Needles & thread Education

In Anchorage, I find Minna right away and read off my questions.  I tell her I bought a Huskylock 936, but I don't say where.  She doesn't ask and she is just happy that I bought one. She has an answer for all my questions, and the foot replacement was the easiest.  I was just pressing the wrong way, down instead of in.  It's a little tricky snapping in the presser foot, but I've done it a few times now and I know how it works.
     When I get home, I change presser feet and try the flatlock stitch.  It doesn't look too good.  I start thinking about trying the chain stitch, and I see that you need #90 needle in position A, and # 80 needle in position C.  Well here's a problem:   I took needles out of the case which contains both those sizes without any thought to which size they are.  So now that they are out of the case, how do I know?   My friend Jim is visiting, so we figure there must be SOME marking on the needle.   If there is, it is not visible to the naked eye.  Eventually with reading glasses PLUS magnifying glasses, we find the miscroscopic size engravings on the needles I remove from the machine.   I take a permanent marker and dot the flat side of the #80s.
     The needle positions A and C are a revelation too!  I didn't know there were actually 5 different needle positions.  Through my lifetime of casual recreational and not very serious sewing projects, I never paid much attention to needles except for ball point ones for knits, and heavy duty ones for jeans.  I also never thought about thread types.  Now when I watch Sue Hausman on PBS, she rattles on about 30 gauge thread or 80 gauge thread, and holds up fabulous variegated color threads, and even recommends one weight thread for the bobbin and another weight for the needle.  I am in sewing machine minutia (sp?) overload and my head begins to hurt!  And Sue isn't even talking about a serger this time.  Nevertheless, I also want Sue Hausman for a next-door neighbor as well.
     I go back to work on finishing a little fleece jacket for the girls.  The serged seams look SO pretty! I am definitely gaining confidence with the 4-thread overlock.  But I'm also writing another list of questions for Minna on another upcoming trip to Anchorage.