I'm mainly concerned about carbon monoxide poisoning and risk of fire.
I would say get a moisturizing shampoo at a local drugstore like CVS or shampoo made specifically for helping with dry hair. Try not to use a lot of heat on your hair, I think it dries it out.
What the ****? And yeah, kinda.
loose linkage, needs new grommets, shifting into 2 gears at once?
either a bearing has locked up or the transmission has a broke gear or part in the transmission The broken parts in the transmission that has got in the gears and lock it up.. most likely you need to replace the transmission. It is possible to fix but could cost more that a replacement transmission . does the transmission have a leak and maybe has leaked all the oil out of it so that can cause a issue like you have.
