When I read this, my first thought was, "OK, now in english and maybe a little slower..."
Like you, I was having some difficulty finding a plain English step-by-step explanation of mod_rewrite. I'm an accomplished designer and a dedicated (though fairly new) dynamic web developer, but there are just some things where I can't afford to spend days of trial and error on something that may or may not work. With your guidance, I was able to do a quick test to be sure it works -- and it does!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!