A little Problem

[kenlipo@domain.elided]

Hi all,

Made it to Colorado no problem. Long drive in a Scout. Met with Dave Cox,
a real nice guy. Discovered that my heater valve had rusted shut, tempory
fix was remove it completely. Now I have heat all the time :). 

Got one problem that is worrying me.  I have a strange ground problem (I
think). I drove to Mostrose which is about 45 miles away last night. When
I left, the lights were real dim. Thought maybe I was due for some new
contact lenses but then about 5 minutes into the drive, they brightened
right up. Drove into town, saw Mouse Hunt. Scout sat for about 2 hours. 
Well, on the way back, I stopped for gas (been doing a lot of that). When
I pulled out of the gas station, the lights went out completely, but the
engine kept running so I pulled into the gas station again, the lights
came on but real dim, then I decided to risk the drive back and then
almost immediately, the lights were at full brightness, maybe too bright.
Weather conditions: 20 degrees/clear. Any ideas? Could the cold be a
factor? I suspect a bad ground in the front somewhere but maybe a voltage
regulator? Could too much voltage be going to the lights?

Sorry about the bandwidth, but I'm 900 miles from home and don't want a
breakdown in the middle of the drive back this Saturday.

Ken