diff --git a/.env b/.env.sample
similarity index 100%
rename from .env
rename to .env.sample
diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index c9e83a1..edb7703 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -406,7 +406,7 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "flodgatt"
-version = "0.8.3"
+version = "0.8.4"
 dependencies = [
  "criterion 0.3.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "dotenv 0.15.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 9828af0..0a75465 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 [package]
 name = "flodgatt"
 description = "A blazingly fast drop-in replacement for the Mastodon streaming api server"
-version = "0.8.3"
+version = "0.8.4"
 authors = ["Daniel Long Sockwell <daniel@codesections.com", "Julian Laubstein <contact@julianlaubstein.de>"]
 edition = "2018"
 
diff --git a/src/config.rs b/src/config.rs
index 96e32bd..5ade175 100644
--- a/src/config.rs
+++ b/src/config.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 pub use {deployment_cfg::Deployment, postgres_cfg::Postgres, redis_cfg::Redis};
 
 use self::environmental_variables::EnvVar;
-use super::err;
+use super::err::FatalErr;
 use hashbrown::HashMap;
 use std::env;
 
@@ -13,21 +13,45 @@ mod postgres_cfg_types;
 mod redis_cfg;
 mod redis_cfg_types;
 
-pub fn merge_dotenv() -> Result<(), err::FatalErr> {
-    dotenv::from_filename(match env::var("ENV").ok().as_deref() {
+type Result<T> = std::result::Result<T, FatalErr>;
+
+pub fn merge_dotenv() -> Result<()> {
+    let env_file = match env::var("ENV").ok().as_deref() {
         Some("production") => ".env.production",
         Some("development") | None => ".env",
-        Some(_unsupported) => Err(err::FatalErr::Unknown)?, // TODO make more specific
-    })?;
+        Some(v) => Err(FatalErr::config("ENV", v, "`production` or `development`"))?,
+    };
+    let res = dotenv::from_filename(env_file);
+
+    if let Ok(log_level) = env::var("RUST_LOG") {
+        if res.is_err() && ["warn", "info", "trace", "debug"].contains(&log_level.as_str()) {
+            eprintln!(
+                 " WARN: could not load environmental variables from {:?}\n\
+                  {:8}Are you in the right directory?  Proceeding with variables from the environment.",
+                env::current_dir().unwrap_or_else(|_|"./".into()).join(env_file), ""
+
+            );
+        }
+    }
     Ok(())
 }
 
-pub fn from_env<'a>(env_vars: HashMap<String, String>) -> (Postgres, Redis, Deployment<'a>) {
+#[allow(clippy::implicit_hasher)]
+pub fn from_env<'a>(
+    env_vars: HashMap<String, String>,
+) -> Result<(Postgres, Redis, Deployment<'a>)> {
     let env_vars = EnvVar::new(env_vars);
-    log::info!("Environmental variables Flodgatt received: {}", &env_vars);
-    (
-        Postgres::from_env(env_vars.clone()),
-        Redis::from_env(env_vars.clone()),
-        Deployment::from_env(env_vars.clone()),
-    )
+    log::info!(
+        "Flodgatt received the following environmental variables:{}",
+        &env_vars
+    );
+
+    let pg_cfg = Postgres::from_env(env_vars.clone())?;
+    log::info!("Configuration for {:#?}", &pg_cfg);
+    let redis_cfg = Redis::from_env(env_vars.clone())?;
+    log::info!("Configuration for {:#?},", &redis_cfg);
+    let deployment_cfg = Deployment::from_env(&env_vars)?;
+    log::info!("Configuration for {:#?}", &deployment_cfg);
+
+    Ok((pg_cfg, redis_cfg, deployment_cfg))
 }
diff --git a/src/config/deployment_cfg.rs b/src/config/deployment_cfg.rs
index bda63c7..90b64a2 100644
--- a/src/config/deployment_cfg.rs
+++ b/src/config/deployment_cfg.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 use super::{deployment_cfg_types::*, EnvVar};
+use crate::err::FatalErr;
 
 #[derive(Debug, Default)]
 pub struct Deployment<'a> {
@@ -14,20 +15,19 @@ pub struct Deployment<'a> {
 }
 
 impl Deployment<'_> {
-    pub fn from_env(env: EnvVar) -> Self {
+    pub fn from_env(env: &EnvVar) -> Result<Self, FatalErr> {
         let mut cfg = Self {
-            env: Env::default().maybe_update(env.get("NODE_ENV")),
-            log_level: LogLevel::default().maybe_update(env.get("RUST_LOG")),
-            address: FlodgattAddr::default().maybe_update(env.get("BIND")),
-            port: Port::default().maybe_update(env.get("PORT")),
-            unix_socket: Socket::default().maybe_update(env.get("SOCKET")),
-            sse_interval: SseInterval::default().maybe_update(env.get("SSE_FREQ")),
-            ws_interval: WsInterval::default().maybe_update(env.get("WS_FREQ")),
-            whitelist_mode: WhitelistMode::default().maybe_update(env.get("WHITELIST_MODE")),
+            env: Env::default().maybe_update(env.get("NODE_ENV"))?,
+            log_level: LogLevel::default().maybe_update(env.get("RUST_LOG"))?,
+            address: FlodgattAddr::default().maybe_update(env.get("BIND"))?,
+            port: Port::default().maybe_update(env.get("PORT"))?,
+            unix_socket: Socket::default().maybe_update(env.get("SOCKET"))?,
+            sse_interval: SseInterval::default().maybe_update(env.get("SSE_FREQ"))?,
+            ws_interval: WsInterval::default().maybe_update(env.get("WS_FREQ"))?,
+            whitelist_mode: WhitelistMode::default().maybe_update(env.get("WHITELIST_MODE"))?,
             cors: Cors::default(),
         };
-        cfg.env = cfg.env.maybe_update(env.get("RUST_ENV"));
-        log::info!("Using deployment configuration:\n {:#?}", &cfg);
-        cfg
+        cfg.env = cfg.env.maybe_update(env.get("RUST_ENV"))?;
+        Ok(cfg)
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/config/deployment_cfg_types.rs b/src/config/deployment_cfg_types.rs
index aaa7996..d0ac979 100644
--- a/src/config/deployment_cfg_types.rs
+++ b/src/config/deployment_cfg_types.rs
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ from_env_var!(
 from_env_var!(
     /// The address to run Flodgatt on
     let name = FlodgattAddr;
-    let default: IpAddr = IpAddr::V4("127.0.0.1".parse().expect("hardcoded"));
+    let default: IpAddr = IpAddr::V4(Ipv4Addr::new(127, 0, 0, 1));
     let (env_var, allowed_values) = ("BIND", "a valid address (e.g., 127.0.0.1)");
     let from_str = |s| match s {
         "localhost" => Some(IpAddr::V4(Ipv4Addr::LOCALHOST)),
diff --git a/src/config/environmental_variables.rs b/src/config/environmental_variables.rs
index 6df89f0..286e3a5 100644
--- a/src/config/environmental_variables.rs
+++ b/src/config/environmental_variables.rs
@@ -25,17 +25,6 @@ impl EnvVar {
             self.0.insert(key.to_string(), value.to_string());
         }
     }
-
-    pub fn err(env_var: &str, supplied_value: &str, allowed_values: &str) -> ! {
-        log::error!(
-            r"{var} is set to `{value}`, which is invalid.
-             {var} must be {allowed_vals}.",
-            var = env_var,
-            value = supplied_value,
-            allowed_vals = allowed_values
-        );
-        std::process::exit(1);
-    }
 }
 impl fmt::Display for EnvVar {
     fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
@@ -98,7 +87,7 @@ macro_rules! from_env_var {
         #[derive(Clone)]
         pub struct $name(pub $type);
         impl std::fmt::Debug for $name {
-            fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
+            fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter) -> std::fmt::Result {
                 write!(f, "{:?}", self.0)
             }
         }
@@ -117,14 +106,14 @@ macro_rules! from_env_var {
             fn inner_from_str($arg: &str) -> Option<$type> {
                 $body
             }
-            pub fn maybe_update(self, var: Option<&String>) -> Self {
-                match var {
+            pub fn maybe_update(self, var: Option<&String>) -> Result<Self, crate::err::FatalErr> {
+                Ok(match var {
                     Some(empty_string) if empty_string.is_empty() => Self::default(),
-                    Some(value) => Self(Self::inner_from_str(value).unwrap_or_else(|| {
-                        crate::config::EnvVar::err($env_var, value, $allowed_values)
-                    })),
+                    Some(value) => Self(Self::inner_from_str(value).ok_or_else(|| {
+                        crate::err::FatalErr::config($env_var, value, $allowed_values)
+                    })?),
                     None => self,
-                }
+                })
             }
         }
     };
diff --git a/src/config/postgres_cfg.rs b/src/config/postgres_cfg.rs
index ef26f65..63f3443 100644
--- a/src/config/postgres_cfg.rs
+++ b/src/config/postgres_cfg.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,11 @@
 use super::{postgres_cfg_types::*, EnvVar};
+use crate::err::FatalErr;
+
 use url::Url;
 use urlencoding;
 
+type Result<T> = std::result::Result<T, FatalErr>;
+
 #[derive(Debug, Clone)]
 pub struct Postgres {
     pub user: PgUser,
@@ -13,8 +17,8 @@ pub struct Postgres {
 }
 
 impl EnvVar {
-    fn update_with_postgres_url(mut self, url_str: &str) -> Self {
-        let url = Url::parse(url_str).unwrap();
+    fn update_with_postgres_url(mut self, url_str: &str) -> Result<Self> {
+        let url = Url::parse(url_str)?;
         let none_if_empty = |s: String| if s.is_empty() { None } else { Some(s) };
 
         for (k, v) in url.query_pairs().into_owned() {
@@ -23,11 +27,11 @@ impl EnvVar {
                 "password" => self.maybe_add_env_var("DB_PASS", Some(v.to_string())),
                 "host" => self.maybe_add_env_var("DB_HOST", Some(v.to_string())),
                 "sslmode" => self.maybe_add_env_var("DB_SSLMODE", Some(v.to_string())),
-                _ => crate::err::die_with_msg(format!(
-                    r"Unsupported parameter {} in POSTGRES_URL
-             Flodgatt supports only `password`, `user`, `host`, and `sslmode` parameters",
-                    k
-                )),
+                _ => Err(FatalErr::config(
+                    "POSTGRES_URL",
+                    &k,
+                    "a URL with parameters `password`, `user`, `host`, and `sslmode` only",
+                ))?,
             }
         }
 
@@ -35,42 +39,39 @@ impl EnvVar {
         self.maybe_add_env_var("DB_PASS", url.password());
         self.maybe_add_env_var(
             "DB_HOST",
-            url.host().map(|h| {
-                urlencoding::decode(&h.to_string()).expect("Non-Unicode text in hostname")
-            }),
+            url.host()
+                .map(|host| urlencoding::decode(&host.to_string()))
+                .transpose()?,
         );
         self.maybe_add_env_var("DB_USER", none_if_empty(url.username().to_string()));
         self.maybe_add_env_var("DB_NAME", none_if_empty(url.path()[1..].to_string()));
-
-        self
+        Ok(self)
     }
 }
 
 impl Postgres {
     /// Configure Postgres and return a connection
-
-    pub fn from_env(env: EnvVar) -> Self {
+    pub fn from_env(env: EnvVar) -> Result<Self> {
         let env = match env.get("DATABASE_URL").cloned() {
-            Some(url_str) => env.update_with_postgres_url(&url_str),
+            Some(url_str) => env.update_with_postgres_url(&url_str)?,
             None => env,
         };
 
         let cfg = Self {
-            user: PgUser::default().maybe_update(env.get("DB_USER")),
-            host: PgHost::default().maybe_update(env.get("DB_HOST")),
-            password: PgPass::default().maybe_update(env.get("DB_PASS")),
-            database: PgDatabase::default().maybe_update(env.get("DB_NAME")),
-            port: PgPort::default().maybe_update(env.get("DB_PORT")),
-            ssl_mode: PgSslMode::default().maybe_update(env.get("DB_SSLMODE")),
+            user: PgUser::default().maybe_update(env.get("DB_USER"))?,
+            host: PgHost::default().maybe_update(env.get("DB_HOST"))?,
+            password: PgPass::default().maybe_update(env.get("DB_PASS"))?,
+            database: PgDatabase::default().maybe_update(env.get("DB_NAME"))?,
+            port: PgPort::default().maybe_update(env.get("DB_PORT"))?,
+            ssl_mode: PgSslMode::default().maybe_update(env.get("DB_SSLMODE"))?,
         };
-        log::info!("Postgres configuration:\n{:#?}", &cfg);
-        cfg
+        Ok(cfg)
     }
 
     //     // use openssl::ssl::{SslConnector, SslMethod};
     //     // use postgres_openssl::MakeTlsConnector;
-    //     // let mut builder = SslConnector::builder(SslMethod::tls()).unwrap();
-    //     // builder.set_ca_file("/etc/ssl/cert.pem").unwrap();
+    //     // let mut builder = SslConnector::builder(SslMethod::tls())?;
+    //     // builder.set_ca_file("/etc/ssl/cert.pem")?;
     //     // let connector = MakeTlsConnector::new(builder.build());
     //     // TODO: add TLS support, remove `NoTls`
 }
diff --git a/src/config/redis_cfg.rs b/src/config/redis_cfg.rs
index 4954f8d..694678f 100644
--- a/src/config/redis_cfg.rs
+++ b/src/config/redis_cfg.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,11 @@
 use super::redis_cfg_types::*;
-use crate::config::EnvVar;
+use super::EnvVar;
+use crate::err::FatalErr;
+
 use url::Url;
 
+type Result<T> = std::result::Result<T, FatalErr>;
+
 #[derive(Debug, Default)]
 pub struct Redis {
     pub user: RedisUser,
@@ -17,8 +21,8 @@ pub struct Redis {
 }
 
 impl EnvVar {
-    fn update_with_redis_url(mut self, url_str: &str) -> Self {
-        let url = Url::parse(url_str).unwrap();
+    fn update_with_redis_url(mut self, url_str: &str) -> Result<Self> {
+        let url = Url::parse(url_str)?;
         let none_if_empty = |s: String| if s.is_empty() { None } else { Some(s) };
 
         self.maybe_add_env_var("REDIS_PORT", url.port());
@@ -29,14 +33,14 @@ impl EnvVar {
             match k.to_string().as_str() {
                 "password" => self.maybe_add_env_var("REDIS_PASSWORD", Some(v.to_string())),
                 "db" => self.maybe_add_env_var("REDIS_DB", Some(v.to_string())),
-                _ => crate::err::die_with_msg(format!(
-                    r"Unsupported parameter {} in REDIS_URL.
-             Flodgatt supports only `password` and `db` parameters.",
-                    k
-                )),
+                _ => Err(FatalErr::config(
+                    "REDIS_URL",
+                    &k,
+                    "a URL with parameters `password`, `db`,  only",
+                ))?,
             }
         }
-        self
+        Ok(self)
     }
 }
 
@@ -46,20 +50,20 @@ impl Redis {
     const DB_SET_WARNING: &'static str = r"Redis database specified, but PubSub connections do not use databases.
 For similar functionality, you may wish to set a REDIS_NAMESPACE";
 
-    pub fn from_env(env: EnvVar) -> Self {
+    pub fn from_env(env: EnvVar) -> Result<Self> {
         let env = match env.get("REDIS_URL").cloned() {
-            Some(url_str) => env.update_with_redis_url(&url_str),
+            Some(url_str) => env.update_with_redis_url(&url_str)?,
             None => env,
         };
 
         let cfg = Redis {
-            user: RedisUser::default().maybe_update(env.get("REDIS_USER")),
-            password: RedisPass::default().maybe_update(env.get("REDIS_PASSWORD")),
-            port: RedisPort::default().maybe_update(env.get("REDIS_PORT")),
-            host: RedisHost::default().maybe_update(env.get("REDIS_HOST")),
-            db: RedisDb::default().maybe_update(env.get("REDIS_DB")),
-            namespace: RedisNamespace::default().maybe_update(env.get("REDIS_NAMESPACE")),
-            polling_interval: RedisInterval::default().maybe_update(env.get("REDIS_FREQ")),
+            user: RedisUser::default().maybe_update(env.get("REDIS_USER"))?,
+            password: RedisPass::default().maybe_update(env.get("REDIS_PASSWORD"))?,
+            port: RedisPort::default().maybe_update(env.get("REDIS_PORT"))?,
+            host: RedisHost::default().maybe_update(env.get("REDIS_HOST"))?,
+            db: RedisDb::default().maybe_update(env.get("REDIS_DB"))?,
+            namespace: RedisNamespace::default().maybe_update(env.get("REDIS_NAMESPACE"))?,
+            polling_interval: RedisInterval::default().maybe_update(env.get("REDIS_FREQ"))?,
         };
 
         if cfg.db.is_some() {
@@ -68,7 +72,6 @@ For similar functionality, you may wish to set a REDIS_NAMESPACE";
         if cfg.user.is_some() {
             log::warn!("{}", Self::USER_SET_WARNING);
         }
-        log::info!("Redis configuration:\n{:#?},", &cfg);
-        cfg
+        Ok(cfg)
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/err.rs b/src/err.rs
index 5386d92..557a2bf 100644
--- a/src/err.rs
+++ b/src/err.rs
@@ -3,17 +3,27 @@ use crate::response::ManagerErr;
 use std::fmt;
 
 pub enum FatalErr {
-    Unknown,
     ReceiverErr(ManagerErr),
-    DotEnv(dotenv::Error),
     Logger(log::SetLoggerError),
     Postgres(RequestErr),
+    Unrecoverable,
+    StdIo(std::io::Error),
+    // config errs
+    UrlParse(url::ParseError),
+    UrlEncoding(urlencoding::FromUrlEncodingError),
+    ConfigErr(String),
 }
 
 impl FatalErr {
-    pub fn exit(msg: impl fmt::Display) {
+    pub fn log(msg: impl fmt::Display) {
         eprintln!("{}", msg);
-        std::process::exit(1);
+    }
+
+    pub fn config<T: fmt::Display>(var: T, value: T, allowed_vals: T) -> Self {
+        Self::ConfigErr(format!(
+            "{0} is set to `{1}`, which is invalid.\n{3:7}{0} must be {2}.",
+            var, value, allowed_vals, ""
+        ))
     }
 }
 
@@ -31,11 +41,14 @@ impl fmt::Display for FatalErr {
             f,
             "{}",
             match self {
-                Unknown => "Flodgatt encountered an unknown, unrecoverable error".into(),
                 ReceiverErr(e) => format!("{}", e),
                 Logger(e) => format!("{}", e),
-                DotEnv(e) => format!("Could not load specified environmental file: {}", e),
-                Postgres(e) => format!("Could not connect to Postgres: {}", e),
+                StdIo(e) => format!("{}", e),
+                Postgres(e) => format!("could not connect to Postgres.\n{:7}{}", "", e),
+                ConfigErr(e) => e.to_string(),
+                UrlParse(e) => format!("could parse Postgres URL.\n{:7}{}", "", e),
+                UrlEncoding(e) => format!("could not parse POSTGRES_URL.\n{:7}{:?}", "", e),
+                Unrecoverable => "Flodgatt will now shut down.".into(),
             }
         )
     }
@@ -47,26 +60,28 @@ impl From<RequestErr> for FatalErr {
     }
 }
 
-impl From<dotenv::Error> for FatalErr {
-    fn from(e: dotenv::Error) -> Self {
-        Self::DotEnv(e)
-    }
-}
-
 impl From<ManagerErr> for FatalErr {
     fn from(e: ManagerErr) -> Self {
         Self::ReceiverErr(e)
     }
 }
-
+impl From<urlencoding::FromUrlEncodingError> for FatalErr {
+    fn from(e: urlencoding::FromUrlEncodingError) -> Self {
+        Self::UrlEncoding(e)
+    }
+}
+impl From<url::ParseError> for FatalErr {
+    fn from(e: url::ParseError) -> Self {
+        Self::UrlParse(e)
+    }
+}
+impl From<std::io::Error> for FatalErr {
+    fn from(e: std::io::Error) -> Self {
+        Self::StdIo(e)
+    }
+}
 impl From<log::SetLoggerError> for FatalErr {
     fn from(e: log::SetLoggerError) -> Self {
         Self::Logger(e)
     }
 }
-
-// TODO delete vvvv when postgres_cfg.rs has better error handling
-pub fn die_with_msg(msg: impl fmt::Display) -> ! {
-    eprintln!("FATAL ERROR: {}", msg);
-    std::process::exit(1);
-}
diff --git a/src/event/dynamic_event.rs b/src/event/dynamic_event.rs
index d13b445..cdd0110 100644
--- a/src/event/dynamic_event.rs
+++ b/src/event/dynamic_event.rs
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ type Result<T> = std::result::Result<T, EventErr>;
 impl DynEvent {
     pub fn set_update(self) -> Result<Self> {
         if self.event == "update" {
-            let kind = EventKind::Update(DynStatus::new(self.payload.clone())?);
+            let kind = EventKind::Update(DynStatus::new(&self.payload.clone())?);
             Ok(Self { kind, ..self })
         } else {
             Ok(self)
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ impl DynEvent {
 }
 
 impl DynStatus {
-    pub fn new(payload: Value) -> Result<Self> {
+    pub fn new(payload: &Value) -> Result<Self> {
         use EventErr::*;
 
         Ok(Self {
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ impl DynStatus {
                 .as_str()
                 .ok_or(DynParse)?
                 .to_string(),
-            language: payload["language"].as_str().map(|s| s.to_string()),
+            language: payload["language"].as_str().map(String::from),
             mentioned_users: HashSet::new(),
             replied_to_user: Id::try_from(&payload["in_reply_to_account_id"]).ok(),
             boosted_user: Id::try_from(&payload["reblog"]["account"]["id"]).ok(),
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index a48001b..f0731ca 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
 
 //#![warn(clippy::pedantic)]
 #![allow(clippy::try_err, clippy::match_bool)]
+//#![allow(clippy::large_enum_variant)]
 
 pub mod config;
 pub mod err;
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 77c192c..aef8519 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -19,20 +19,19 @@ use warp::Filter;
 fn main() -> Result<(), FatalErr> {
     config::merge_dotenv()?;
     pretty_env_logger::try_init()?;
-    let (postgres_cfg, redis_cfg, cfg) = config::from_env(dotenv::vars().collect());
+    let (postgres_cfg, redis_cfg, cfg) = config::from_env(dotenv::vars().collect())?;
+    let poll_freq = *redis_cfg.polling_interval;
 
     // Create channels to communicate between threads
     let (event_tx, event_rx) = watch::channel((Timeline::empty(), Event::Ping));
     let (cmd_tx, cmd_rx) = mpsc::unbounded_channel();
 
-    let request = Handler::new(postgres_cfg, *cfg.whitelist_mode)?;
-    let poll_freq = *redis_cfg.polling_interval;
-    let shared_manager = redis::Manager::try_from(redis_cfg, event_tx, cmd_rx)?.into_arc();
+    let request = Handler::new(&postgres_cfg, *cfg.whitelist_mode)?;
+    let shared_manager = redis::Manager::try_from(&redis_cfg, event_tx, cmd_rx)?.into_arc();
 
     // Server Sent Events
     let sse_manager = shared_manager.clone();
     let (sse_rx, sse_cmd_tx) = (event_rx.clone(), cmd_tx.clone());
-
     let sse = request
         .sse_subscription()
         .and(warp::sse())
@@ -85,8 +84,7 @@ fn main() -> Result<(), FatalErr> {
             .map_err(|e| log::error!("{}", e))
             .for_each(move |_| {
                 let mut manager = manager.lock().unwrap_or_else(redis::Manager::recover);
-                manager.poll_broadcast().unwrap_or_else(FatalErr::exit);
-                Ok(())
+                manager.poll_broadcast().map_err(FatalErr::log)
             });
         warp::spawn(lazy(move || stream));
         warp::serve(ws.or(sse).with(cors).or(status).recover(Handler::err))
@@ -95,13 +93,13 @@ fn main() -> Result<(), FatalErr> {
     if let Some(socket) = &*cfg.unix_socket {
         log::info!("Using Unix socket {}", socket);
         fs::remove_file(socket).unwrap_or_default();
-        let incoming = UnixListener::bind(socket).expect("TODO").incoming();
-        fs::set_permissions(socket, PermissionsExt::from_mode(0o666)).expect("TODO");
+        let incoming = UnixListener::bind(socket)?.incoming();
+        fs::set_permissions(socket, PermissionsExt::from_mode(0o666))?;
 
         tokio::run(lazy(|| streaming_server().serve_incoming(incoming)));
     } else {
         let server_addr = SocketAddr::new(*cfg.address, *cfg.port);
         tokio::run(lazy(move || streaming_server().bind(server_addr)));
     }
-    Ok(())
+    Err(FatalErr::Unrecoverable) // on get here if there's an unrecoverable error in poll_broadcast.
 }
diff --git a/src/request.rs b/src/request.rs
index 7d1eab3..4b5a0f1 100644
--- a/src/request.rs
+++ b/src/request.rs
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ pub struct Handler {
 }
 
 impl Handler {
-    pub fn new(postgres_cfg: config::Postgres, whitelist_mode: bool) -> Result<Self> {
+    pub fn new(postgres_cfg: &config::Postgres, whitelist_mode: bool) -> Result<Self> {
         Ok(Self {
             pg_conn: PgPool::new(postgres_cfg, whitelist_mode)?,
         })
diff --git a/src/request/err.rs b/src/request/err.rs
index d1d62ca..becc627 100644
--- a/src/request/err.rs
+++ b/src/request/err.rs
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ use std::fmt;
 pub enum RequestErr {
     Unknown,
     PgPool(r2d2::Error),
+    Pg(postgres::Error),
 }
 
 impl std::error::Error for RequestErr {}
@@ -13,6 +14,7 @@ impl fmt::Display for RequestErr {
         let msg = match self {
             Unknown => "Encountered an unrecoverable error related to handling a request".into(),
             PgPool(e) => format!("{}", e),
+            Pg(e) => format!("{}", e),
         };
         write!(f, "{}", msg)
     }
@@ -23,3 +25,8 @@ impl From<r2d2::Error> for RequestErr {
         Self::PgPool(e)
     }
 }
+impl From<postgres::Error> for RequestErr {
+    fn from(e: postgres::Error) -> Self {
+        Self::Pg(e)
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/request/postgres.rs b/src/request/postgres.rs
index c427c93..16ac785 100644
--- a/src/request/postgres.rs
+++ b/src/request/postgres.rs
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ type Result<T> = std::result::Result<T, err::RequestErr>;
 type Rejectable<T> = std::result::Result<T, warp::Rejection>;
 
 impl PgPool {
-    pub fn new(pg_cfg: config::Postgres, whitelist_mode: bool) -> Result<Self> {
+    pub fn new(pg_cfg: &config::Postgres, whitelist_mode: bool) -> Result<Self> {
         let mut cfg = postgres::Config::new();
         cfg.user(&pg_cfg.user)
             .host(&*pg_cfg.host.to_string())
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ impl PgPool {
             cfg.password(password);
         };
 
+        cfg.connect(postgres::NoTls)?; // Test connection, letting us immediately exit with an error
+                                       // when Postgres isn't running instead of timing out below
         let manager = PostgresConnectionManager::new(cfg, postgres::NoTls);
         let pool = r2d2::Pool::builder().max_size(10).build(manager)?;
 
diff --git a/src/response/redis.rs b/src/response/redis.rs
index 0a060d6..3405f62 100644
--- a/src/response/redis.rs
+++ b/src/response/redis.rs
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ pub enum RedisCmd {
 }
 
 impl RedisCmd {
-    pub fn into_sendable(&self, tl: &String) -> (Vec<u8>, Vec<u8>) {
+    pub fn into_sendable(self, tl: &str) -> (Vec<u8>, Vec<u8>) {
         match self {
             RedisCmd::Subscribe => (
                 format!("*2\r\n$9\r\nsubscribe\r\n${}\r\n{}\r\n", tl.len(), tl).into_bytes(),
diff --git a/src/response/redis/connection.rs b/src/response/redis/connection.rs
index 29d7ac6..58f142a 100644
--- a/src/response/redis/connection.rs
+++ b/src/response/redis/connection.rs
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ pub struct RedisConn {
 }
 
 impl RedisConn {
-    pub fn new(redis_cfg: Redis) -> Result<Self> {
+    pub fn new(redis_cfg: &Redis) -> Result<Self> {
         let addr = format!("{}:{}", *redis_cfg.host, *redis_cfg.port);
         let conn = Self::new_connection(&addr, redis_cfg.password.as_ref())?;
         conn.set_nonblocking(true)
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ impl RedisConn {
 
     pub fn poll_redis(&mut self) -> Poll<Option<(Timeline, Event)>, ManagerErr> {
         let mut size = 100; // large enough to handle subscribe/unsubscribe notice
-        let (mut buffer, mut first_read) = (vec![0u8; size], true);
+        let (mut buffer, mut first_read) = (vec![0_u8; size], true);
         loop {
             match self.primary.read(&mut buffer) {
                 Ok(n) if n != size => break self.redis_input.extend_from_slice(&buffer[..n]),
diff --git a/src/response/redis/manager.rs b/src/response/redis/manager.rs
index 04ea052..a51cacd 100644
--- a/src/response/redis/manager.rs
+++ b/src/response/redis/manager.rs
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ impl Manager {
     /// Create a new `Manager`, with its own Redis connections (but, as yet, no
     /// active subscriptions).
     pub fn try_from(
-        redis_cfg: config::Redis,
+        redis_cfg: &config::Redis,
         tx: watch::Sender<(Timeline, Event)>,
         rx: mpsc::UnboundedReceiver<Timeline>,
     ) -> Result<Self> {
@@ -99,11 +99,10 @@ impl Manager {
             self.tx.broadcast((Timeline::empty(), Event::Ping))?
         } else {
             match self.redis_connection.poll_redis() {
-                Ok(Async::NotReady) => (),
+                Ok(Async::NotReady) | Ok(Async::Ready(None)) => (), // None = cmd or msg for other namespace
                 Ok(Async::Ready(Some((timeline, event)))) => {
                     self.tx.broadcast((timeline, event))?
                 }
-                Ok(Async::Ready(None)) => (), // subscription cmd or msg for other namespace
                 Err(err) => log::error!("{}", err), // drop msg, log err, and proceed
             }
         }
diff --git a/src/response/stream/ws.rs b/src/response/stream/ws.rs
index 224cee7..354fccf 100644
--- a/src/response/stream/ws.rs
+++ b/src/response/stream/ws.rs
@@ -39,9 +39,11 @@ impl Ws {
                 .map_err(|_| -> warp::Error { unreachable!() })
                 .forward(transmit_to_ws)
                 .map(|_r| ())
-                .map_err(|e| match e.to_string().as_ref() {
-                    "IO error: Broken pipe (os error 32)" => (), // just closed unix socket
-                    _ => log::warn!("WebSocket send error: {}", e),
+                .map_err(|e| {
+                    match e.to_string().as_ref() {
+                        "IO error: Broken pipe (os error 32)" => (), // just closed unix socket
+                        _ => log::warn!("WebSocket send error: {}", e),
+                    }
                 }),
         );
 
@@ -50,7 +52,7 @@ impl Ws {
 
         incoming_events.for_each(move |(tl, event)| {
             if matches!(event, Event::Ping) {
-                self.send_msg(event)
+                self.send_msg(&event)
             } else if target_timeline == tl {
                 use crate::event::{CheckedEvent::Update, Event::*, EventKind};
                 use crate::request::Stream::Public;
@@ -61,18 +63,18 @@ impl Ws {
                     TypeSafe(Update { payload, queued_at }) => match tl {
                         Timeline(Public, _, _) if payload.language_not(allowed_langs) => Ok(()),
                         _ if payload.involves_any(&blocks) => Ok(()),
-                        _ => self.send_msg(TypeSafe(Update { payload, queued_at })),
+                        _ => self.send_msg(&TypeSafe(Update { payload, queued_at })),
                     },
-                    TypeSafe(non_update) => self.send_msg(TypeSafe(non_update)),
+                    TypeSafe(non_update) => self.send_msg(&TypeSafe(non_update)),
                     Dynamic(dyn_event) => {
                         if let EventKind::Update(s) = dyn_event.kind.clone() {
                             match tl {
                                 Timeline(Public, _, _) if s.language_not(allowed_langs) => Ok(()),
                                 _ if s.involves_any(&blocks) => Ok(()),
-                                _ => self.send_msg(Dynamic(dyn_event)),
+                                _ => self.send_msg(&Dynamic(dyn_event)),
                             }
                         } else {
-                            self.send_msg(Dynamic(dyn_event))
+                            self.send_msg(&Dynamic(dyn_event))
                         }
                     }
                     Ping => unreachable!(), // handled pings above
@@ -83,17 +85,14 @@ impl Ws {
         })
     }
 
-    fn send_msg(&mut self, event: Event) -> Result<(), ()> {
+    fn send_msg(&mut self, event: &Event) -> Result<(), ()> {
         let txt = &event.to_json_string();
         let tl = self.subscription.timeline;
-        match self.ws_tx.clone().ok_or(())?.try_send(Message::text(txt)) {
-            Ok(_) => Ok(()),
-            Err(_) => {
-                self.unsubscribe_tx
-                    .try_send(tl)
-                    .unwrap_or_else(|e| log::error!("could not unsubscribe from channel: {}", e));
-                Err(())
-            }
-        }
+        let mut channel = self.ws_tx.clone().ok_or(())?;
+        channel.try_send(Message::text(txt)).map_err(|_| {
+            self.unsubscribe_tx
+                .try_send(tl)
+                .unwrap_or_else(|e| log::error!("could not unsubscribe from channel: {}", e));
+        })
     }
 }