Thanks for the replies and solid advice - I will try to adhere to all of it. AnotherStander, thanks particularly for your thorough and thoughtful reply. I have read through it a few times now.
I will write more tonight (don't want to lose my new job), but in the meantime I just want to convey the great feeling I get from these messages and feeling part of a community (albeit one none of us probably want to be in). Thanks again and I'll write more later.