Dealing with typing archaic letters to get a specific date/time pattern is just wrong. And a link to a PHP manual is not the answer... unless you're a programmer.

Some options - there should be a list of common examples on that page (e.g. how do I add am/pm) - Replace the PHP.net tutorial link with one on bdcms.org that explains it better - get away from having the user deal with PHP stuff. Provide some kind of drag and drop or GUI to help. Not sure what at the moment.
This always takes me time to figure this out.
Recent comments
Thanks, the /tmp folder was the problem. I moved it elsewhere and then the updated worked. Thanks again!
Update 1.35.1 appears to install but hasn't
Probably not the reason, but worth to do a quick check: Sometimes the update cache interferes, so if something's odd with updates - some module (or core) claims to have updated, but then...
Update 1.35.1 appears to install but hasn't
Nope, not touched any permissions!
Update 1.35.1 appears to install but hasn't