I'm back from my high school reunion. There were, as I had expected, a bunch of old folks wearing too-tight football jackets. Some of the attendees were too tight, too, even without a jacket.

In a minute I'll tell you what this has to do with computers, but hang with me for a while.

The reunion was held at a state park lodge in Arkansas. My wife and I got there hours before the event was supposed to start. But some of my old classmates seemed to have gathered by the giant TV in the lobby, watching Arkansas Razorback football.

I waded into the the crowd. I didn't recognize anyone, but that didn't surprise me. After all, I'd changed a little, too. They remembered a redheaded guy with freckles, not some bald guy with fringes of gray.

It was a little unsettling, but there was only one thing to do. I jumped right into the crowd with the enthusiasm of a car salesman after too much coffee. I began hugging folks at random, shaking hands and telling everyone I met that they hadn't changed a bit. I figured lying was the kindest thing I could do.

Like I said, I didn't expect to recognize people after 40 years. But it was sure strange --- especially since we were all from the same small Arkansas town --- that I didn't even remember the names, either. Unfazed, I continued. I was determined not to show my senility any more than necessary. So I continued to hug and shake hands for 15 more minutes.

Finally, after a particularly enthusiastic hug, a woman said: "Are you sure you went to Hope High School?"

I went to Arkadelphia High School. I guess they don't hug that great in Hope.

As luck would have it, there were two reunions being held at the same lodge. But it took me nearly a half-hour to figure out my mistake. I was in the right lodge, on the right day. True, the people I met were there for a high school reunion. But all the evidence supported the wrong conclusion.

I believed the evidence without bothering to first ask the obvious question: "Is this the right reunion?"

That's where computers come in. I can't tell you how many times some coincidence has made a fool out of me while working on computers. Instead of checking the obvious, I followed the evidence down the wrong path.

There was the time the sound went out on my stepson's computer. I worked on it for nearly an hour before figuring out that the volume control was turned all the way down.

Years ago, there was the case of the computer here at the newspaper that wouldn't dial in to connect. That was before we had high-speed connections and used dial-up modems.

An editorial writer had called me to ask for help getting the modem to work. I tried everything I knew before giving up. Well, I tried almost everything. The one thing I did not do was to check to see if the modem was connected to the telephone jack. It wasn't. Editorial writers really do live in ivory towers.

I know both stories make me sound stupid. And you could find plenty of people who think that's true. But it's also a fact of life that --- when something goes wrong --- even smart people can ignore the obvious and make wrong assumptions based on faulty evidence.

Remember this one bit of computer wisdom and you'll be miles ahead of many professional computer technicians: Don't jump right in with complicated fixes.

Instead, check the most basic things first, even if all the evidence points in another direction. If we were talking about auto repair, that would translate to, "Check to see if the car is out of gas before overhauling the engine."

Let me give you a quick checklist of items to try before you get into anything very complicated:

> Make sure all wires and cables are plugged in, and all the switches are turned on.

> Be certain you're following the right procedure before assuming the computer is broken. Even if that means reading a manual.

> If you're still stumped, turn the computer and its devices off and then turn them on again. Don't ask me why this works. Just take my word for it --- it often does.

> When none of that helps, take a short walk. Or eat an apple, or read a book. The mindless panic that a computer disaster causes can reduce your IQ by 56 points, according to a recent study by the University of Lower Case.

> If you're really stumped, remove all power connections, carry the computer to the back seat of your car and drive it to a repair shop.

And if you're as scatterbrained as I was at the reunion, maybe you should double-check the sign outside the shop to make sure you drove to the right place. Taking a computer to a laundry or sandwich shop will just make things worse.

tecbud@ajc.com