Yeah, I knew there was something suspicious going on.

I remember my trip to the Apple Store after my iBook had been zapped and how the first thing the feeble tech at the "Genius Bar" did was ask me if I had repaired my permissions. Nonsense. It would be a frail solution to a deeply-rooted problem at best. This article assured me that I knew that not all technicians know what they're talking about. Here.