A good teacher can make things ever so much easier, and Dave is good.
I can't say that I see the light at the end of the tunnel by any means, but I am aware there is a tunnel a few miles up the road I need to get to ...
Taking the lead is still awkward, and since I don't know but a couple of scales, really limited, but having a couple of good guitarists playing rhythm makes it easier. If I spend some time learning major and minor scales and some CAGED stuff up the neck, that will be a good start. Dave laid out what could be a couple years' worth of stuff to work on, and that's the road I'm headed down.
If you are in Portland and don't have anything else going this next Sunday morning, Dave will be playing the Woodstock Farmer's Market, on Woodstock, in Southeast, starting around ten a.m. tomorrow. The market features something called Giga-Bike, where you can still on a stationary spin-bike and pedal, and that powers the music amps and electric instruments. How cool is that?