The Computer that Would Not - The Computer that Could Not Monday morning I sat down at my desk only to find that my lifeline to the world (my computer) would not work. Everything I have done, everything I need to do, and everything others want me to do was stored inside its silicone memory because my memory is so bad. It had been acting a bit strange for a few days, but there was nothing specific I could put my finger on. After removing the cover I poked and prodded, but there were no tender points. I flipped all the right switches, but it was slow to start up. It was plugged in, but it didn't really act plugged in, at least to reality as it is known by a computer. It didn't seem to remember where to find any of the data it needed to get going so I took out the disk drive to take a look. There was nothing to see, or at least anything that I knew anything about. Using some analysis software, I took a deeper look, but still there were no signs of anything wrong. Then I ran a virus program only to find that it couldn't find any more than I could. All my work seemed to be gone. My plans were gone. My life was on hold until I could get it going again. I just shut it off and came back a little later. The screen just flickered and looked sort of blurry. I gave it the command to go to sleep, but nothing happened. It just sat there not knowing what to do next. Finally I unplugged it. I couldn't see anything wrong with it so I figured maybe it doesn't really have anything wrong with it either. The next morning I tried waking it up again, but it still wouldn't get going. Finally I realized - maybe CFIDS is transmissible to computers! l the data I could from the hard drive and then did something drastic - something you can only do to computers; I erased ALL its memory and reformatted its drive. Bingo! It got up right away, without even a second thought. Nothing more was needed - no shock therapy, no herbs, no expensive treatments, not even any time on a comfortable couch - nothing. Finally I put only the data I wanted back into it because there is nothing worse than a computer that knows too much - that is, other than a noncompliant computer. At last, three days later, my computer was up and RUNNING again! Finally I had found a successful treatment! I sat back proudly as I gazed into its pixel eyed monitor and thought, "Oh baby, you not only look so healthy, you act so healthy." The big question is: is it cured or just in remission? Or maybe there was nothing really wrong with it. © Friedlich, 1994 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED from The Chronicles of CFIDS: One Patient's Forum johnobf@tiac.net johnhf@aol.com [ Table of Contents | Action Page: how can I help? ]