Unless you have 1TH/s mining BTC or 40MH/s mining LTC you shouldn't be solo mining unless you really like gambling. The variance risk is too high. And if you like gambling just spend your pool earnings on Satoshidice or Roulette or something.
Yeah, and in my original post, I'd started off with a rant with a "I've already read all the hater messages about don't solo unless you blahblahblah, the point is to learn how this stuff works," ... hence the nick. I made this topic to seek help with a straightforward problem, not "don't solo mine" comments, as if that magically solves the problem I had at hand, i.e., a bitcoin sitting in my my gui, but not in my wallet.
That said, I guess A reply is better than NO reply? Oh well.