Awesome friends! Thanks for all the input and advice. Vincent and crich, I saved everything. Hitch, I hear you. In hindsight, the vagueness of their reply makes me more uncomfortable than the initial vagueness. That said, if the stakes had been higher, I would've walked. And I decided very consciously (with a lot of help from you guys) to give it a go. Crich, I don't think I'll need the notary and mailing. Besides, I'm sure if need be, you'll all come to Chicago to testify on my behalf, right?
And gmw, your underlining that "we will then retain" points out that if it did ever become an issue, that they wouldn't have too much solid legal ground to stand on. But like you, I don't like it.
I'll keep you posted of any developments (if there are any) and THANKS AGAIN!!!