Well, I'm still persevering it seems. No CEL (and no start) this morning. Pulled the main relay, which should be called "pain" relay for how hard it is to pull an electical component, and a couple of pins were rusty.

So instead of shining it up and putting it back in, I decided since it's out I'll get a new one. Now I'm waiting on AutoZone store to store delivery.

I'm thinking that it may be the ultimate fix, since it explains both the intermittent problem and the "fixes" I used to use.

I'll keep you guys posted.