Replacing a simple nested query?

I've got a simple nested query:

select * from attributes where id in (select id from
attributes where (name='obsid') and (value='oid00066'));

that performs abysmally. I've heard this described as the
'classic WHERE IN' problem.

Is there a better way to obtain the same results? The inner
select identifies a set of ids (2049 of them, to be exact)
that are then used to locate records that have the same id
(about 30-40K of those, including the aforementioned 2049).

Thanks!
-Steve

--
Steve Wampler -- swampler(at)noao(dot)edu
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota
monax materiam possit materiari?