Troubleshooting with a screwdriver

Imagine, if you will, a perfect hassle-free world. My Logitech Wingman Rumblepad, the one that I use to play NBA Live 06, is not functioning well. Its 'R' button doesn't seem to be responding. I'd call technical support and they'll probably tell me to bring it over to one of their satellite stores or service centers. They will ask me to return in a few days to pick up the repaired unit, for a small fee of course. Then, I will be merrily playing my PC games ever after.

Back to reality.

First, I find out that Logitech has no service centers in the country. I couldn't return the unit to Villman since the warranty expired months ago. I'd rather not wait for an indefinite amount of time for them to have it shipped somewhere else to have it repaired. Lastly, I'd rather not be told to just buy another unit or an even cheaper one and thus render this controller 'R'-less for eternity (since this was so expensive to buy in the first place).

Fortunately, the butingting [can anybody translate this?] genes of my father, and his father, and his father's father (and his father's...) , kicks in just in time before I think of giving up. There are screws at the back of the controller; therefore, the solution lies in the screwdriver.

My experiences with using a screwdriver started with my cousin teaching me how to switch G.I. Joe heads and limbs by removing the one screw at the back that holds it all together. Doing this to Transformer toys were too advanced for me at the time. Good thing I skipped that part and I had moved on to replacing PC parts when I got a little older.

So this controller was relatively simple to dismantle, except for the middle screw that was covered in a rubber "screw-cork" behind a "QC [quality control] passed" sticker. That was the point of no return. If I remove that sticker, they may never accept the product to be repaired or replaced.

I did it anyway, and I removed the cork to with another screwdriver. The problem was that the little foam that pressed the "real button" on the controller wasn't aligned because the adhesive that was supposed to hold it in place caused it to slip due to overuse (I guess).

Now, all is well, and all that took was a screwdriver and a little determination. But the real lesson was: before you even start to complain, do the damn thing yourself first. It's really very satisfying to know that you've beaten the red tape just because you tried to do it yourself.

[Disclaimer: lesson does not apply to all things. Do not try to fix anything that bites, sparks or causes infertility.]