Cross-chaining

[DebW]

So Deb, what you are saying that even though your bike has 27 gears on it,
there aren't really that many that you can/should use?

Exactly

I notice my Bianchi prefers to stay in the lower gears when i am in the lowest
chain ring.. is this what you are talking about?

Yup, you figured that out without any theoretical nonsense or chain angle measurements. Or the bike told you in it's own firm but subtle way.

can you define inner / outer chain ring?

Inner and outer are relative to the centerline of the bike frame.

inner = smaller chainring, closer to frame
outer = larger chainring, further from frame