Reason not the need

Ahhhhhhhhh.

It’s so good to be back. No Internet for a whole week. Well, not at home, anyhow. And how I missed my blog…

As a result of the big move, the tech-savvy boyfriend unit wanted us to switch Internet providers (he needs more downloading power). So we called old provider (who is not Bell Canada), ordered a shut-down, called the new provider (also not Bell Canada)  and ordered a power-up. So far, no problem.

Then, a few days later, new provider called us up, said Bell Canada owns all DSL circuits, and there’s no room for a new one (confusing, really, since we’re already on a Bell-owned DSL circuit, just with another provider). Alrighty, then. Not the scenario we preferred, but there could still be time to salvage the situation. I call up the old provider, ask if I’m calling in time to withdraw my shut-down, they say that I am, so I figure that’s that.

On Monday, the problems begin. For a whole week after that, the boyfriend unit and I have no Internet at home, and for a programmer (his profession; not mine), that’s disastrous. All week, I’ve been on the phone with my Internet provider, who, unfortunately, was waiting for Bell to clear up the issue.

Note to lawyers: Do anti-trust laws protect us against a telecommunications company that clearly has a monopoly over all phone lines and circuits?

Living without the Internet wasn’t as difficult as all that. It was the principle of the thing: being told I’d called on time to cancel the shut-down; being told each day, “another 24 hours…another 48 hours”; and each day turning into a bigger lie.

As a once-ago political journalist, I’ve learned to be tenacious with these people. I’d call every day, twice a day, sometimes more. I knew it was annoying, and I wanted it to be. I’m paying for this service, damn it! My boyfriend depends on it to do his work, and on occasion, so do I. We can’t be given the runaround on this. They didn’t do their job properly, they admitted that it wasn’t my fault, but somehow, I was still paying for it. It was unfair, and the wait was unreasonable. I was more frustrated than I’ve ever been. Then one agent said (and I’m paraphrasing), “listen, lady, you didn’t call 9-1-1 and this isn’t an emergency.”

All this to say it’s been a hellish week, not because I had no Internet at home, but because I had to deal with those half-baked, lame-brained numb-skulls.

For now, the struggle has passed…mostly. Though we have Internet now, our high-speed isn’t as fast as it was. Bell is apparently on it. We’ll see if that causes more problems. If it does, I’m switching to cable Internet, despite my better judgement (I despise Videotron, its offspring, and its tech support; oh lord, how I hate their tech support).

In case things don’t backfire, the last week has allowed me to stew on the following blog topics that I can’t wait to address:

1. Reality shows are scripted by writers and performed by actors, and I have proof.
2. Advertising is not evil.
3. Things that make you a snob, and things that make me a snoot.

Until then, I’ll respond to my buddy AD’s blog entry on the importance of sexual attraction in a relationship: yup.

Chemistry is not love, and love is not always enough, but love without satisfying sex inevitably turns to distaste. So something’s gotta give.

Otherwise, my criteria for what I used to look for in a mate was once very complex: tall; lanky; preferably unkempt, shaggy brown hair; artistic; sensitive; watches a certain kind of movie; reads a certain kind of book; listens to a certain kind of music; and has known me for at least X amount of time before we started dating.

Now it’s simpler. I really dig it when he gets me and I get him, and when it doesn’t take too long to get there. That’s the best.