Corolla Daytime Running Lights- please help

A few days ago I had a shop replace a headlight, a fog light, and dome light on my 2001 Corolla S. When I left, the daytime running lights & tail lights wouldn't turn off even after I parked the car and removed the key. To get them off I had to disconnect the battery cable. Next day I went back and they said the problem had nothing to do w/ their installation and that whatever happened was just a coincidence. It took the dealer several hours to diagnose the problem as a short in the main drl relay. It was $450 so I did not have it fixed. The next day I drove the car ~10 miles and parked it. When I came back 45 minutes later to reconnect the battery cable the engine fan was going (it hadn't been doing that previously). When i connected the battery, for the 1st time since this trouble began, the lights did not come on. I started it and the idle speed was really slow (400-500 rpm). now when i turn on the blinker or headlights the car dies, whether i'm driving or parked. the fog lights will come on but they're extremely dim. the brake lights do work, though.

the battery and the alternator are both fine. i'm wondering if i can solve this issue by disabling the daytime running lights and rigging something so i can just have manual headlights. the dealership doesn't even know if the $450 drl relay replacement will fix the problem, so i don't want to just keep sinking money into a car that's worth about $5000 in good condition.
any suggestions would be most appreciated. this seriously sucks.
thanks,
Josh

My buddy is a mechanic and when my DRL hit the shits, he got the electrical from Toyota directly, and he said it is fairly costly to disable the system form the manual system. If you find another way thats easier, let me know some way or another. I am haviing problems also with my DRL again (about a year after having it replaced.) try shining a flashlight onto teh sensor inside the window there and see if that helps. lol

hey umm if your still having problems reply to this comment and then i can help u out just to make sure u still havin trouble.