two good things

1. The third-party seller got back to me. It was (they said) an Amazon warehouse error; they told me to keep the balls and they would refund me the price. So that's probably the best outcome I could get.

I won't re-order to try to get the right thing 'cos it sounds like Amazon donked that particular lot up; I might, if I want to get a lot of tiny high-bounce balls, go through "Oriental Trading Company" (though I JUST stopped the barrage of catalogs from them that you get if you order, so I don't know.)

2. One of my recent purchases came. This is from a shop on Etsy called Finds and Farthings. Mostly jewelry made from old or International coins....I have a number of pieces from them and I like the jewelry and have always been happy with their customer service.

It's an Irish 20-pence piece with a horse on it, turned into a pendant:

And the reverse (I assume the horse is the "head" end of the coin):

They had a couple years available; I chose 1999, because it can mark the anniversary of when I started teaching here (fall 1999). I think either this year or next I get my 20-year-service pin from the university (I think they still do that; I have one for 15 years somewhere here) but this is kinda prettier and more meaningful to me as a way of marking it. (Also celebrates the 20th anniversary of my earning my Ph.D., which is somewhere right around now - I can't remember exactly when I defended; I should check the dissertation in my office tomorrow to know for sure. If the anniversary hasn't happened yet, maybe I should take myself out for dinner or something to celebrate....)