Electrical problem with the Rectifier. Lost it's internal ground and can not "tell" the alternator to produce the amps needed to operate much more than the head lights. Simply run a wire from one of the screws that hold the rectifier to the engine block and ground the other end to the frame. Problem solved. Common problem with Command and Courage engines. I have saw countless people waste hundreds of dollars trying fix this very problem when all is needed is a piece of 14 Ga wire.

It's Susan in SB writing. It's good to hear that Beth and Kate are okay. I read this thread before I went to bed last night, and worried for Beth. The whole fire thing is absolutely crazy when it's so near to you. Our really scary time was last week on Weds, Thurs & Friday. Flames up on our close hillsides, a huge amount of ash (like it's snowing), evacuated neighborhoods a few blocks away. Lots of power outages from Weds through Tuesday. We were packed and ready to go. Saturday & Sunday much better on the fire containment. Now we're good, and I think Beth's fire may have become the state's #1 priority. Fingers crossed for everyone. We came within two blocks of losing our (then) home back in 1990 in the Painted Cave Fire in Santa Barbara. That was way worse in every way. 600 homes burned in 90 minutes, one woman died. But it was like 105 degree temps and 60 mph sundowner winds blowing. Just to use as a comparison. We were very lucky in terms of the weather with this one. I say I'm Susan in Santa Barbara, so people know where I am, b/c no one's ever heard of Goleta, but now an awful lot of people have heard of Goleta! Thanks so much for your concern, and much love to everyone, especially those in the path of the fires. Susan

I just got off the phone with Angie's DH-he said her Dr. thinks it was either a massive stroke, heart attack, or embolism. They are doing an autopsy this week. I have been in a daze today, I just feel so awful. Thanks for all your kind words.

Kitty, I understand you no longer feel hurt... it was a passing moment worthy of note - don't worry about how you felt then or feel now. At any rate, I was out at a restaurant Sunday. As an acquaintance joined me, she was handed a flower by the staff. I'd already been seated, no flower. Suddenly, the staffer gave me a rose, too, wishing me a happy Mother's Day. "But I'm not a mother,", I immediately thought, and wanted to hand it back. But I'm not one for a scene, and besides it was actually quite pretty. So I thanked the waitress, and after she left, I noted, "ah, I guess being a cat - mom must count?!" (I had a hysterectomy at age 31, and while I regretted being childless when my brother had two daughters, I'm fine about this now. For me, Mother's Day is simply remembering my own mother, and acknowledging the full and largely-happy life she had lead.)