i got my first REO about 2 months ago, so i'm pretty much a newbie as well. from my experience, the blind squonk takes a little over a week to get comfortable with. during that week you'll alternately get dry hits from not squonking frequently enough, or flooded attys from over-squonking. if you flood it, just blow out the juice from the atty onto a paper towel, dab the catch cup with the towel and start over.
after a week, the dry hits go away because squonking is becoming more natural. sometime during the second week you'll suddenly realize that it's been a day or two since the last time you flooded an atty. after that, you may occasionally flood one--i think that's natural-- but it will be relatively rare.
that's how it all panned out for me, anyway.
finally, it is a 2-step process to realize that you've arrived:
step one occurs subconsciously: if you still occasionally use a tube mod, you try to squonk it and your brain rebels (...???) when nothing happens. this is natural. no need to call 911...
step two: you consciously wonder why you are still wasting your time with tube mods. this too is natural and completely organic...
YMMV (but probably not by much
