want to know what to do?
start from the beginning
it sounds like you've jumped ahead to something that's more advanced than your level of understanding
start from the beginning... open up the maya tutorials about texture mapping. watch that link to mike's texturing video, watch the other video about texturing here (free one about a door?)
how old is that book you're reading from?
that's a "Ch" pronounced as a "K"
Computer skills I should have:
Objective C, C#, Java, MEL. Python, C++, XML, JavaScript, XSLT, HTML, SQL, CSS, FXScript, Clips, SOAR, ActionScript, OpenGL, DirectX
Maya, XSI, Photoshop, AfterEffects, Motion, Illustrator, Flash, Swift3D