I've completely filp flopped back to fixing the old bike. There's some pretty good wheel options in the $150 - $200 range. Probably not the lightest, but they should do. I'll not worry about upgrading. Minimally I need to replace the seat and do a tune up. I'll continue to use it as my urban "scout" machine.
Meanwhile, I'll keep my eyes open for a possible flat bar road bike find on Craigslist. I would still like to have something between my hybrid and road bike.
Anyways that's today's plan.