thanks!!
since I posted last, they were checked out. the concensus was that my timing belt is a little stretched... and I was due in the next two months anyway.
having said that, I have a little maintenance that I want to do, which will include some diesel purge and an intake manifold cleaning. my local vw club had a tdi intake manny cleaning get together recently and I missed it. Now I'll be doing it myself I guess...(&^%!)