[omalleyj]

First, don't print useless "I'm here" messages at the maximum loop rate! The first one conveys information all the rest consume bandwidth. (check your logs for when the spinning slows I would not be surprised if your prints are gradually backing up and consuming all your CPU and/or bandwidth)

Second, If your code stays in a while loop forever it means you are not meeting the exit criterea. Period. In this case that almost certainly means your spinning in the wrong direction, or +/- .75 degrees is smaller than the distance covered at 25% power in 6 tenths of a second. (how did you come up with .6 as the magic amount of time between checks?)

Third, never create a loop that can run forever! Create a counter or timer that guarantees you'll exit after, say, 5 seconds, or 10 iterations, or something. If your gyro gets unplugged or damaged you will sit and spin. (been there)