The Mac? She is broken. This is probably the most broken it has been since I bought it. It boots, but only into single user mode. What did I do to so trash my wonderful laptop? I just updated it to the latest security patch from their website. As I've learned, this problem is not uncommon. How to fix it is much more complex.
I've learned much about to to boot in new and exciting ways to try to get it past the Apple logo and the spinning gear of death. But not, as of yet, how to get it to work completely. My best guess is that it loaded a new version of the kernel but failed to load the new versions of the kernel extensions. This is where most people would take their powerbook into the Mac specialists...and also where I tried. But it appears that they are fully booked for the next seven days and in order to set an appointment in advance I need to purchase their ProCare support product. So, it will be cheaper and faster to figure this out on my own.
Looks like I need to borrow my neighbor's Mac to boot from so I can complete the upgrade that was screwy on my laptop. I hope his is working. I have to buy a firewire cable to connect and boot from his machine, but it's a small price to pay since I can then use it for future issues.
I really don't think I'll buy a Mac again after this one loses its magic smoke. I enjoy it as a tinker toy, but even that has lost it's appeal. Next time I'll get a faster PC and install Linux.