"Any sufficiently advanced technology...."

One Friday, I took my laptop to a meeting from 10-12, then returned to my office and reinserted it into its docking station while I went to lunch. When I returned after lunch and after my daily walk, there was no response. No lights, no sound; no response when I pushed the power button, or even if I held the power button down for five seconds — the usual fix.

So I dial up IT on the phone. “Hello, this is Lindsay. May I have your login id?”

“That’s V as in victory, E, L, L, E, N, G, A.”

“James?”

“Yes, but you can call me Jim.”

“OK, Jim, how may I help you?”

I explained the situation.

“What’s the number on the ID tag?” Lindsay asked.

I picked up the laptop, scanning all the various attached labels. “Which one is the ID tag?”

“Is it a T43?”

“Yes.”

“OK, here’s what you do. Take it out of the docking station, close it up, turn it over, and remove the battery.”

“OK, done.”

“Now, you’re going to turn it back over and press the power button ten times, holding it down one second for each time. Then you’ll press and hold it for 30 seconds.”

I laughed, but complied. “One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. OK, now I’m pressing and holding the power button.”

I checked my watch, while we joked about turning around in a circle three times and doing other arcane things.

“OK, that’s thirty seconds.’

“Now turn it over and put the battery back in.”

“OK, it’s in.”

“Now open it up again and press the power button.”

I did, and it’s been fine ever since.

(For the scientifically minded, apparently a circuit locked up, and repeatedly pressing the power button was a way of draining the capacitors.)