Thanks a lot Bruce. I tried compacting some folders
that I haven't added any emails to and they did work
really fast, so I'm gonna have to bite the bullet and
compact my "work_2006" folder with 15,000 in it.

Then I'll have to compact it once a week instead of
the schedule OE currently has for itself which is that
it prompts you once in a blue moon.

I'll report back once everything's compacted to see if
it solved the issue. It certainly sounds like it could be
the problem. Especially considering that after a minute
or so, the search results do start working normally. It's
probably busy indexing the emails or something.

~dd