No check engine light, and absolutely nothing changed about the running of the car after the flat-ish battery and boost other than the speedo, tach, outside temperature, and odometer/trip odometer stopped working. They were working (at least the temperature and odometer were---engine wasn't running of course--but there was enough power left ) directly BEFORE the boost, so I think that there might be a fuse involved rather than anything else. Cruise control still works perfectly, so I'm thinking it isn't the speed sensor either, but simply the power to those specific gauges. Everything else, and the fuel temperature and gauges are fine. I'm using a GPS speedo emulator so I know how fast I'm going, and what the elapsed mileage is, so its important but not crucial.
I haven't gone so far as to go to a shop and pay $$$ to check out for hidden codes or the like, but am wondering if there might be something silly like a fuse that "looks" okay but isn't, and which one would that be? Under hood or behind the dash? I did pull out every fuse and look at them, but now realize I should have replaced each one, 1 by 1 with a known good fuse just to see if the temp/odo would come on. I was hoping to save an hour or so and my bad knees from someone who has done the exact same thing before:)