Hi Bill,
I see you are from Maine? The shop you got it from would be glad to show you anything you need to know. If it was Allspeed, I have done business with them on and off since the 80's. They would help, heck it's easy enough that i could show you.

Being a lazy sod I mostly leave it on the middle chainring up front. I just work up and down the rear gears. When I hit a real hill, I jump down to the wimp gear. When I go down the hill, it's up to the big ring. (Mostly I coast downhill, I am in pretty bad shape).

I think everybody does it a little differently. You will get some chain rub, a little nudge on the left will bring the front derailleur into line. It's actually pretty easy, and once you get used to it, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it.