Heh, yea, I guess that was a bonehead move. I know enough to stay away from the little bits and pieces though, I kinda' just peeked in as far as I could without touching anything to see if I could pinpoint an obvious problem. But nah, it seems to just be fizzing out slowly. The funny thing is that my system is running 100%, no problems whatsoever.
I think we have found the root of the problem though, and I will replace it as soon as possible. I do appreciate your help.