How in the blue hell do you turn these things on and off?  I've already nearly lost three of them.   >

Use a finesse technique, those little things are tedious to snap from off to on without pushing them past the outside keeper Put your fingertip on the end of the little shaft to make the position changes with a fingernail. Turning them off is a lot easier, push down with a fingernail and you're done. Make sure all the "on" ones are bottomed againt the keepers before you put the side plate back on or you may bend the little shafts.

Do what I do.  Either turn them all off, or remove them as soon as you get the reel.  That way you do not have to mess with them.  Learning to control reels on free spool takes practice, but you will be suprised how far you can cast (especially) pitching without much effort once you get on to this.