Note: Put all your DEFINE's in all CAPS. I make it a habit of putting the complete DEFINE in all CAPs. That way there's no question in my mind later on.

As far as the chip dying....Ya...you'll have that... Probably happened to every one of us once or twice...scratch our heads for days on end...asked a millions questions...questioned our own abilities (or lack thereof)...only to find out that the core of the problem is the core of the problem...
Go figure...