I would advise to post this either on the META Forum or, more directly, to send an email regarding the problem to Morrus or Piratecat. IIRC, this kind of problem has been dealt with before.
I verified your problem, and I've emailed the current chimera. You'll have your old name back as soon as I hear from him or her; I'll email you when that happens.
Thanks PC! I've been using that name since the mid-80's in one form or another. As you can see, I was oh-so-imaginative in trying to come up with a new one.
I had a few username issues after the move to the new Boards also...although mine stemmed from deciding to change my ID. Nonetheless, PC and morrus were very helpful in bringing about a pleasant resolution.
On Vacation, man! I wasn't really gone all that long. Been back a little while but had some problems signing in! There was a little thing with a changing e-mail address (I changed ISPs) that caused me some confusion. I thought it was a simple password issue, until I went and looked for my name and found it....occupied.