hello, all.
thought i'd have a chance to pop in at the Schaumburg soiree (sp?) on sunday. unfortunately, the VX was under the weather. went to start it up and... no go! wouldn't turn over (very faint) - sounded as if it wasn't getting any fuel. checked the fuses and found all were ok. proceeded to check the battery eye and it appeared to be ok (blue - per the battery sticker pic). i was stunned and thought - alternator.
came in looked up search here and at club vmag and found that others have had bad batteries even if it showed ok w/ blue eye.
went out and jumped my battery w/ my wife's Xterra, let it run for awhile, shut off/on a few times (would start right up) and came back inside. went back outside to start the VX about 2 hours later and again the battery was weak (wouldn't turn over).

i've got the original battery w/ less than 13k miles. i know these weren't the best batteries, but..

-can i confidently rule out the alternator (or still treat it as suspect?) and head to costco simply to purchase the battery or should i just drive over to autozone for a test of the battery and alternator? any risk in them checking these and damaging anything on my baby?

thanks to all and sorry for the rambling.

-jose