Welcome, Sparx! CODA is indeed a wonderful system. Only the character generation is a bit clunky (especially as the PG is sort of backwards in the way it lays everything out), but given time it gets easier to use/do.
I've been using that same character generation cheat sheet (the one everyone is raving about) for years, and it's the best one I've found.
Doug Taylor
Member of Decipher's Hall of Fame
Currently running The One Ring RPG. I also occasionally run Villains & Vigilantes (our campaign is in year 25) and WEG d6 Star Wars (both games are mostly on hiatus) and an annual game based on The X-Files (using Conspiracy X).