Hi Mardy,
I am no expert but I do have this drift alignment down thanks to the method 1Ponders showed me that requires the use of a web cam or guide camera and a free program K3CCD Tools. I can now align my scope from start of the process to ready for photography in about 20 minutes but initially the same process would take a couple of hours and by the time I was ready I had given the clouds time to build up. I almost think like all things in this hobby you will look back in a couple of months and wonder how rediculous that was. I wrote an outline of this method at the following web page that a mate and I set up for teachers but am still dealing with red tape.
http://www.qastronomy.org/index.php?...article&id=122
Keep going and don't murder the scope. It will all come together.
Mark