you just did *what* with my phone line?????

[jencat]

ok, so it's not great that i'm kinda thieving wifi from the only other poor soul on our street who leaves their network unsecured (cos, er, normally that's our thing) but dear god I'm incredibly grateful that someone else has as lax ideas about net security as I apparently do (i started out of compatibility issues but i had a workaround for that that I haven't reinstated for a couple of months, so now just out of sheer laziness, ho hum).

Mostly, obviously, because the thieving bastards over at Orange broadband decided to take advantage of my dad's complete ignorance of how broadband works whilst he was upgrading his phone, and basically hijacked our phone line for their crappy broadband (that I wouldn't pay for in a million years thank you very much).   I like my current broadband.  It hasn't dropped out once in 3 freaking years, which is why i was a little surprised when it went down completely weds evening, and didn't reappear.  Cue much time spent on helpline to Tier 1 call centre peeps who try their hardest, bless 'em, but frankly I can do everything they have on their little checklist all by myself before wasting time and money calling a national rate number...

The trouble was, because they aren't really allowed to think for themselves (and I had no clue that the conversation with Orange had taken any turn in that particular direction), we were completely working at crosspurposes.  I couldn't tell them there was a valid reason why there would be a line problem, so all they could work through were the hardware fixes... As well-meaning as he was, I really could have done without having to scramble up on a table to reach the phone master socket up near the ceiling downstairs and then magic up a couple of extension leads to plug the router in directly after getting in from work at 9.45 after 11 hours of NHS bullshit... all because call centre dude was convinced the heavy duty RJ cable we have running through the floor to where the router lives upstairs was 'non standard'.  I did exactly as asked and dug the crappy little cheapo cable they oroiginally supplied, wired the whole thing up yet again, and surprise surprise, still no fix. 

Next day we ran another line test before work, and finally id'd it might be that... after which I had to persuade my dad to call Orange back (because any conversation that implies he might have to take some responsibility for causing a situation is a non-starter, naturally).

Oh good god. Blathering on to Sky call centres all the next day at well, whilst hacking through another insane day at work... not conducive to my calm.  Round in round in circles... whilst Orange were being threatened with new and unusual methods of painful death, I got a nice email from Sky about how I'd apparently cancelled my account... *head/desk*
Orange put in a request to release the line (5 - 7 days). Sky promises to hook it back up straight away that happens. Orange then say they can cancel the request to hold the line in the first place.  My head explodes...

Still have no net. Nor likely to for a while yet.  I also haven't found a mobile upgrade I like yet, and honestly, after eleven years of being a ridiculously loyal Orange mobile customer, I am absolutely on the fucking brink of cancelling my contract altogether.  Their handset range is pathetic (nearly everything new is out of stock already) and right now they are just taking my money for absolutely no return.

ACK.
 
Obviously the only reasonable way to deal with this is by watching too much TV in an attempt to numb my brain to the sheer fuckwittery of the world right now.

*deep breath*
My personal tv channel (my old on-the-brink-of-expiring Sky+ box) is currently running...
House - season 7, cute and snarky but not exactly heading anywhere fast, yet again.

Burn Notice - season 3, because I can't be bothered to jump ahead any faster right now.  And, also cute, consistently funny with a penchant for big guns and blowing random shit up and nothing on this earth could stop my shipping Michael/Fi because they rock  - which was exceedingly cute this week, as neither of them is remotely capable of actually behaving like people who have kinda admitted they've found The One without actually being able to ever say as much. Obviously gunning down evil spy agent guy who could fix the burn notice was as romantic a declaration of everlasting affection as you'd ever see from Michael (he did kinda try to say it a couple of times with actual words last series, but a bullet through the heart was sooo much more literal).  And this week we had an absolute classic - Michael and Fi spending an entire night together, totally unprompted by anyone nearly dying - it was weirdly normal, for those two. And obviously adorable.
The fact that it seems to run through the motions a little sometimes (is there no limit to what Sam can obtain by 'asking an old buddy'?? seriously? What Mikey wants, Mikey gets.) is beside the point really - I like the characters, and they just keep doing exactly what I want them to - mostly, being awesome (see also: Leverage.)
It's basically televisual comfort food, with extra-tasty toppings of Bruce Campbell and Sharon Gless.  Me like.


Leverage - season.. two, just ended. Which also loses me for chunks of episodes sometimes (it's ok guys, i just read when that happens), but is absolutely made worth it by Parker/Hartison, Nate/Sophie, Parker being sweetly sociopathic and any occasional flashbacks to Elliot's BadAss Past.  The plots are often bobbins and rely on great leaps of coincidence, but they do temper out the necessary gigantic great doses of sentimentality fairly well (Hustle, the inspiration, which was clever and funny and had far fewer eps way back when, didn't tend towards the sentiment at all, being far too busy being twisty and glib and trying to wreak some morality out of being actual scammers.  I did love the first few series, but losing Mickey and then Stacey in alternate series has killed it a little bit, in all honesty and I've kinda quit.)

Castle - lemme think... season two.  Honestly, who can resist Nate Fillion in anything, I ask you?  It's perfectly twisty police procedural, made tasty by his preening, wise-ass and exceedingly rich author.  Stana Katic just about keeps it all in check.. it's not exactly deep and meaningful, but it does make you smile.

Chuck - season four.. which is fine, I've been a big fan since watching the first ep (1996, a motel in... New Hampshire, I think? Or was that Daisies??).  It's fine, and good fun, but not exactly must-see right now.  I've left a couple weeks worth of eps sitting unwatched at the mo...

Medium - aw, I actually don't know - five, maybe? I'm so pathetically grateful to Living for buying it up and showing it with some promotion at a decent hour that I'm not even keeping track.  Every week Patricia Arquette has an outstandingly bad dream, the writers drag some fantastically twisty and unpredictable crime out of the box, Alison never learns when to speak up/keep schtum about what she knows, everybody else never learns to take notice of what she's saying.. and it's fantastic, nastily dark and endearingly sweet all at the same time.  The family dynamic is one of the best onscreen and it's all just.. Dammit, there are whispers of cancellation yet again (this show has hung on for so many, many years of threats now though) and with Sophia Vassilieva leaving, I am actually bracing myself for the next series being the last and believing it now.  One of the best things on TV, in my book.

Nikita- well, who knew this actually had some legs? It's seriously not perfect, but I'm still intrigued and invested in the characters (and, ok, lots of mostly-nekkid Devon Sawa was selling it this week - payback for all the Maggie Q skin on show earlier?).  It's trying hard to be twisty - perhaps a little too twisty this week - I seriously still have no idea exactly what Michael did/thought was happening during the 'test'. And the Wiki entry seems to think that Owen 'cleaned' Daniel because Daniel was Division too?? That sure as hell wasn't what I heard him say, and, also, makes no sense... It did mean Maggie Q got to act a little bit though, teehee :o)
Alex/Thom are kinda cute though - although, would the characters who are going on about how scary Division is please pay some attention to the fact they're giving away lots of stuff that can and will be used against them.  Still have no clue exactly how nobody is noticing the (absolutely necessary to the plot) messages Nikita and Alex are exchanging - really, that's a secure line, and it's not raising any alarms? Also, Michael's touchy-feely crap with Alex is making my skin crawl, please make it stop!!