Dont worry Im a noob too mate.

When you move the pivot are you in rotate tool when you do?

Select the rotate tool, select the faces you want to rotate. When you have done this hold the 'd' key down and either the 'v' (for vert snap) or 'x' (for grid snap)..I would use 'v'.

Dont forget the rotate will probably be set to world and will only rotate relative to the grid.

You can assign shades to faces mate...top or bottom etc...so you can have a red lid and a blue base and yellow sides. Its for UV ing...but dont worry about that for now. Lets sort out the above.

Google is your best friend...the manual for Maya isnt very good but does give basics.

cheers bullet