it seems the Daemon is running...but anyone know what the #'s mean or can tell me how much longer I can expect this to take I'd be grateful. Also I assume I cannot run "$ lightningd" command until this thing is done?
I think it just needs time to sync. Sometimes it can take a LONG time.
Also, there is no "lightningd", there is LND though, as well as c-lightning libraries. I havent used c-lightning, but getting LND up and running with bitcoind on raspbian wasn't that difficult. Other than the LONG times for the initial sync.