You are going to get me converted to those PICs yet! 
But, I think I just learned something here too! Rod has this working, it doesn't work here no matter what I do. I didn't think there would be that much difference in the 556s, but now I'm not so sure. At least I am learning about how transistors work, or maybe that should be how they don't work! I happened to remember Stan saying something about one of these circuits, and when I came back to look it just happened to be this one.
The PICs really do have my interests up, but the data sheet on just that one chip you suggested is 436 pages long! I was just looking at the new Atlas signal stuff they are doing and the board they have now looks like it may have a microprocessor on it. Couldn't tell for sure, but maybe could have even been a PIC? And as you have pointed out, there didn't appear to be a whole lot of other stuff on the board, but sounded like it did quite a bit functionally.
