compiled! thanks so much! I won't know for sure if it really did the trick until I get the rest of it breadboarded up, but I will post back as soon as I know either way. thanks so much for all of the pointers at any rate. I am continuing to get more comfortable with this stuff, and I know there are a lot of basics I still need to understand, but working through this (or at least witnessing someone else do it) has helped immensely.