Ical appointments disappear!

Today I added several appointments to my iPad iCalendar.
Then I went home and synced with my computer.
The appointments disappeared!

ICal sync is a mess. First I was getting double appointments. So under "show calendars" on the iPad, I turned off all the mobileMe calendars. That solved the doubling problem. I though all was well.
But this is a disaster, it throws away appointment I have made. And these new appointments do not show up on any device, not on my iPad, not on my computer, not in MobileMe. They are just completely gone!

I have the latest OS on the iPad (multitasking), and on my computer.
Looking in iCal on my computer I see that the preferences are set to "synchronize iCal with other computers and devices using MobileMe".
I also see that although I turned off MobileMe calendars in the iCal program on my iPad, they are still turned on in the "Mail, Contact,s Calendars" section of the "Settings" under MobileMe - Accounts.

Syncing is a disaster and aways has been. I am thinking of buying a paper appointments book again.
I have read all the manuals on syncing, but nothing is really clear. Data should not just disappear.


Would someone please tell me what is going on.