Quick question.
Will append act like 'put' if the file I'm telling it to append to doesn't exist?
from "man ftp" :
Note : this "append" command may differ in your version of unix, so check the man page first.
I looked at the man page but it didn't really answer my question.
So I did a quick test and the answer is yes - it does.
If the file does not exist append will put it there, just as if you had said put.
Should have done that in the first place, but I was hoping to be lazy and that one of you would know off the top of your guru-smart heads. 
Thanks!