Joel,
You have certainly been busy enough that we can excuse you for not staying up to date with improvements to LV and programming techniques!
The calculator project is actually a good framework for learning about these things because so many of the changes are relevant and the product is sufficiently straightforward that it is easy to tell if things are working.
As you work through those challenges, please post the questions that stump you. You will find many people here willing to help.
Lynn