i am assuming the hose hanging down on the driver's side of the block is some sort of pcv valve type apparatis. but what is it exactly and how much "blow-by" in lack of a better term is normal. i also have oil residue. just wondering.

 

That would be the crank case breather/vent. There is no "valve" on it but at the block there is some baffeling I`ll say to keep the oil down. residue is normal as well as dripping occasionally. some guys run a barf bottle on the end, you can do the same if it bugs you.

 

When you've just run it hard you might see some vapor coming out the tube at idle. Like Apache said, yours sounds normal.