I did my first shave today
Right off the bat, I'll say that I skimped on the prep and should have spent more time with the strop.
All things said though it went quite well. I got a couple of nicks, nothing that cold water didn't fix, and ended up with a shave that was better than what I got a couple of years ago with the mach 3. And may I say that the goatee has never felt so perfectly trim.
I was however a bit nervous about going with the grain on the neck as it goes side to side. I cheated a bit and went up and to the center, I'm sure that made it a bit rougher than it would otherwise be, but it made me a lot more comfortable.
Lessons learned:
-The strop is your friend
-Take the time to pamper yourself with prep
-The technique will come eventually
And a big thank you to all on these forums for your help. Especially Syslight for his generosity and the people in the chat for moral support.