diff --git a/hbc b/hbc
index bcfba93..1f8038b 100755
--- a/hbc
+++ b/hbc
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import md5
 import shutil
 import zlib
 import subprocess
+import syslog
 
 try:
 	import lockfile 
@@ -39,12 +40,20 @@ except:
 # 	 	which on FreeBSD in close to a million
 #		hack:  replace the function in daemon with ths one:
 
+
+
+def log(msg):
+	if fdaemon:
+		syslog.syslog(syslog.LOG_ERR, msg)
+	else:
+		print msg
+
+
 def get_maximum_file_descriptors():
 	return 2048
 
 daemon.get_maximum_file_descriptors = get_maximum_file_descriptors
 
-import syslog
 
 
 PORT = 50003
@@ -87,7 +96,8 @@ class Conn:
 		msg['time'] = time.time()
 		m = dicttos(ID, msg)
 		mz = zlib.compress(m,9)
-		if verbose: print "conn.send('%s', (%s:%s) %s>%s)" % (msg, self.addr, self.port, len(m), len(mz))
+		if verbose:
+			log("conn.send('%s', (%s:%s) %s>%s)" % (msg, self.addr, self.port, len(m), len(mz)))
 		try:
 			self.sock.sendto(m, (self.addr, self.port))
 		except socket.error as e:
@@ -101,7 +111,7 @@ class Conn:
 	def ack(self, msgDict):
 		self.lastack = time.time()
 		self.lastacksent = float(msgDict.get('time','0'))
-		if verbose: print "ack RTT: %0.1f ms" % ((self.lastack - self.lastsend) * 1000.0)
+		if verbose: log("ack RTT: %0.1f ms" % ((self.lastack - self.lastsend) * 1000.0))
 		self.rtts.append((self.lastack - self.lastsend) * 1000.0)
 		if len(self.rtts) > 10:
 			del self.rtts[0]
@@ -165,10 +175,9 @@ def stodict(msg):
 
 def syslogtrace(note):
 	logm = '%s hbc died: \n%s' % (note, traceback.format_exc())
+	log(logm)
 	for l in logm.split('\n'):
-		syslog.syslog(syslog.LOG_ERR, '  tb: %s' % l)
-	if verbose:
-		print logm
+		log('  tb: %s' % l)
 
 
 
@@ -176,21 +185,21 @@ conId = 1
 def createConnections(hosts):
 	global conId
 	for host in hosts:
-		if verbose: print "createConnections for %s" % host
+		if verbose: log("createConnections for %s" % host)
 		try:
 			rs=socket.getaddrinfo(host,  hb_port, 0, 0, socket.SOL_UDP)
 		except socket.gaierror:
 			logm = '%s hbc died: \n%s' % ('createConnections', traceback.format_exc())
-			if verbose: print logm
+			if verbose: log(logm)
 			return None
 		for r in rs:
-			if verbose: print "address %s" % str(r)
+			if verbose: log("address %s" % str(r))
 			if r[0] in [10, 24, 28, 30]:	# for Linux, NetBSD, FreeBSD
 				af=socket.AF_INET6
 			elif r[0] == 2:
 				af=socket.AF_INET
 			else:
-				print "dont know this net type:  %s" %  r[0][0]
+				log("dont know this net type:  %s" %  r[0][0])
 				sys.exit(1)
 	
 			addr = r[4][0]
@@ -226,7 +235,7 @@ def doupdate(conn, msgDict):
 	msg={'service': 'update', 'msg': fail if fail else "OK"}
 	conns[conn].sendto(msg)
 	if not fail:
-		syslog.syslog(syslog.LOG_ERR, 'hc updates, fs = %s' % (len(code)))
+		log('hc updates, fs = %s' % (len(code)))
 		
 	return fail
 
@@ -257,16 +266,14 @@ def doupdateone(code, csum):
 
 
 def restart():
-	if verbose: 
-		print "restart:  execv %s %s" % (sys.argv[0], [sys.argv[0]]+cmdargs)
-	syslog.syslog(syslog.LOG_ERR, 'restart %s' % (sys.argv[0]))
+	log('restart %s' % (sys.argv[0]))
 	e = "fallthrough" 
 	try:
 		os.execv(sys.argv[0], [sys.argv[0]]+cmdargs)
 	except Exception as e:
 		pass
 	print "should not be here:", str(e)
-	syslog.syslog(syslog.LOG_ERR, 'restart failed: %s' % e)
+	log('restart failed: %s' % e)
 
 
 def process():
@@ -282,7 +289,6 @@ def process():
 	while running:
 		while time.time() < nextReport:
 			sleep=nextReport - time.time() 
-			if verbose: print "process: sleep %s" % sleep
 			if sleep <= 0:
 				break
 			try:
@@ -291,7 +297,7 @@ def process():
 				running = False
 				break
 			except SystemExit:
-				syslog.syslog(syslog.LOG_ERR, 'daemon exit, running=: %s' % running)
+				log('daemon exit, running=: %s' % running)
 				if running:
 					running = False
 				break
@@ -300,7 +306,6 @@ def process():
 					syslogtrace('select')
 					running = False
 				break
-			if verbose: print "process: r is %s" % str(r)
 			for rfh in r[0]:
 				conn = conIds[rfh]
 				data, addr = ifiles[rfh].recvfrom(MAXRECV)
@@ -329,11 +334,11 @@ def process():
 			conns[conn].sendto(msg)
 		nextReport = time.time() + interval
 
-	if verbose: print "process: done running"
+	if verbose: log( "process: done running")
 
 def cleanup():
 	global running
-	if verbose: syslog.syslog(syslog.LOG_ERR, 'cleanup')
+	if verbose: log('cleanup')
 	running = False
 	for conn  in conns:
 		msg={'shutdown': 1, 'acks': conns[conn].ackcount}
@@ -344,7 +349,7 @@ def cleanup():
 
 
 def closeall():
-	if verbose: syslog.syslog(syslog.LOG_ERR, 'closecall')
+	if verbose: log('closecall')
 	for conn  in conns:
 		conns[conn].close()
 
@@ -468,9 +473,16 @@ if not msgonly:
 
 
 conns = {}
-createConnections(hb_hosts)
+while True:
+	log(" create connections")
+	createConnections(hb_hosts)
+	if len(conns) != 0:
+		break
+	log(" no connections yet, sleep a bit")
+	time.sleep(2)
 
-if verbose: print "%s connections created" % (len(conns))
+if verbose:
+	log("%s connections created" % (len(conns)))
 
 if len(msgboot) > 0:
 	if verbose: print "on boot"
@@ -493,7 +505,6 @@ if fdaemon:
 		opid = pidfile.read_pid()
 	except:
 		opid = None
-	if verbose: print "opid %s" % opid
 
 	if opid:
 		try:
@@ -527,7 +538,7 @@ if fdaemon:
 	for conn in conns:
 		context.files_preserve += [conns[conn].sock, conns[conn].sock.fileno()]
 	with context:
-		syslog.syslog(syslog.LOG_ERR, 'starting heartbeat to %s' %  ','.join(hb_hosts))
+		log('starting heartbeat to %s' %  ','.join(hb_hosts))
 		running = True
 		try:
 			process()
@@ -542,7 +553,7 @@ else:
 	except Exception as e:
 		if verbose: print "err: process exit: %s" % e
 		syslogtrace('process')
-if verbose: print "main: cleanup"
+if verbose: log( "main: cleanup")
 cleanup()
 if dorestart:
 	restart()