Merry Festivus! Airing My Grievances 2024

Bah humbug to cookies, extreme weather words and why no one has a job anymore.

Merry Festivus to all who celebrate!

For those who don’t know, the alternative holiday “for the rest of us” was made popular on the American TV show Seinfeld. And now it’s time for my favorite part: the Airing of Grievances for 2024. This is when I take a break from the usual travel stuff to vent about what’s been bugging me this year.

I could not find a Festivus pole in Slovenia, so I asked Santa to help me out.

Topping the Naughty List: Cookies

No, not the tasty treats your grandma used to bake. I mean those annoying “accept cookies” banners on every website that warn you that your personal data will be harvested if you dare to click on any content that looks interesting.

I love it when there’s just one button to “reject all.” But there’s a place in hell for anyone who makes me go down a long list of vendors who claim to have a “legitimate interest” in my data. Even Elon Musk is with me on this. Please, just let me read the story in peace. Extra bitching points if it turns out to be behind a paywall and you made me go through all of the cookie nonsense for nothing.

Photos of My Junk (Mail)

Speaking of Elon Musk, I’m totally on board with the idea of the DOGE cutting wasteful government spending. Many have suggested privatizing the money-losing US Postal Service but I’ve got a specific cut in mind. I get a daily email from USPS that shows pictures of the junk mail I can expect to land in my neighborhood mailbox (along with the occasional legit letter or invoice).

I must have opted in to receiving this at some point, but if the postal service doesn’t have anything better to do than photograph my junk mail and send me emails about it, time for a serious budget cut. Better yet, let’s save some trees and eliminate paper junk mail completely. That’s what my email spam file is for.

Bonus points for when the junk mail is from — guess who?— THE POST OFFICE! Printed, scanned, photographed emailed and sent to me with my own tax money.

New Weather Words

I was raised to believe that it’s impolite to talk about money and politics, but safe to talk about the weather. Not anymore. People seem to have a problem with the idea that summer tends to be hot and winter tends to be cold. Why just have a storm when you could have an atmospheric river, bomb cyclone, snownado or a polar vortex? “Extreme weather” made the short list for dictionary.com’s word of the year, never mind that it’s two words. Blame it on climate change, or don’t. Personally, I blame TV news producers who are trying to get their dwindling audience to stick around for the forecast. Bomb cyclone on the way! Right after the break.

Bathing Suit Blues

Ladies, we all dread the trauma of buying a bathing suit. It used to require try-ons in department store dressing rooms where the lighting was designed to spotlight every inch of cellulite (not that I have any). Retailers doubled the misery when they decided to sell women’s suits in TWO parts, and charge twice as much. Perhaps helpful if you aren’t the same size on top and bottom. If you’re an old-fashioned gal who still goes to the store, they never seem to have the matching top and bottom in whatever size you need. Same to the online sellers where the matching piece is always out of stock. Bathing in the buff wasn’t an option when I checked out the most famous spas in Iceland, so I settled for a one-piece.

No One Has a Job Anymore

At least no one under 40. Instead, they have been hired for a new “role.” Employers advertise new “roles” on their websites, as if they’re casting actors for a movie or a play. And isn’t playing a role a lot more glamorous than a boring old job? The kind where you do actual work for a required number of hours to get a paycheck? Maybe you could win an Oscar for your starring or supporting role. Extra points if the role doesn’t even require going to a workplace. I mean, actors theoretically have to show up on the stage or set, don’t they?

Me doing the job of a journalist but also playing the role of a journalist on the TV Show Pushing Daisies.

And when I’m feeling depressed, there’s a quick way to cheer up. I just go to Linked In, which is always filled with people who are excited, honored, thrilled and yes, even humbled to announce their latest roles, even though they are not actors.

So Merry Festivus to all, no matter what role you will play in the New Year. I’ll be over here on Substack braving the bomb cyclone in my one-piece bathing suit, reading my junk mail and munching on cookies.

Coming next year on Strangers in the Living Room: Back to the wide world of travel. And if you’re one of those people thinking about ditching the USA for life in another country, I might even have some news you can use. Don’t be a stranger!