still seems to take forever doing the jobs but best to take your time and get it right. took a lot longer doing the brick bond, do you do it by eye or measure the tile to get it exact
As far as getting your verticals to line up mark the center of 1 tile and keep this as a template. Place it on top of a freshly opened box of tiles making sure they are evenly lined up then mark down the edges with your square and you shoud be good to go.