what a loose battery ground clamp does
 

the clamp on my battery ground came loose slightly just enough to lose some contact but not enough to have the wire come out, so it was unnoticeable, anyway the first symptom was my dash lights went dim then my alarm started to go off randomly and the car would just randomly not start or blackout completely and lose all power.

anyway after looking everywhere for a short or blown fuse i finally disconnected both + and - battery terminals and then i discovered the loose cable clamp and re tightened it. dashboard lights back to normal and starting problems are gone. just thought i would share this since electrical problems can be the hardest to troubleshoot.