Catsknit, I'm in my mid-50's too, and had no clue about these things until a year ago (or less). I was terrified by the mere thought of messing with my Nook Color's internals and it took me until a few months ago to install a ROM internally instead of running it from sd.
So don't worry! We're here for you, and I bet I'm not the only one who took baby steps into this.
(Now I'm hooked and can't stop messing around, but don't feel like you have to get that crazy!
)