A simple question.

When loosening the oil drain pan plug (GC 2001), clockwise or counterclockwise.

counterclockwise. If you are doing an oilchange warm it up first. The heat will help in making the plug and filter on the loose side vs. cold it can act as if it was almost locked on.

dont warm it up too much or you get hot oil on you hands and you mite get burned.... kinda sucks when ppl drive to the shop and get an oil change... hot oil bad... lol

Warming up the engine before an oil change is good practice though. You will get more oil out in a shorter amount of draining time too.
Unless you're bouncing the engine off the rev limiter for 10 minutes, the oil will not BURN you (depending on your threshold of pain).