Learning how to operate a digital camera is not hard at all. You don't really have to know every functions, just the ones that work for you. A tripod is not necessary, I don't have one. It's a good thing to have but really not necessary. To load the pics on my computer, I just hook the camera in a USB port, turn on the camera and the computer does all the work by itself. Really. And then uploading pics to photobucket and post them here, again not hard at all, just takes a few minutes.
Judging by that super nice engine you just posted here, I have interest in seeing your pictures. Come on Mark, you can do it!