slip a little bit on my wakeup routine and slept in an extra hour.
There is not going to be any job search update news on weekends, specifically because I intend to try and keep weekends to myself unless a seriously good role appears that I will make the extra effort for.
Got plenty of mental state stuff to ramble about though, so I will launch straight into that.
What is taking its toll the hardest right now is the waiting, or as the title suggests, the uncertainty. Currently I am waiting to hear back from a handful of jobs I am pretty excited about, but also waiting for the government services to get back to me with news of either my redundancy payments or my unemployment benefit.
I have never been good at waiting personally, the sense of anticipation that builds when I know something is coming usually puts me into a state of limbo until the thing arrives.
Uncertainty is not just coming into play when it comes to waiting though. In general recently I have had a lot of self-doubt creeping in, both in regards to jobs and my writing. It usually comes as a result of tiredness and my brain becoming overactive in regards to how I perceive my writing.
In the end, I am doing this for myself more than anything else. Writing is a passion, and one of the best pieces of advice I have ever seen in relation to art in general was “don’t let it die inside your head” – which is my intention as I get back into the groove of things.
That said, I continue to be available for writing work. If you want fiction, fact, or fun topics covered with my writing style, please do not hesitate to get in touch. I would love to get involved with people’s projects.
So yesterday I reviewed some local food, and today I will be reviewing another local place but instead covering a cold, refreshing drink.
During lunchtime yesterday my partner decided to treat me out for a milkshake, and in Shrewsbury there is only one place we go to for it: Simply Sweet.
It is actually a fairly recent addition to the lineup of independent businesses in town, having only opened a year ago, but in that time it has become a firm favourite place for its varied offerings in terms of both milkshakes and desserts.
Specifically I usually go for what is known as an “Out of this World” milkshake: Milkyway, Mars, chocolate sauce, and coal dust. This goes down extremely smoothly, the mix of chocolate bars and ice cream blended together make a rich but not stodgy drink – especially welcome as the weather heats up.
I also have to give a shoutout to the owner as well, he is an incredibly genuine guy who always seems happy to see us as regulars, chatting happily about what we have been up to and how he is going with the business. His attitude about working for himself shows through in the quality of his work.
In terms of price, Simply Sweet does position itself more at a higher end, with my regular sized milkshake being £6.50, however I feel this price is extremely worth it given the quality of what you receive.
That covers everything for today, more concise for weekend reading. Thank you for taking the time to read today, and whatever you get up to today I hope you have a good one.
Good morning dalies and mentlegen, welcome to Day 2 of Rosalia Rambles Redundancy Review.
I kept saying to myself yesterday that now the hard part is ahead of me: actually keeping up with writing this every day and maintaining the routine. My therapist has always said to me that it takes 21 days for the brain to start adapting to a change, so I guess that is the informal goal for myself currently.
Trying to get back into my previous routine is definitely hitting hard as well. In the days before getting the official news of my redundancy I really slipped in getting out of bed at my usual time – got a delicious mocha next to me to help with shaking off the sleepiness.
The mood has shifted as well. Whilst in the immediate aftermath I felt a lot of relief of finally having the axe come down; I feel a fair bit of melancholy today.
All of my colleagues are insanely talented people who were absolute joys to be around, and while we do have a Discord server for us to stay connected there is a twinge of sadness about the lost potential of what we had become capable of as a company, especially as we were on track to do some amazing things.
In terms of my job search, I am intending to apply for a Producer role at Jagex today, working on their new game in the Runescape universe. Fully remote with travel into the office 4 days a year for team days, which sounds exciting.
Also sorted out both my redundancy application and Jobseekers’ Allowance application yesterday as well. Filling out government forms can be extremely demoralising and degrading at times if you ask me, especially when it comes to repeating information across both of them, but whatever can help keep me afloat whilst I find my next role.
That said, I am available for writing work of any variety still. If you need professional copy, script writing, or bespoke fiction I would love to hear from you and discuss your project – any experience would help me round out my portfolio and gain a better understanding of a wide range of clients.
Now, time for us to move onto the review.
“But Rosa! How are you going to ensure you have enough things to review for however long this series goes on?”
I am very glad you asked, strawman representation of my audience that I just made up. There are two main factors that are going to keep this series going as long as it needs to.
The first of which being that I enjoy a massively wide variety of different activities like cooking, card games, video games, music, films, and plushies. I often refer to myself as a “collector of fine things”, and these fine things will ensure I do not run out of topics for review any time soon.
The second factor being that out of all the things I enjoy, I am not above picking an extremely esoteric item to discuss, which segues us nicely into today’s review…
Yup, I am reviewing a pot of instant coffee today.
TrueStart is a brand I have only recently taken notice of, but upon searching out their story based upon what is written on the packaging they have quickly become my go-to instant coffee now.
For a brief background on the company, they are what is known as a “B Corp”, an accreditation designed to offer distinction to for-profit entities that are striving to have a positive impact on people and the environment, maintaining transparency and accountability. Considering the coffee industry is mainly dominated by Nestle, it is refreshing to see a company actively striving for change within that space.
That was partially the inspiration for making the switch to TrueStart Instant. I was a prolific drinker of Nescafe Azera specifically, and whilst it went down pretty smooth for an instant coffee I was on the lookout for moving away from the Nestle ecosystem. Cue a trip in Asda where their packaging caught my eye, and I put it in my basket – prompting what is now a permanent change.
Outside of the care and concern for the environment, TrueStart Barista Grade Instant Coffee is absolutely incredible in terms of taste and strength. As someone who primarily drinks mocha due to the flavour of standalone coffee being a bit too pungent for my taste, I still appreciate a strong hit of coffee within my drink of choice.
TrueStart definitely delivers this.
Additionally as well, at least in the Asda where I shop, picking out TrueStart products does not break the bank – especially compared to the prices of other leading brands, letting me enjoy a smooth coffee flavour whilst knowing my money has gone towards a positive cause.
I think that covers everything I want to talk about today, a bit more of a ramble than what I posted yesterday, but I hope reading it has made your day a bit brighter. Whatever you get up to today, I hope you have a good day. I know you will smash it.
Rosalia Rambles 