Thanks for that - I just realized I was a little vague on the actual issue. I was careful to use the term soft-brick because I knew the bootloader could be reinstalled easily. The last straw was having that happen during an already long struggle with a "bad magic number" error. The good news is that after a good night's sleep I pulled it out of the trash, reinstalled U-boot, and tried the updated instructions.
They worked perfectly and this unit narrowly escaped the hammer I had positioned nearby in case it failed. I'm kidding there was no hammer. I hear you about the lack of contributions and I agree. I think that's partly why I had such a hard time. Although there is a wiki and the instructions have been updated, I think perhaps there's still room to improve clarity for new users. I'd be happy to contribute either way.