Thanks for the well wishes. I wish I was ambidextrous...would certainly be a lot easier.

I think it will get easier as I both develop the rather awkward hand positioning and the muscle memory necessary.

I haven't had time to take another crack since I am in the process of moving now but in a week I think I will be shaving with the straight more frequently.

In the meantime, I am curious if anyone has any inexpensive starter creams or soaps to recommend since the samples I got were utilized for that first go. I live in Boston so Colonial Drug is an option if there's something hard to find that I should check out; I thought about Proraso since Bigelow is right by my house but given my face scorching experience with the Menthol in C&E's Naturals cream I am not sure (anyone tried both and have an opinion of how menthol-y Proraso is?).