A Little Self Indulgent Moan

I’ve been wanting to move away from the area I grew up in for quite a while now and it’s really starting to wear me down. I currently work full time, although the pay is very poor, the job itself is entirely reliable and for an unskilled worker, in the current economic climate, that is a fairly big draw. Unfortunately my low pay has left me in a pretty shitty situation where my monthly outgoings are basically equal to my income, meaning that I have no real savings to fall back on. Couple this with the fact that I also have financial responsibilities that require me to pay every month or risk forfeiting my claim to them, potentially losing a lot of money and any chance of ever putting together a deposit on a mortgage. What this means to me is that, in a very real sense, I live pay day to pay day and can’t afford to lose even a single months pay.

As it stands it appears as though I’ve been left with two viable options, continue in my current job and commute to work or find another reliable job in the area that I want to live in. Whilst both of these options look fairly simple on paper they’re not as easy as it seems.

Firstly the area that I want to live in is around 35 miles away from where I work and although this isn’t a vast distance I don’t currently drive, though I am working to change that. It’s taken a couple of years, but I’ve finally managed to adjust my budget enough to afford weekly driving lessons rather than waste my time and money buying them in blocks with, sometimes long periods of time between each block. Essentially this means that, for me currently, commuting isn’t really an option.

Secondly, since the Brexit referendum economic growth in Britain has plateaued somewhat, and in certain cases has even recessed slightly, meaning that less jobs are available, competition for jobs has increased and employers are looking to fill the available jobs more cheaply. As a fairly qualified and extremely experienced employee, whilst not being the most expensive, I would not be particularly cheap to employ. I would require to at least match my current wage, but would ideally be looking to achieve closer to the higher end of the average wage for a person of my level of experience. When combined with the fact that I currently don’t drive, I have a very distinctive style and appearance, and that I have a fairly lengthy notice period in my current job, makes me a somewhat less desirable candidate for most companies.

So where does this leave me? This is a question I find that I’m asking myself ever more frequently and unfortunately the answer doesn’t really change, I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place. I don’t have the money, or support structure, to simply quit my current job and move. Annoyingly if this was an option it has the potential to make me more employable due to no longer having a notice period and being available for an immediate start. I’m basically left with having to rely on either there being someone out there willing to take a chance on employing me or on my own ability to learn and the hope that I pick up the necessary driving skills quickly. Unfortunately I’m not convinced that either of these options are particularly viable, but they’re all I seem to have.

Coffee Shop Rant

Unless you're an espresso worshipper, and I most certainly am not, it seems like Birmingham is a bit of a dead zone on the coffee front. On Monday afternoon I tried several different independent coffee shops and not one of them could offer me a standard drip filter, a pour over or even a simple cafetiere for my trouble.

To be fair to one of them, Yorks Cafe on Colmore Row, they had simply sold out of filter coffee and whilst they did offer to grind some beans and brew a fresh pot, this was the last place I called, I was already running a little late for my train and I didn't really have the time to spare to wait. All the others, however, simply didn't sell filter coffee and could only offer me an 'americano' as if somehow a watered down, largely tasteless espresso is a valid alternative to a well brewed mug of old school coffee.

Don't get me wrong I understand that making espresso is almost an art form in itself, and that a half decent espresso machine is hugely expensive and that most of the modern fashionable coffee choices start life as a shot of espresso. What I don't understand is why refer to yourself as a coffee shop if the only coffee you serve is a variant of espresso, surely at that point you're actually an espresso bar? By a strange coincidence the only place to offer me the option of waiting for a fresh brewed pot of coffee is the only place, of the few I visited, used to identify itself as an espresso bar.

Next time I'm in Brum I think I'll pop to Yorks, and, if they're out of filter, I'll ask them if they mind brewing a fresh pot, I'll order myself one of their awesome looking handmade doughnuts, I'll sit in, wait for my coffee and spend a few minutes people watching.