Disregard any misspelled words. They are intentional to defeat the annoying "key word advertising" Garden Web recently started doing. ***"No headlight, no nothing...."*** Have you checked to see if the fuse has blown? What amp fuse did you use when you repaired the damaged wire (in other thread)? "Arcing" and "shorting" are 2 very different things. Example: If the reg/rect was loose on its mount, and it depended on the mounting screw to give it a proper ground, it would indeed arc at the screw.........but that would not be a "short" because the current would still be following its intended path. Look the wiring over real good. From what you describe about smoke coming from the screen over the flywheel, I would say something has caused, or created a really bad short that has somehow fed batterry voltage back to the stator windings, and that is not something easily done. I can only think of 2 events that might lead to this. (1) Installing the battery with reversed polarity, even if only long enough to try the starter before discovering the error. (2) Reversing polarity of the jumper cables when jump starting. The possibility here is that reverse polarity can blow a diode in the regulator completely out (open), or it might cause the diode to short and pass current from the battery to the stator wiring. If the stator wirning is back fed from the battery, it tries to become a heating element. Having the correct amp rated main fuse usually prevents this. You might as well study the manual real close because unless you find a lesser culprit outside the flywheel, you will be removing the flywheel soon. And you are also gonna have to trace out and inspect a bunch of chassis wirning too from what this is turning into. Now, once again, do you have a multi meter?

Got my cat from local shelter at about 10 weeks old. At initial vet visit, she was treated for fleas... one of those tube thiings that squeeze out onto skin. At that time, fleas weren't a BIG problem... more of a preventative. WELL, about 6 weeks after I got her, my house was LOADED with them!?! June is 1st cat and totally indoors, so I was totally confused as to WHERE these critters were coming from. She likes to lay by screen door that opens to back yard and I thought maybe they were coming THRU the screen??? They are pretty teeny, after all. Vet said that most likely the few that she had when I brought her home hopped off and snuggled into carpet. Then hatched a few weeks later to cause all kinds of bedlam. She HIGHLY recommended a spray called Siphotrol. Had to vacuum the H outta every soft surface... mainly carpets... moving as much furniture as possible and immediately disposing of vac bag OUTSIDE house tied up in plastic bag. Spray did NOT require "evacuation" of house. Went down like those carpet cleaner sprays... upside down can and fine mist... not smell to speak of. Only had to "quarantine" kitten in bathroom for an hour or so until the spray was thoroughly dry... only slightly dampened carpet. Was told not to worry about any rooms in house that did not have carpet... like bathrooms or kitchen. Did this ONE TIME (over 2 years ago) and have not seen a single flea since. Got spray from vet. A little pricey (about $15-20 a can) but WELL WORTH IT... didn't even use entire can to spray livingroom, 3 bedrooms, hallway/stairs and diningroom.

Yes, the unfunded liabilities are going to be the death of Detroit. All they have to do is stop paying the GM or Chrysler or "Fords" pensions, and all of Michigan dies. Those pensioners have vacation homes "up north," where tourism is the whole economy. Actually, they just have to stop payiing for retirement health care and we get the same results. My previous DH's dad lost his pension when Jones and Laughlin (later, US Steel) reneged on their pension obligations to the northern Minnesota taconite miners. He got a fraction of what he was supposed to get because the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation had to take over paying the miners their pensions. He worked his whole life welding the mining equipment, built his home debt-free as he had the money, raised four children, and died gasping from the lung damage he got from his job. How well do you think the Pension Guaranty folk are going to do spreading the money around when it isn't a few miners and steelworkers, but several industries at once? What is dragging at the economy? Perhaps the unfunded war? The gears are grinding slower and slower and I just hope we have not already lost too much momentum. Has anyone else read The Sheep Look Up? Didn't John Brunner predict well how a confluence of errors and neglect could do us in? I'm just on a real downer tonight. DF-in-L went back to the hospital and is just not coping at all well with unexpected health problems.

"Turning off the TV may have been an option. Telling the kids that if they cannot get along while watching, no one will be able to watch for the next ____ amount of time" I don't agree with this theory. My DH will do this kind of thing, as well. I agree---if the kids are BOTH participating in the misbehavior then it's okay to lay down a consequence that affects them both. But you do have to be objective and if one child truly is the instigator, and the other child is trying to resolve the situation or is asking a parent for help to resolve it----then turning off the tv just punishes the child who didn't do anything, step or bio. I feel for you. I can tell you that in stepfamilies, whether people will admit it or not, there is a tendency to side with your own child or to be more lenient on him/her. I know I am guilty of this. What I have to do in these kinds of situations is make a CONSCIOUS effort to be fair. On the inside, the MOMMY side of me might want to rush to my daughter's defense...and there are many times that is how I FEEL. But I can't allow myself to act on those feelings. So--I think part of what you are experiencing is normal. I do think your guidelines are good ones. It IS hard to be completely impartial and fair and, for the time being, it might be better if you two DO keep discipline separate. Like you said, you focus on your child and let DH handle his two. Now, my DH and I have tried to do this, and the problem is--when you are all together and the kids are fighting, teasing, arguing...keeping it *separate* can be a challenge. In this case, I think your household needs to have clear-cut rules and clear-cut consequences for breaking those rules. Post them some place where everyone can see them. That way there can be NO denying them or accusing anyone of being unfair. For example: 1.) NO hitting/pushing/kicking or anything else physical. No excuses. It doesn't matter if he hit you first, doesn't matter if he was teasing you, etc. No excuses for anyone that gets physical. Automatic loss of _____ privilege for ___amount of time. 2.) No name calling And whatever other things you think there need to be. I also think the fighting in front of or around the kids is contributing to them not getting along. If they see tension betweeen you two, they will act that out among each other. I know it can be hard but really, you both have to make a conscious effort to NOT ENGAGE in front of or around the kids. Even if your DH starts arguing with you, bite your tongue. Tell him "we will discuss this later at an appropritate time" and walk away. Don't let him drag you into something. Counseling might be a good idea. It sounds like he could use some parenting tips, and you could both probably benefit from some advice geared towards blended families---as could we all, I know!