The warning "Be sure not to delete or modify the .htaccess or serendipity_config_local.inc.php files" was misread and misinterpreted badly and I did not copy the upgrade package "serendipity_config.inc.php file. Once I copied that file, everything went smooth as silk and no errors were reported. The ...

Close as I could come to the upgrade instructions leaves most everything working but none of the good signs and a couple of bad indicators:

The warning "Be sure not to delete or modify the .htaccess or serendipity_config_local.inc.php files" was misinterpreted badly and I did not copy the upgrade ...