sterretje:
Pleasure. And your last post gave me a bit of a smile
I live to serve and entertain! 
I also admitted defeat, broke down and sprung for a better and more conventional USB/TTL interface with more terminals and a FT232RL (real or imaginary) chip. With the onset of 99¢ (shipped) Mini 5V/16mHz clones, it seems like their compact size and economy may make them more attractive for some of my intended projects and worth an improved I/O.
Of course, the next thing on the agenda is locating a non-toxic FTDI driver for these FT232RL chips of unknown provenance. I have several Arduino-related and diagnostic devices with these chips which I have been reluctant to install for fear of having them monkeywrenched. A couple are relatively valuable and I don't want to see them bricked or addled.
I have a v2.10.00 driver set that I think should be safe, but I'd like to find some confirmation. For all the millions of posts about this flap over the past couple of years, I haven't been able to sort out this simple information.