Yesterday I played my first on-line game and have had three more since then. I had no idea what to expect. I'm an older duffer ...
Welcome to the asylum, Rick!
We're trying to get LEARNER as the approved term for someone at your level - see characterizing-rating-levels?page=4. 
Hey.... that was an intersting link and full of info !
Surely we are all Learners. I don't pay too much attention to ratings. I don't expect to be a master anytime soon. When I first started to play chess in the 1960s we had a club rating system and few people opted for USCF rated games (since few of us were members of the USCF I suppose). In those days I played for a few years with a maximum club rating in the 1400s. Then I mostly went into chess hibernation because of career, responsibilities, and all that.
But I rejoined our local club last year, and now a USCF rating is a requirement.... but I had to start that essentially from scratch as only a few games from the 1970s were on record. I still don't have enough games played to get a non-provisional USCF rating, but folks at the club I've played tell me that I seem to play at something like the 1700 level even though I'm still near the bottom of the USCF ladder.
So I guess I'm definitely a Learner.... but on the other hand I have been around the block a couple of times and am not really a newbie 
I'm probably close to an average strength player at our local club.
Rick
Hi all,
Yesterday I played my first on-line game and have had three more since then. I had no idea what to expect. I'm an older duffer and not too computer literate but I'm enjoying this. I belong to a local club, but don't really have the time to commit to it. It is much easier to play games here and it keeps me in touch with chess against real people. Computers are OK but they really can bruise your ego :) Thanks to all who make this format possible and enjoyable...
Rick