<Makes you wonder why they amended the claim in the first place>

Typically it would be to overcome some prior art that was impacting what claim 9 said before the amendment. Don't know if that is the case here, but believe my typically holds true. Might be worth looking into. See what prior art was used against claim 9 in some of the earlier office actions which may have prompted the amendment. Perhaps I'll look later this evening while my sweetheart is in the kitchen perparing for tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving One and All,

Opty