Index: lock-queue.scm
==================================================================
--- lock-queue.scm
+++ lock-queue.scm
@@ -47,24 +47,36 @@
               run_lock   TEXT,
               CONSTRAINT runlock_constraint UNIQUE (run_lock));")))
     (sqlite3:set-busy-handler! db handler)
     db))
 
-(define (lock-queue:set-state db test-id newstate)
+(define (lock-queue:set-state db test-id newstate #!key (remtries 10))
   (handle-exceptions
    exn
-   (thread-sleep! 30)
-   (lock-queue:set-state db test-id newstate)
+   (if (> remtries 0)
+       (begin
+	 (debug:print 0 "WARNING: exception on lock-queue:set-state. Trying again in 30 seconds.")
+	 (thread-sleep! 30)
+	 (lock-queue:set-state db test-id newstate remtries: (- remtries 1)))
+       (begin
+	 (debug:print 0 "ERROR:  Failed to set lock state for test with id " test-id ", error: " ((condition-property-accessor 'exn 'message) exn) ", giving up.")
+	 #f))
    (sqlite3:execute db "UPDATE queue SET state=? WHERE test_id=?;"
 		    newstate
 		    test-id)))
 
-(define (lock-queue:any-younger? db mystart test-id)
+(define (lock-queue:any-younger? db mystart test-id #!key (remtries 10))
   (handle-exceptions
    exn
-   (thread-sleep! 30)
-   (lock-queue:any-younger? db mystart test-id)
+   (if (> remtries 0)
+       (begin
+	 (debug:print 0 "WARNING: exception on lock-queue:any-younger. Trying again in 30 seconds.")
+	 (thread-sleep! 30)
+	 (lock-queue:any-younger? db mystart test-id remtries: (- remtries 1)))
+       (begin
+	 (debug:print 0 "ERROR:  Failed to find younger locks for test with id " test-id ", error: " ((condition-property-accessor 'exn 'message) exn) ", giving up.")
+	 #f))
    (let ((res #f))
      (sqlite3:for-each-row
       (lambda (tid)
 	;; Actually this should not be needed as mystart cannot be simultaneously less than and test-id same as 
 	(if (not (equal? tid test-id)) 

Index: tdb.scm
==================================================================
--- tdb.scm
+++ tdb.scm
@@ -55,11 +55,12 @@
 	(handle-exceptions
 	 exn
 	 (begin
 	   (debug:print 2 "ERROR: problem accessing test db " work-area ", you probably should clean and re-run this test"
 			((condition-property-accessor 'exn 'message) exn))
-	   (set! db (sqlite3:open-database ":memory:"))) ;; open an in-memory db to allow readonly access 
+	   (set! db (sqlite3:open-database ":memory:")) ;; open an in-memory db to allow readonly access 
+	   (set! dbexists #f)) ;; must force re-creation of tables, more tom-foolery
 	 (set! db (sqlite3:open-database dbpath)))
 	(if *db-write-access* (sqlite3:set-busy-handler! db handler))
 	(if (not dbexists)
 	    (begin
 	      (sqlite3:execute db "PRAGMA synchronous = FULL;")