I just wanted to say thanks to everyone here, both those who asked questions and those who answered them thoughtfully and thoroughly.
I had by first clean, cut-less, razor-burn-free shave yesterday. I had a few that were bloodless, but there was still some razor burn. Then, I got a freshly honed razor. Really rough, and I was getting discouraged. I read a few posts. I then stropped the razor, adjusted my blade angle, and wa la!

Still working on getting a truly BBS shave, but so mush of an improvement I can't say.
Now, I'm looking forward to trying my hand at honing!
Thanks again!