[internic]

thanks blue blowtie. so an update, i pulled the fusebox and disconnected its 12" red lead from the positive bus on the engine bay firewall. i measured the resistance between that lead (i believe its the main fusebox +12 wire) and ground, and i get 30 ohms in all key positions. also, i noticed that if i jiggled the fusebox slightly, it would drop to 0 ohm. i then discovered that if i disconnected a connector at the fusebox that has two thick wires to it, one white and one black, it would not drop to 0 anymore.

i ended up tracing the 30 ohm resistance to the "tail" fuse/circuit, because if i pull that fuse the resistance goes back to infinite. any thoughts?