Thanks for the hint on left shift...bitwise math is new to me (surprise) but I see what it does...moves registers of a binary number to the left so that 0000001 becomes 00000010, 00000100, 00001000...etc. Plus I can see how that would be useful when dealing with a seven-segment LCD, so thank you very much!
As to PROGMEM...I'll admit I lifted the majority of that sketch from here;
And it was very helpful in proving I at least got my wiring right...plus it's a complete sketch.~
However in the programming section here;
The author resorts to just posting snippets (boy, I see now how annoying that is!)...plus the links to the SevenSegmentASCII library on a different page. He doesn't mention putting it into PROGMEM, and since that's something I've never done before I'm hoping someone can let me know how to edit the commands so that I don't need to use it...
I was in the process of finding a way to read the addresses of my 7 segment LCDs when the power went down...with literally 15 minutes to run on the ten hour print on my 3D printer. I am grumpy this morning.
REALLY grumpy.