I recently had to cancel my account. I finally got my finances straightened out and now I'd like to sign up again.

When I tried to signup with my old login I was told that username was already being used. When I tried logging in with that username I was told that username was invalid.

Can I reactivate that account or do I need to just use a different username?

I left and came back. Just add a number or initial to your
original name. That's the quickest way.

I am sure the syslop could fix it but why bother.

True. I realize that it's just bits, but it seems rather wasteful to me. Plus, I like my username ... I use it nearly everywhere. I'd always forget that it's not quite the same. :/

You could hop on IRC and ask one of the ops to (try to) sort it out for you. If you really want to keep your username that's probably the best way.

They took care of it. They noticed it and contacted me privately.

Linode support is the best I've ever worked with. And the service is top notch as well.