Yep, you're not alone
I stretch the skin to the side of the Adams apple turn my head the other way, this lets the area right over the Adam apple now rest on the flat spot of my neck.
Now the rest of my neck is a different story. It basically grows from the middle out (easy to west). As you can imagine, a straight razor isn't going to lay flat against my neck now matter how much I tilt my chin up lol. So pretty much start at the jawline and do a diagonal stroke down to the bottom. It's not exactly a across the grain or a with the grain, sorta a mixture.
Oh and very very rarely against the grain. It's doable with good results but, I find the previous method is more than presentable and smooth for my daily routine. It just takes too much effort with a chance of razor burn...plus it leaves less stubble to chop at the following day
It's fun figuring out what works where, keep experimenting.