As you know stretching is veeeery important so I highly recommend that you wipe your stretching fingers on that alum block as it gives you this uncanny and unnatural grip on your skin. Makes a huuuuge difference. Another great piece of advice I got was that the angles listed out in Wiki are only GUIDELINES. Each razor has it's own sweet spot so use that advice as a starting point but adjust as you "feel" it cut.

The other thing I've learned is don't tie your feelings about a shave to the result. The BBS will come...but don't forget to enjoy the process. The process of shaving IS the point...