I don’t have anything to rant about (yet) but I noticed there wasn’t a December thread yet and I had an idea for a thread title, so there you go.
So you’re ranting about the absence of a rant thread, and the lack of anything else to rant about.
I feel your pain.
I like the title! Gimme some time, I’ll think of something to rant about.
Our power went out last night. The backup generator came on thanks to the repair guy fixing it last week, but the automatic switcher didn’t switch so it didn’t do us any good and now I need another repair guy.
First estimate for power to come back was 6am, but it didn’t happen until nearly noon.
Looking at job adverts. Each one says “Competitive salary”. That bullshit should be illegal. Tell me what you’re offering upfront and stop wasting my time.
Yeah, it rocks.
Mrs. Cheesesteak, having some issues with eczema, has finally gotten a prescription to help with the problem. It’s a cream, in a regular toothpaste style tube. Before getting the prescription filled, I check my insurance website (Cigna!) for the cost and it’s $387. For one tube of cream.
After I pick my eyes up off the floor, I decide to check GoodRx and they have a “coupon” that drops the price to $150.
Now, the rant here isn’t inherently about the high cost of medication, though I’m sure it’s less expensive elsewhere, it’s why is Cigna’s price more than twice the GoodRx price? My employer pays thousands of dollars a year to Cigna to keep me enrolled, and I can get a huge price reduction by downloading a free coupon. Hell, my pharmacist offered me the coupon when I called about picking up the prescription, I didn’t even have to download it myself.
Cigna has millions of members, many billions of dollars in revenue, and they can’t (or refuse to) negotiate a better price for their paying customers on a generic drug than a place that gives away coupons to anyone who asks. And it’s not even close.
We could always rant about the incessant XMas music in retail establishments, and the fact some stores have been selling XMas decorations since, oh, September.
But that seems a bit trite. We need something fresh to rant about. Sadly, I’m fresh out of rants.
I don’t celebrate christmas. Sure, its a distraction from the crappy Ohio weather, but I haz no one to buy for, no family. Hate the music.
Good title, and I’m sure we’ll be doing our griping soon. 
I feel you SuntanLotion. 
There was a time I was like that too. I spent Christmas alone for years. One year in particular my Christmas was spent scrambling to find anywhere that I could find something that resembled a real meal, because I had nothing but crackers at home. I eventually found a gas station that had a TV dinner with turkey, gravy, and stuffing. I was excited because it was similar to what would be in a real Christmas dinner. That was the highlight of that holiday season.
I have a wife and kids and stuff now so that’s in the past but I know how shitty holidays can be when you’re alone and I sympathize.
I was an only child, as was my son, now in heaven.
Man, Christmas is the worst time to try to become a minimalist. Temptation is everywhere.
This is actually my first time getting that interested in Christmas since I was a child. I guess because I have a kid now. We’re doing the tree, and some decorations, and I’m trying to think of holiday traditions that aren’t giving gifts. I am trying to be less materialistic, which is a struggle for me. I like stuff, and I particularly like new stuff. I also love giving gifts, and we’re limiting my son’s to four from us (something you want, something you need, something you wear, something you read.) It’s really hard to keep it that reined in! I want to give him EVERYTHING.
We still have no fridge. It was to be delivered today, assuming someone canceled, but nobody did, and tomorrow’s not looking great either. Current estimate is Tuesday.
I have this love-hate thing for co-ops. I like a lot of what they carry, and I hate that they refuse to carry things like processed sugar. But what annoys me the most about them is the attitude. What the fuck is that about? The local one’s cashiers are pleasant enough, but other employees not so much. Surly, curt and unhelpful are adjectives that spring to mind. And I’ve noticed this same attitude in other states and other co-ops. Is there a school you have to go to to learn to be assholish to customers?
I love Christmas as a winter holiday (my grandparents were Christian, so it’s a cultural holiday for me). What I don’t love is the same tired pop carols day in, day out, for a month, coming to an abrupt and screeching halt on Dec. 26, the second day of actual traditional Christmas. If I want to enjoy Christmas during Christmas, I’m made to feel as if I’m late to the party because everybody else got it out of their system during Advent or before. I like the idea of Christmas as a transitional space between the years. I wonder if people who are actually religious feel this way?
No.
For a sample size of one.
I have given up expecting anyone out there to care about Christian traditions or our odd church calendar.
And trying to explain it only makes it sound stranger: “Well, see, Christmas is actually the twelve days after Christmas…” “Yeah, okay, Pops, gonna try to explain Ordinary Time to us again?”
A few years back, I realized that the one way Christmas could bother me more was if I were Christian. If I understand correctly, the Lord so loved humanity that He sent His one begotten son to suffer and die so that we could attain salvation. I know roughly how we got from that to the modern commercialized horror we have today. But, emotionally I cannot wrap my head around it.
Misread the thread title as “Rent-a Clause is Coming to Town”.
I could almost hear the movie announcer in the trailer commercial:
“In a world grown lonely and cold, Santa’s turned into a Ho-ho-ho… bringing out the Oh-oh-oh!”
movie clip quotes:
“Oh, my back! My back…?”
“Here… use this ointment.”
“Where exactly?”
“Better use it all over. Santa’s been Naughty this year…!”
Yeah, that’s a great way to put that.
I grew up with preachers and parents condemning the commercialization of Christmas. But I finally decided to chill. Now, this Christian just deals with it by celebrating two different holidays simultaneously: The Birth of Jesus, and The Epiphany of Santa.
Meaningful candle-lit church service? You can still do that, no matter how much of it you believe.
Wild trip with the kids, after bedtime, checking out the best yards: electrified reindeer on the roof and inflatable elves (oh, that reminds me, gotta watch Elf*)! That’s a lot of fun, too!
It does sometimes feel like “The healthy mind accepts both truths and the contradiction between them.”
But let’s nurture our spiritual sides, and embrace our over-the-top secular sides as well.
*And don’t forget Die Hard.
I got a government form in the mail yesterday. I gave it a cursory glance (I had plans last night) and decided I would respond today. Having read it thoroughly, it says certain documents are due December 1 2022. There was no previous notice. I got a letter on November 30 telling me that forms must be received by the next day.