# A curious parcel arrived...20 minutes ago. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 23, 2007, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-20-minutes-ago/423742 "2007-10-23T19:44:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-20-minutes-ago/423742/1 "2007-10-23T19:44:15Z")
Don’t want to bite [**Balance** ’s thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=440833), so I’ll give this one a home of it’s own. I just checked the mail and found a media mailer envelope. No return address, my address handwritten but with non-distinctive print. The postmark is from an area of South Jersey that I’m not really familiar with – I’m not aware of anyone I know living there, but someone from my past certainly could have moved there (that’ll become relevant). I opened it, and inside is a CD-R. Nothing written on the CD itself, but the case [has this slipped in it](http://www.sirblah.com/misc/mystery-disk.jpg). Now, I’m a tiny bit leery about sticking this thing in my laptop (not the smallest of reasons being that it’s not exactly mine – it’s company-issued). I’m reasonably sure it’s someone from my past who came across some old files or something, and thought I’d get a kick out of seeing them again. In the late-80’s/early-90’s, we were always forming an disbanding one “hacking group” or another, pretty much just looking to break copy protection on the latest Sierra game and pass 'em around on our ever-so K-Rad BBS’s. So, I’m guessing it’s something like that. Still…ya never know. I’m sorely tempted to toss together a couple of the old “spare parts” computers I’ve got around and see if I can get one working one going before I see what this is…we’ll see. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingCowOfDoom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyingcowofdoom/32/21776_2.png) [@FlyingCowOfDoom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingCowOfDoom)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-20-minutes-ago/423742/2 "2007-10-23T19:51:52Z")
Come on, be daring and just put it in the laptop while you hold down the Control key. It’ll be fine 😉 –FCOD ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-20-minutes-ago/423742/3 "2007-10-24T01:44:39Z")
This stuff is killing me. I _didn’t_ get my mysterious parcel from UPS. $46 brokerage fees on it! Argh. They will deliver to my office tomorrow. Forty-six friggin’ dollars. Grumble. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-20-minutes-ago/423742/4 "2007-10-24T02:41:16Z")
I never get mysterious parcels. I never get parcels. \ ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-20-minutes-ago/423742/5 "2007-10-24T02:56:52Z")
I get lots of parcels! But they’re never mysterious, I know exactly what’s in them. After all, I ordered them. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-20-minutes-ago/423742/6 "2007-10-24T05:39:58Z")
I got a mysterious email the other day from someone who wants to give me money. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-20-minutes-ago/423742/7 "2007-10-24T05:43:03Z")
I gota mysterious check the other day. $48.71 with no explantion. Should I booking my holidays in Nigeria this year? ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-20-minutes-ago/423742/8 "2007-10-24T18:14:14Z")
So, I said “hell with it” and put the disk in. Yeah, I was right – one of my old buddies. I got a loader screen congratulating me on “overcoming fear and common sense” in putting the disk in, and then long tale about how he was laid up with a back injury and bored with all the newer games that are out. How he longed to play some of the old-school games we loved years ago. So, he rigged up an app to play a bunch of those games on newer systems, and was sending me the results, along with a crapload of old, extremely fun games (as well as apps of yore that I miss so badly – I was just messing with X-Tree! :)) Mystery solved. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-20-minutes-ago/423742/9 "2007-10-24T18:30:32Z")
Sounds neat! Any Oregon Trail or Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? ---
**Author:** ![Auntbeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Auntbeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Auntbeast)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-parcel-arrived-20-minutes-ago/423742/10 "2007-10-24T19:24:54Z")
Sierra had the _best_ games. I’m so jealous.