OK, amusing sidenote to the Powerbook issue.
Since Carrie is a teacher, she has today off from work. So she volunteered to take my PB to the Apple store to get it fixed.
She just called me and said “Hey, I fixed your computer”. Apparently she tried to turn it on, and it booted just fine.
I was very embarassed. However, I had her power down and then try to turn it on again, which DID NOT WORK. I am vindicated!