My second attempt at a DE 2-pass shave worked well! It was actually a 3-pass because I took Joe Lerch's advice and did 2 very light with-grain passes, then took my time (concentrating on blade angle) on the cross-grain pass.
Not bad at all, no irritation and no blood (unlike my first attempt!!). My cheeks were real smooth except in the against grain direction. My neck was not real smooth, but as good as I usually got from cartridge razors. I think over time....
Anyway, just wanted to thank Joe and RT again for all the good advice they keep giving me.