yeah, it just all came apart...
but i think i've figured out the solution already, just by sheer process of elimination.

what happened was that somehow in the process before the original overhaul, i lost one of the smaller bearings; so, when i went to overhaul and saw this, i went to the diy bike shop around here and grabbed a replacement... but of course i didn't bring any others with me, so it was the wrong size.

i put it all back together, not even noticing that it was a different size (it's hard to tell with all that grease!... and i'm sometimes a bit spacey...).

when i rode it, it just popped the dust cap off and started pushing the cones off. weird, yes.

but, i found more bearings that are the right size, and i'm about to put it all back in there, so we'll see how it goes this time.

and i did manage to figure out which bearings go on which side (i had it figured out originally, but when i started questioning myself and asking at the LBS, they made me feel like a dumba** and i took them all out again... that's when i posted here), and which cones should line up with which side (i also had that right.)...

long story short, i think i've got it licked, but now it's time to go put it all back together again and see for sure. thanks folks!