At age 60, I have just completed my first year of playing my Stage One PSG. The forum seems like as good a place as any to post a memory of it.... before I forget it all

Maybe this will be of some guidance and solace to others who are starting out, especially "later in life" beginners:
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
The first few weeks were utterly baffling.. I expected that, even after 45 years of playing and studying music on 6 string guitar. 10 strings. Weird tuning. Have to sit down to play the thing and the strings are parallel to the floor. Hardware and moving parts everywhere. PSG is a machine that has to be coerced into being a musical instrument. The principles of effective practice are the same though.
Setting up the steel for my own ergonomics was vital. I am still making changes and experimenting.
YouTube, while an excellent free resource for musical content, is not such a great tool for learning technique. I have not tried pay sites, but I am sure there are a few good ones.
The Forum is by far and away the best "home base" resource for learning this instrument, aside from a qualified teacher.
TUNING
JI? ET? Newman? Whatever works, and whatever you want to call it. There is no perfect tuning. "Cabinet Drop" is now part of my language.
TECHNIQUE
Finger picking guitar and steel are similar, but not the same. I don't believe it was particularly advantageous having years of fingerpicking experience on guitar.
There is a time and place for both pick blocking and palm blocking. One is certainly not easier or more natural than the other.
I went from a 3/4" tone bar to 7/8". I couldn't handle the big one at first.
I am learning to roll the bar with my fingers for vibrato instead of shifting my hand right to left.
Rolling my left ankle from A to B and B to C, and shifting the foot when changing from pedal combinations without engaging an unwanted knee lever...Holy crap! this is still hard. Nearly impossible at first.
CHORDS
At least one inversion of every diatonic chord in a given key can be found at the home fret of that key, as well as the home-away-from-home position with pedals A+B down. Chord scales on one fret! This was a wow moment of discovery.
4- and 5-note jazz chord voicings on E9 are possible. I have found positions and changer combinations for two M7, two m7/M6, one mM7, three m7b5, two 13th's, b9 and #9, as well as the usual diminished and augmented suspects. The positions are often not conveniently located for the next chord change.
I am finding a use for the forward slant here and there, for convenience mostly with moving a single voicing within a sliding chord change.
SCALES
The do-re-mi's are everywhere, with pedals and playing at a single fret, or without pedals and barring up and down the neck with slides on just a few strings (especially strings 10 through 5). Harmonized scales on a couple or three strings - one of the joys of playing!
Crossing over from the lower strings (10-5) to the higher strings (4-1) while playing single note runs will be giving me fits for some time to come. Coordinating RH picking and blocking with pedal changes...wow
Pentatonics can be found starting at each of the 5 degrees of the scale in any given key.. Some positions lay out more conveniently than others, with little changer activity. One in particular.
Diminished scales (whole-half) are more fun played vertically on the fretboard, while whole tone scales are easily accessible across the strings. I don't play much of either, but nice to know where they are.
PRACTICE TIME
65% of practice time is technical - scales, chord grips, RH, bar & changer technique, timing with metronome or drum machine, intonation.
25% is learning songs with metronome and backing tracks.
10% is "Noodle Time" (my favorite part)
GIGS
Getting out there and playing was the biggest goal this year. I have played a grand total of 3 gigs on steel, doubling on it with guitar. I was absolutely terrified the first gig, but glad I got it done and didn't get fired or asked to get the darn thing the hell off the stage


ALMOST FINISHED
Anyway, this is my way of giving back to the forum. If you have gotten this far, you need to get a life...no seriously, thanks for taking the time. I hope you have been amused or helped in some way.
I now have nothing but respect and admiration for people (famous and not so famous) here who have mastered this incredibly beautiful instrument and shared their knowledge with me and the rest of the world. THANK YOU!