Ongoing Wordpress Expert to act as guru / teacher as needed

I am a web developer with decades of experience. However Wordpress is brand new I am wishing to learn how to make a custom theme for wordpress that includes only the features we would use. For starters, I wish to add a custom menu and jQuery support. I want to be sure we do everything the Wordpress way to insure transparent upgrades without breaking our project. So, if you would like to be my teacher 'as needed', please tell me your hourly rate and also the time zone / location you are in. Sincerely, Jay Lepore CompuMatter