>Did someone turn off the box without executing 'shutdown -h now' or 'halt'?

By the way, if someone did do that an excellent solution is to install ReiserFS. 99+% of the time it will prevent the loss of data when a power outtage occurs, or someone trips over the powercord, or accidently hits the switch and turns off the computer. (ext3 may be as good as ReiserFS, but I have no experience with it and can't say either way.) I do know that ReiserFS is very, very good.
JLK