This is just a post to check and see if my changes to the wordpress database worked OK. Turns out the default install of WP 1.2.2 (Mingus) fails to create a needed row in the wp-options table that allows the user to save an entry for the offset of GMT, which in my case is -06. Simple directions for the fix can be found here.
Now, at least, the timestamp for posts from this one forward will have the correct time on them.