Hi, is it possible to hide all the little gray boxes [that indicate nodes] when using the node tool? On jobs with thousands of nodes it is hard to set what I am doing!

No, it's not possible to hide them. But you might try using Path menu > Simplify. This will reduce the number of nodes. Doing it once will probably not affect the image, but if you do it more than once, it might cause some of the paths to be deformed. The best way to "see around" the nodes, if they are obstructing the view, is to zoom in. The more zoom, the fewer nodes on the screen.