Support pilot fish gets a call from a user whose computer won't boot. "Going through the basics, I quickly determined that it wasn't a boot problem, but probably something a bit more basic," says fish.

"Is the computer plugged in?" fish asks. Yes, user tells him. "Is the power strip turned on?" Yes. "Does the power indicator turn on when you press the power button on the computer?" No.

"Did you do a normal shutdown the night before?" fish asks.

"No," user says, "I just unplugged the computer."

Fish: "Why would you do that?"

User: "There was smoke coming out of the computer, and it quit working."

Fish: "So let me get this straight. Yesterday, the computer was on fire and you didn't call. Today, first you actually plug the thing back in, and then you call because you can't get it to boot?"

User: "Oh...."

Sharky knows there's always an explanation -- it just may not be a logical explanation. Send me your true tale of IT life, logical or not, at sharky@computerworld.com. You can also comment on today's tale at Sharky's Google+ community, and read thousands of great old tales like this one from the Sharkives.

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