Fixes for several errors highlighted by monolog error logging

This PR fixes a few things shown up by the recent addition of monolog/symfony logging.

| Q             | A
| ------------- | ---
| Bug fix?      | yes
| New feature?  | no
| BC breaks?    | no
| Deprecations? | no
| Tests pass?   | no
| Fixed tickets | #1172
| Refs tickets  |
| License       | MIT
| Doc PR        |

-Mark