I received one as recently as 9/30, but I believe there are only 820 WUs circulating around at a given time (at least for this phase)...so chances of getting one are slim.

There's a special recipe for getting them if they are available at all, but it requires progression to the next level of cruncher nirvana .... Veteran. I'm neither and just hacked and got 3 to date.... key elements: Short buffer, AC@H as prime project and all else as 'if there is no work.....'. The Main Price: The faster you run, the more Pending Validations are shown on the Result Status page :P

signed
The Cook

While I am not desparate for one of these work units, I wonder if I will get any.
On the page describing minimum hardware requirements, it says, "An Internet connection with minimum 512 kbps speed". Now I have Verizon's FiOS that downloads up to 20,000 kbps, and uploads up to 5,000 kbps speed. But if I look at other projects, they say my speeds are about Average upload rate 17.67 KB/sec, Average download rate 32.89 KB/sec. This seems to be because they cannot go as high as my connection, so they only get a reading when the connection speed is very low due to Internet conjestion or something. Will this preclude me from getting AfricanClimate@Home work units?

Yes sir, with the exception of HPF2, "Homogeneous Redundancy" is the way WCG ensures that work coming back is able to validate bit for bit amongst its partners in a quorum.