Update on the pick problem:

Thanks so much to Big Mick for sending me a few of his pick stick-ons. It's a sandpaper like thing that you can stick right onto your picks. Works great, and he's such a good guy to send them to me. I tried that for awhile, but found that I don't like the feel of sandpaper that much, so I kept looking.

Bought some no-slip picks from the site mentioned above by dwditty, and they were OK but not great. The grip was not that good, and it wore off after a couple of gigs.

Finally tried Mooh's suggestion. Good ole Wal-Mart has a product called "PLASTIDIP - Heavy Duty Flexible Rubber Coating" ($5.96) which is intended for tool handles and other things -- like PICKS!! It turns out that this must be the exact stuff they used on fig picks, because it feels the same, grips the same, even looks the same, since I bought a can of red.

Thanks, all!