two things are helpful when fighting w/ lost sockets: put a small drop of dielectric grease on the plug so the socket slides off easier (you need to put dielectric grease on the boot and therefore spark plug anyway).
another neat thing is an extension w/ manual release (craftsman makes them). I have one, but the ball rusted and seized so I used silicon grease method above w/ great results.
my $0.01999999999
