Thank you all! By looking at the two videos posted here, it looks like I was actually reading them correctly. I know that all of the information listed in a datasheet applies to the device in question, I was under the incorrect assumption that ALL of the data applied to any application that uses the device. There were times that I ran across information in the datasheet that I didn't fully understand, but I was able to divine the meaning with some research, at which point I found the info didn't apply. This led me to the incorrect assumption that I was doing something wrong.
It is quite amazing how something simple, like reading a datasheet, can be difficult to someone that hasn't gone through an EE course.
Dave, thank you so much for your blog and site! I had dropped out of the hobby for quite some time and ran across your blog on YouTube quite by accident a couple of days ago. It reminded me just how much I enjoy this.