>This runs the INIT which in turn fires my METHOD this.startup() which creates the menu and the READ EVENTS.

Ahhh, thats the problem. See, if you put the app in a wait in yout StartUp, which is called from your Init(), it means the CreateObject() never finishes, and while the object exists, it is never assigned to the variable, therefore not visible.

Does that make sense?

Do your READ EVENTS after the App object is setup.