I went back to school in the 90's and I too had never taken Algebra in high school. After a couple of weeks, I told the professor "Telling me a negative times a negative equals a positive is like telling me I can bounce a check today and bounce a check tomorrow and still have money in my account". She said "Barb, just follow the rules and you'll be fine". I listened to her and came out of the class with a B. I was thrilled. Don't get yourself worked up about it, just remember to follow the silly rules :)