Morpheus,

I'll tackle a couple of your questions here. For starters, Paul is right. The thumbnail test is for making sure your edge is sharp and even, not testing shave-readiness. I'll use it to determine whether I'm done setting the bevel on the 4K side. If you do it after the 8K side, you're dulling the edge.

A few guys hone two-handed, but for most people one-handed seems to be best. I'll sometimes use two hands when I'm on the low end of the grit scale and trying to set the bevel or remove a nick. Other than that, I use one hand.

Honing straight across the stone can work well if you have a razor with a perfectly straight edge. Most razors I hone have a slight curve to them, which makes an X pattern necessary. The heel does spend less time on the hone with the X pattern, but it seems to even out because it's also closer to your hand, and thus gets slightly more pressure.

Don't worry about the stropping thing. Stropping helps polish the edge, and going across the grain of the scratches aids this polishing. Most edges get more comfortable after a few shaves due to the polishing from the leather.

Keep at it--there's definitely a learning curve, but it sounds like you have a good foundation to work from.

Josh