One more update. It's 12:20am on the west coast. I just had a chance to call UA again and ask why I'm not on the list online.
The agent immediately put me on hold and called a supervisor. Out of nowhere I appeared as #2 on the list. No "R" space is open and thanks to UA's ........ move of blocking access to it I have no idea when/if it opens before takeoff.
Mobile.com does show I'm #2 at this point. All the agent would say is there's a glitch in the system. No explanation for why I wasn't there or how she got me on the list.
-RM