Dryer is fixed. It turns out there was a complete blockage in the vent between the dryer and the wall. Luckily we have a crawl space underneath the house where they could crawl (thus the name apparently) while wearing knee pads to remove the joint in order to unclog it of years of disgusting and now wet (!) lint. God bless them one and all.
I found it interesting that the dryer repair man and all three vent cleaner men commented on Big Dave and his energy level, i.e., "is he always like this?" Oh yes. The various tools gave him something to comment on, but Dave would have found something regardless. His latest is pretending Claire isn't really at school and then we get to search for her all day behind the couch, in her bed, another room, blah blah blah, you get the idea. Dave's days of not talking are clearly behind him!