what's the difference between these two methods? (aka, why doesn't one of them work?)

[JohnJSal]

Carsten Haese wrote:

> The fact that you were able to answer your own question only a few
> minutes later indicates to me that you should set your "I give up and
> ask the list" threshold a tad higher.

That's a perfectly valid comment, but in this case just not applicable.
I spent a lot of time working through my original question before
posting, but I just couldn't get it. It's not like I didn't try
anything at all before posting the follow-up, either. I just happened
to notice one more thing after posting.