diff --git a/aircon.sh b/aircon.sh
index 3a27ad1..95b9bf4 100755
--- a/aircon.sh
+++ b/aircon.sh
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ function get_midrange() {  # outputs midpoint of temperature range for given zon
 }
 
 # get_perfect_tolerance zone_idx
-function get_perfect_tolerance() {  # outputs the difference from midpoint inside which temperature is considered "perfect"
+function get_perfect_tolerance() {  # outputs the difference from midpoint after which temperature is considered "perfect"
     local min max
     min=${zwantmin[$idx]}
     max=${zwantmax[$idx]}
@@ -171,9 +171,9 @@ fi
             midtol=$(get_perfect_tolerance $idx)
             #echo "zone ${zname[$idx]} temp ${ztemp[$idx]} mid is $mid   midtol is $midtol perfect is >= $(echo "$mid - $midtol" | bc)"
             if [[ $airconmode == "heat" ]]; then
-                thisperfect=$(echo "${ztemp[$idx]} >= (${mid} - ${midtol})" | bc)
+                thisperfect=$(echo "${ztemp[$idx]} >= (${mid} + ${midtol})" | bc)
             elif [[ $airconmode == "cool" ]]; then
-                thisperfect=$(echo "${ztemp[$idx]} <= (${mid} + ${midtol})" | bc)
+                thisperfect=$(echo "${ztemp[$idx]} <= (${mid} - ${midtol})" | bc)
             fi
             fi
         fi
@@ -376,6 +376,7 @@ function generate_actions() {    # populates global: nairconcommands & airconcmd
     local globaction mzmustmove poss nomyzone
     local db
     db=0
+    [[ $cronmode -eq 0 && $logmode -eq 0 ]] && echo -en "${GREEN}${BOLD}>> ${PLAIN}${GREEN}Determining actions... ${PLAIN}"
 
     nairconcommands=0
     powerchange=""
@@ -595,6 +596,7 @@ function generate_actions() {    # populates global: nairconcommands & airconcmd
     if [[ -n $globaction ]]; then
             gen_aircon_command -1 ${globaction}
     fi
+    echo -e "${GREEN}${BOLD}ok${PLAIN}"
 }
 
 # gen_aircon_command zone_idx "command1 command2 etc"
@@ -936,6 +938,7 @@ function load_config() {
     local cond allconds x
     local db
     parse_config || return 1
+    [[ $cronmode -eq 0 && $logmode -eq 0 ]] && echo -en "${GREEN}${BOLD}>> ${PLAIN}${GREEN}Loading config file... ${PLAIN}"
     db=0
     rv=0
     while read line; do
@@ -979,6 +982,13 @@ function load_config() {
             fi
         fi
     done < "$CONFIGFILE"
+    if [[ $cronmode -eq 0 && $logmode -eq 0 ]]; then
+        if [[ $rv -eq 0 ]]; then
+            echo -e "${GREEN}${BOLD}ok${PLAIN}"
+        else
+            echo -e "${RED}${BOLD}fail${PLAIN}"
+        fi
+    fi
     return $rv
 }
 
@@ -1165,6 +1175,7 @@ function parse_config() {
     local config_human line_human errstr
     local ign="" thisignored=0 oneof
 
+    [[ $cronmode -eq 0 && $logmode -eq 0 ]] && echo -en "${GREEN}${BOLD}>> ${PLAIN}${GREEN}Parsing config file... ${PLAIN}"
     if [[ -n $1 ]]; then
         show=$1
     fi
@@ -1194,7 +1205,6 @@ function parse_config() {
                 fi
             fi
 
-
             IFS=' ' read -ra tok <<< "$line"
             if [[ ${tok[0]} == "temp" ]]; then
                 local min max
@@ -1266,6 +1276,7 @@ function parse_config() {
     done < "$CONFIGFILE"
 
     if [[ $fileok -eq 1 ]]; then
+        [[ $cronmode -eq 0 && $logmode -eq 0 ]] && echo -e "${GREEN}${BOLD}ok${PLAIN}"
         if [[ $show -eq 2 ]]; then
             echo -e "${config_human}"
         elif [[ $show -eq 1 ]]; then
@@ -1273,6 +1284,7 @@ function parse_config() {
         fi
         rv=0
     else
+        [[ $cronmode -eq 0 && $logmode -eq 0 ]] && echo -e "${RED}${BOLD}fail${PLAIN}"
         error "Configuration file is invalid:"
         echo -e "${RED}$errstr${plainc}" | sed -e 's/^/   /'
         rv=1
@@ -1280,32 +1292,47 @@ function parse_config() {
     return $rv
 }
 
-# if we can ping any of the args, return ok
+# if we can ping ANY of the args, return ok
 function canping() {
-    local ip db host thisrv mac
+    local n hname ip db host success=0 mac
     local os
     os=$(uname -s)
     db=0
+    # get ip and clear arp
+    n=0
     for host in $*; do
+        hname[$n]="$host"
         if [[ $os == "Darwin" ]]; then
-            ip=$(dscacheutil -q host -a name $host | grep ^ip_address: | awk '{ print $NF}')
+            ip[$n]=$(dscacheutil -q host -a name $host | grep ^ip_address: | awk '{ print $NF}')
         else
-            ip=$(getent hosts $host | grep -v :)
+            ip[$n]=$(getent hosts $host | grep -v : | awk '{ print $1 }')
         fi
-        ip=${ip%% *}
-        if [[ -z $ip ]]; then
-            thisrv=1
-        else
-            arp -d $ip >/dev/null 2>&1
-            #ping -c1 -w1 -n -q $ip >/dev/null 2>&1 &
-            arping -c10 -W0.1 -w3 -C1 -q ${ip} 2>/dev/null
-            sleep 0.3
-            mac=$(arp -n $ip)
-            mac=$(echo "$mac" | egrep -v "Host|xpired" | awk '{print $2}')
-            [[ $mac == *:* ]] && thisrv=0 || thisrv=1
+        if [[ -n ${ip[$n]} ]]; then
+            arp -d ${ip[$n]} >/dev/null 2>&1
         fi
-        [[ $db -eq 1 ]] && info "canping() $host ($ip) is $thisrv - mac=$mac"
-        if [[ $thisrv -eq 0 ]]; then
+    done
+
+    # send new arp req
+    for n in ${!ip[@]}; do
+        if [[ -n ${ip[$n]} ]]; then
+            arping -c10 -W0.1 -w4 -C1 -q ${ip[$n]} 2>/dev/null &
+        fi
+    done
+
+    # wait for arp replies or timeout
+    wait
+    sleep 0.4
+
+    # now check entries
+    for n in ${!ip[@]}; do
+        if [[ -n ${ip[$n]} ]]; then
+            mac=$(arp -n ${ip[$n]})
+            #mac=$(arp -n $ip | egrep -v "Host|xpired" | awk '{print $2}')
+            #[[ $mac == *:* ]] && thisrv=0
+            [[ $? -eq 0 ]] && success=1
+        fi
+        [[ $db -eq 1 ]] && info "canping() ${hname[$n]} (${ip[$n]}) is $success - mac=$mac"
+        if [[ $success -eq 1 ]]; then
             return 0
         fi
     done
@@ -1878,10 +1905,10 @@ else
 fi
 
 # ping all hosts in background to populate arp table
-for x in ${devices}; do
-    ping -c1 -w1 -n -q $ip >/dev/null 2>&1 &
-done
-wait
+#for x in ${devices}; do
+#    ping -c1 -w1 -n -q $ip >/dev/null 2>&1 &
+#done
+#wait
 
 if [[ $robtest -eq 1 ]]; then
     for x in ${!zname[@]}; do
@@ -1915,6 +1942,7 @@ if [[ $showwho -eq 1 ]]; then
     echo
     exit 0
 elif [[ $showwho -eq 2 ]]; then
+    [[ $cronmode -eq 0 && $logmode -eq 0 ]] && echo -en "${GREEN}${BOLD}>> ${PLAIN}${GREEN}Querying zone owners... ${PLAIN}"
     # get max device hostname length
     maxlen=1
     for x in ${ownerhost[@]}; do
@@ -1925,23 +1953,31 @@ elif [[ $showwho -eq 2 ]]; then
     HFORMAT="%-${maxlen}s${GREEN}%-16s${PLAIN}%s\n"
     AFORMAT="%-${maxlen}s${RED}%-16s${PLAIN}%s\n"
     alldevs=$(echo "${ownerhost[@]}" | tr ' ' '\n' | sort -u | tr '\n' ' ')
+
+    for x in $alldevs; do
+        canping ${x} >/dev/null 2>&1
+        pingres[$x]=$?
+    done
+
+    [[ $cronmode -eq 0 && $logmode -eq 0 ]] && echo -e "${GREEN}${BOLD}ok${PLAIN}"
     echo
+
     printf "$TFORMAT" "Devices" "Availability" "Zones owned"
     for x in $alldevs; do
-        if canping ${x}; then
+        if [[ ${pingres[$x]} -eq 0 ]]; then
             thisform="$HFORMAT"
             str="Available"
         else
             thisform="$AFORMAT"
             str="Unavailable"
         fi
-	unset mydevs || declare -a mydevs
+        unset mydevs || declare -a mydevs
         for i in ${!ownerzone[@]}; do
             if [[ ${ownerhost[$i]} == *${x}* ]]; then
                 mydevs+=("${ownerzone[$i]}")
-	    fi
-	done
-	allmydevs=$(echo "${mydevs[@]}" | tr '\n' ' ')
+            fi
+        done
+        allmydevs=$(echo "${mydevs[@]}" | tr '\n' ' ')
         printf "$thisform" "${x}" "$str" "${allmydevs}"
     done
     echo