>>...My cruise control has 'gone away' and I don't know why yet....<<

  A quick & dirty place to start would be the brake pedal switch, I'd be
willing to bet that clutch & brake switches are the #1 failure point.

  There's supposed to be a white tab(?) that pushes on the switch
plunger. (imagine an upside-down thumbtack)   These things have a tendency
to dissolve, but that's no tragedy, because the switch can be adjusted to
where the switch plunger itself contacts the flat on the pedal.

  Be careful, as the threads on the switch are plastic, and the one on my
brake stripped-but that's another workaround.

Geo/ATL