how to get rid of the spinning wheel of death?

Hold down the option key and the command key, and while you are holding them down, press the escape (esc) key. It will pop up a window entitled "Force Quit Applications." You will most likely see one of the programs that you have open which says, "(not responding)" Click on that program to select it and click on "Force Quit" That will force the application to quit and thereby stop the "spinning wheel of death!" Do be aware, however, that any work that you have not saved in that program will be lost.

I hope that helps! That little trick has helped me out many times!!

Marsue