Despite having multiple and redundant electronic devices in my office and home (so, theoretically, backup machines standing by), I often find they will all go wonky at about the same time.   It’s as though one week my body is suddenly emitting an invisible electro-magnetic force-field that zaps everything I touch.   So, instead of getting by on my backup machine, while I fix the main one, I end up with twice as many machines to fix.   Sometimes -- usually frustrated, low on caffeine and/or sleep, and in the middle of a painstaking (and so far completely unfruitful) troubleshooting session -- I’m tempted to blame sunspots, solar winds, or quantum flatulence.   Except you’d expect such a phenomenon to cause global electronics failure, rather than being localized to my immediate vicinity.

 

Or am I just that powerful a vector in the cosmos?   Does anyone else find this to be the case?   Or is our perception of problems magnified by our feelings of frustration?

 

Of course, none of these “theories” has ever helped me solve one of these problems.   Except to whatever extent the imaginary blame is diverted away from the machine(s), lest I be tempted to take a sledgehammer to the infernal contraption.

 

So, how do I fix stubborn and mysterious electronics failures?   With the holy trinity:

 

Prayer.   Searching the group mind (appropriate online resources and forums, knowledgeable friends, random perverts in public chat rooms).

 

Diligence.   Step-by-logical-step troubleshooting.  

 

And the Holy Spirit.   Searching the inner mind: sleeping on it.   Never underestimate the power of sleep born intuition.   Doubly so, when your frustration births a righteous faith in the glory of the Sledgehammer Diagnostic.