I figured out the problem days after the original posting of this question and no feedback/replies/support from the community...
Plenty of people were happy to grab my code however. :
In any case, I dont see the point in keeping my wall of text up anymore.
Lessons learned in case anyone else has a similar issue...
Check to make sure all your ground pins have continuity.
It is so basic but so easy to miss, particularly if you have a power supply and PC both providing a ground path.