Google has announced that they are winding down and eliminating the Google Labs.

[Link: pcmag.com]

Ernie, do you use the free or paid version?

I did a quick google search for "google calendar offline viewing" and the first link I came up on had this blog [Link: gmailblog.blogspot.com]

While I didn't find the "Offline Beta" option, the blog is dated March 2009, I went into my calendar and once I clicked on the gear wheel thingie, I saw the offline option
  

From the blog it looks like system admin has to enable the option for offline viewing, so you'll have to play with that.
Like I said, I haven't used it yet, I'm an Outlook type of a guy, but wanted to offer some limited help hoping you'll find the rest or that someone else would chime in.

the most important thing is to SYNC with google calendar and contacts.
not just access it from the web.

on the mac you can use apples built in apps to sync with these apps.
as you make changes, they sync up to the cloud.

like other said, SYNC google services with outlook and you wont have these issues.
this is what your phone does. .