It's certainly not against the rules to make a long post with multiple questions, but it is somewhat daunting to attempt to answer. 
Which may explain why I'm your first respondent..
1. Our tactics trainer is set up to reward "pattern recognition", hence the timer. Should you wish to really analyze each position, it's probably better to play it in unrated mode. There have been literally dozens of previous threads on the TT. I've had some luck increasing my TT skill by using the most basic Chess Mentor tactics courses to burn in pattern recognition by repeating them over and over again.
2. Even Silman haters generally acknowledge that his "Silman's Complete Endgame course" is pretty good. And then there are the 130 or so videos right here. IM Rensch's 10 part rook endgame series is well done.
3. I cheat and use the computer analysis to get me started and then try to figure out what errors in my plan led me into tactical problems. How was my strategy flawed. I've been criticized for this so I don't recommend you do it, but especially in correspondence chess where I've already tried to analyze the game as I played it, I don't know how else to start. Again many previous threads so you might want to spend a few happy hours Using the "search forums" box in the upper right hand corner.
4. Nope, I suck at it too.
5. The oldest, and still useful, source would be Reuben Fine's "The Ideas behind the chess openings". Fundamental Chess Openings by your countryman Paul van der Sterren is the current gold standard in general opening encyclopedias because of his "every move explained" approach. A most worthy companion to Fine IMHO. If you have money to burn, the 4 volume "Chess opening Essentials" covers much of the same ground with multicolor printing and diagrams. Nice, but not essential and the amount of space allotted to writing out example games seems a bit of a waste. Eventually if you find an opening that "calls" to you then a specialty book might be in order, but not until then.
Whew! Hope that helps, and my best advice was probably to take advantage of the archived forums by doing a few searches.
Hello all,
I've been enjoying chess alot lately, and I want to make some effort in making my game more solid. I have a few questions to ask about different subjects, and it felt unnecessary to make multiple topics. My apologies if this isn't according to the forum rules.
1. Currently I try to train with tactics trainer a bit every day. However I solve these exercizes more on a ''gut feeling'' (often go for checks that SEEM to go somewhere, but I never calculate the entire line). Sometimes I spot a tactic pretty easy, sometimes I don't at all.
When solving these problems, is it better to analyze the entire board for weaknesses (like pinned pieces, x-rays, tactical bases for forks etc.) or just go by that gut feeling?
The problem is that analyzing or calculating takes alot of time, and this deducts alot of points.
2. I feel my end game is pretty weak, apart from chess mentor, are there any good books or other mediums for learning beginner endgames?
3. How do I start analyzing my own games? I have no clue where to start or ''spot'' where you have gone wrong. The computer analysis helps when looking for tactical errors, but it's still a tough subject. Any advice on this?
4. My correspondence chess rating is significantly higher than my live rating. I enjoy these games more and play more of them, so it makes sense. However I notice my visualisation skills when playing OTB or live are lacking. When reading books I also have trouble remembering the position in my head (I realise this isn't an easy thing to do :D). I saw some videos on this site about the subject. Does anyone else have any advice/tips on this?
5. I know quite a few openings, however the themes behind the opening/or the main ideas are something I can't find explained anywhere... do I have to purchase a book on a certain opening to get better at this, or is there another way to get more in touch with these stratergies rather then memorizing moves?
Sorry for the wall of text and grammar/spelling mistakes, And thanks in advance for all the input :).
BartKrul