I'm waiting for the coppers to arrive.
Why, you ask?
This guy:
Wico Command Control. THE joystick. It is THE joystick because it was my first. It was my Amiga's tendril through which it touched my life.
Now, that one's not mine. I'm too lazy (general state) and tense (current state) to take a picture of it at the moment. But that's what he looks like.
I bought him off of eBay. Slightly used, inside his original box with the "Fred Meyer" sticker still attached. Sweet, sweet bliss...
I've had good experiences working with eBay. Only one real problem until now. Back then it was just a case of the seller disappearing from the globe. No item, no contact, no refund. Paypal ended up paying me back because the super spy was too busy globe-trotting.
Oh, but this new character! He's a keeper!
It wasn't enough to have just one of those things shown above. I needed two. One for my WinUAE emulation setup and one for the real, live Amiga I bought four weeks ago.
(USPS broke my new baby's casing, but that's another story, and a sad one.)
Well, I should have been suspicious when I never heard a peep from this new seller. Not even when the FNG took an extra four days to arrive.
But imagine my surprise when I opened the box. Instead of a "nice" and "surprisingly good for its age" Wico, the most externally fine and internally busted Wico met my eyes. You should have seen the results Windows Controller Calibration spit out...
"This will never do," I thought. "The seller says he takes returns within a fortnight."
So I send off a message explaining the problem, and two days later send the broken thing away with a dishonorable discharge. And delivery confirmation.
The character got it back two days ago. "The numbers said so!" But what do I return from work--year-end inventory, hooray!--this evening to find?
An accusation of fraud.
Why, the cheeky droppings from a large-mouth fish!
Off to eBay Complaints I scampered (since it's Christmas, the only time I scamper) to declare my indignation.
The character responded with a threat of imminent coppers. Twice.
He's surely blustering, but I vacuumed anyway. And made the bed. And rearranged the liquor cabinet with the expensive bottles in front. And half-prepared crème brûlée so I can finish it right as they knock.
Now I'm sitting in my chair, taking care to not play video games so they don't interrupt my first experience with Outcast.
So.
What do you do while kinda-sorta waiting for the coppers?
EDIT: I found out about a thing. I couldn't justify making a thread about it, but here's to hoping someone sees this edit and plays it. It's an interesting idea that works very well: a reading man's platformer.
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