I tried blobbing solder on there, but it wouldn't flow all around the pad...
So, I ended up putting a jumper line between the little ring for pad 3 and Pin 3 on the other board... Continuity checked good, so I tested it out..
Still didn't work. Needless to say I did fix a problem. Just not the right problem.
I'm concerned that If I de solder that LCD too many more times I'm going to need a new one.. The pads are starting to deteriorate..
I'd like to fix this problem, so if anyone else has it they'll be able to learn from my mistakes
So, my next step is to go ahead and jumper wire all the atmega connections to the pads on the LCD by-passing the header.
I'll still have the header soldered in, but just in case a pin is broken the jumper wire will by - pass it... Unless anyone has a better idea - it's the best I can come up with.
dcb - thanks for the encouragement - I might end up buying a premade MPguino from you if I can't get mine fixed, it would be a shame not to use the wire's I spent hours tapping into my car (tapping, routing, etc)..