Several hours later, I was again forwarded a call from the same woman asking for me by name. She stated that the power supply had not fixed the problem and that her machine kept shutting itself off. It figured, while improbable, the new power supply might have been bad, so I grabbed another one and went to check the system out.

When I got there, she was typing away, saying it had come back on just after we had hung up. I told her that I had brought a new power supply with me and, to play it safe, it might be wise if I replaced it anyway.

So I replaced the power supply and fired the machine up. While it was booting, she fidgeted with the lampshade on a small desk lamp. Making idle conversation, she explained that she had just bought the lamp for extra light but that it usually caused bad glare on her screen.

Me: "You might try moving it somewhere else than right next to your computer."
Her: "Well, I like it where it is, and I just shut it off when I'm having trouble seeing the screen."
She demonstrated by reaching down and turning off the little red switch on her power strip.

Her: "See, see...there it goes again!"