Monitor calibration sure is a pain. Even if you do manage to get your own setup "right" there's no telling how it's actually going to look on other people's screens. You can spend ages trying to get the mood/color balance in an image just right only to find it doesn't work at all when viewed on another machine. Just have to barrel thru I guess - unless ICC profiles are going to be made mandatory for all monitors/printers/TVs :) 

And boy! Do I ever revisit old stuff! Everything right is wrong again as TMBG once said.