PROBLEM #1 mysql> select id, caller from voicemessages where timeperformed < '2009-04-15 15:57:45' and state = '1' limit 1; +---------+------------+ | id | caller | +---------+------------+ | 1354572 | 0693916267 | +---------+------------+ 1 row in set (21.75 sec) mysql> explain select id, caller from voicemessages where timeperformed < '2009-04-15 15:57:45' and state = '1' limit 1; +----+-------------+---------------+-------+---------------+------------+---------+------+-------+-------------+ | id | select_type | table | type | possible_keys | key | key_len | ref | rows | Extra | +----+-------------+---------------+-------+---------------+------------+---------+------+-------+-------------+ | 1 | SIMPLE | voicemessages | range | cleanerIdx | cleanerIdx | 4 | NULL | 86640 | Using where | +----+-------------+---------------+-------+---------------+------------+---------+------+-------+-------------+ 1 row in set (0.00 sec) mysql> select caller from voicemessages where id = 1354572; +------------+ | caller | +------------+ | 0693916267 | +------------+ 1 row in set (0.05 sec) PROBLEM #2 mysql> explain select id, blob_id from voicemessages where timeperformed < '2009-04-15 15:57:45' and state = '1' limit 1; +----+-------------+---------------+-------+---------------+------------+---------+------+-------+--------------------------+ | id | select_type | table | type | possible_keys | key | key_len | ref | rows | Extra | +----+-------------+---------------+-------+---------------+------------+---------+------+-------+--------------------------+ | 1 | SIMPLE | voicemessages | range | cleanerIdx | cleanerIdx | 4 | NULL | 86640 | Using where; Using index | +----+-------------+---------------+-------+---------------+------------+---------+------+-------+--------------------------+ 1 row in set (0.00 sec)