diff --git a/core b/core
index ad2b82a..7962fea 160000
--- a/core
+++ b/core
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit ad2b82afa454a6c329953bb256e692691e5fd471
+Subproject commit 7962fea2442ec51c1e1b30b2822b11959bbbf7d6
diff --git a/drawing/Pacman.lua b/drawing/Pacman.lua
index 71dba01..e6c90da 100644
--- a/drawing/Pacman.lua
+++ b/drawing/Pacman.lua
@@ -8,8 +8,6 @@ local Util			= require 'Util'
 local __string_match = string.match
 local __string_gmatch = string.gmatch
 
-local STATS_FILE = '/tmp/.conky_pacman'
-
 local _TEXT_SPACING_ = 20
 
 local header = _G_Widget_.Header{
@@ -40,11 +38,11 @@ local info = _G_Widget_.TextColumn{
 
 _TEXT_SPACING_ = nil
 
-local update = function(cr)
-   local stats = __string_match(Util.read_file(STATS_FILE), '%d+%s+(.*)$')
+local update = function(cr, pacman_stats)
+   local stats = __string_match(pacman_stats, '%d+%s+[^%s]+%s+[^%s]+%s+(.*)$')
    if stats then
       local i = 1
-      for v in __string_gmatch(stats, '[^%s]+') do
+      for v in __string_gmatch(stats, '%d+') do
          TextColumn.set(info, cr, i, v)
          i = i + 1
       end
@@ -61,9 +59,8 @@ local draw_static = function(cr)
    TextColumn.draw(labels, cr)
 end
 
-local draw_dynamic = function(cr, log_is_changed)
-   if log_is_changed then update(cr) end
-
+local draw_dynamic = function(cr, pacman_stats)
+   update(cr, pacman_stats)
    TextColumn.draw(info, cr)
 end
 
diff --git a/drawing/System.lua b/drawing/System.lua
index 5968190..2ffcddb 100644
--- a/drawing/System.lua
+++ b/drawing/System.lua
@@ -50,16 +50,15 @@ local draw_static = function(cr)
    TextColumn.draw(labels, cr)
 end
 
-local draw_dynamic = function(cr, log_is_changed)
+local draw_dynamic = function(cr, pacman_stats)
    TextColumn.set(info, cr, 2, Util.conky('$uptime'))
-   
-   if log_is_changed then
-	  TextColumn.set(info, cr, 3, extract_date("sed -n "..
-	    "'/ starting full system upgrade/p' /var/log/pacman.log | tail -1"))
-	  TextColumn.set(info, cr, 4, extract_date("sed -n "..
-		"'/ synchronizing package lists/p' /var/log/pacman.log | tail -1"))
+
+   if pacman_stats then
+      local last_update, last_sync = __string_match(pacman_stats, "^%d+%s+([^%s]+)%s+([^%s]+).*")
+      TextColumn.set(info, cr, 3, last_update)
+      TextColumn.set(info, cr, 4, last_sync)
    end
-   
+
    TextColumn.draw(info, cr)
 end
 
diff --git a/main.lua b/main.lua
index 8c48132..9a7da5e 100644
--- a/main.lua
+++ b/main.lua
@@ -172,26 +172,20 @@ local using_ac = function()
    return Util.read_file('/sys/class/power_supply/AC/online', nil, '*n') == 1
 end
 
-local LASTLOG_CMD = 'tail -1 /var/log/pacman.log'
-local current_last_log_entry = Util.execute_cmd(LASTLOG_CMD)
-
-local check_if_log_changed = function()
-   local new_last_log_entry = Util.execute_cmd(LASTLOG_CMD)
-   if new_last_log_entry == current_last_log_entry then return 1 end
-   current_last_log_entry = new_last_log_entry
-   return 0
-end
-
 --
 -- main loop
 --
 local updates = -2 -- this accounts for the first few spazzy iterations
 local __collectgarbage = collectgarbage
 
+local STATS_FILE = '/tmp/.conky_pacman'
+
 function conky_main()
    local _cw = conky_window
    if not _cw then return end
 
+   -- local time = os.clock()
+
    local cs = __cairo_xlib_surface_create(_cw.display, _cw.drawable,
 										  _cw.visual, 1920, 1080)
    local cr = __cairo_create(cs)
@@ -203,25 +197,17 @@ function conky_main()
 
    local t1 = updates % (UPDATE_FREQUENCY * 10)
 
-   local t2
    local is_using_ac = using_ac()
-   if is_using_ac then
-	  t2 = updates % (UPDATE_FREQUENCY * 60)
-   else
-	  t2 = updates % (UPDATE_FREQUENCY * 300)
-   end
+   local pacman_stats = Util.read_file(STATS_FILE)
 
-   local log_is_changed = false
-   if t2 == 0 then log_is_changed = check_if_log_changed() end
-
-   System.draw_dynamic(cr, log_is_changed)
+   System.draw_dynamic(cr, pacman_stats)
    Graphics.draw_dynamic(cr)
    Processor.draw_dynamic(cr)
 
    ReadWrite.draw_dynamic(cr, UPDATE_FREQUENCY)
    Network.draw_dynamic(cr, UPDATE_FREQUENCY)
 
-   Pacman.draw_dynamic(cr, log_is_changed)
+   Pacman.draw_dynamic(cr, pacman_stats)
    FileSystem.draw_dynamic(cr, t1)
    Power.draw_dynamic(cr, UPDATE_FREQUENCY, is_using_ac)
    Memory.draw_dynamic(cr)
@@ -229,4 +215,6 @@ function conky_main()
    __cairo_surface_destroy(cs)
    __cairo_destroy(cr)
    __collectgarbage()
+
+   -- print(os.clock() - time)
 end
diff --git a/scripts/pacman_stats b/scripts/pacman_stats
index d2f5e43..d108339 100755
--- a/scripts/pacman_stats
+++ b/scripts/pacman_stats
@@ -3,14 +3,24 @@
 stat_file=/tmp/.conky_pacman
 log_file=/var/log/pacman.log
 
+get_log_date() {
+    sed -n "s/\[\(.*\)\] \[PACMAN\] $1/\1/p" \
+    /var/log/pacman.log | \
+    tail -1 \
+    | { read -r f; date -d "$f" +%m-%d-%Y; }
+}
+
 write_stats() {
     now=$(date +%s)
+    last_upgrade=$(get_log_date "starting full system upgrade")
+    last_sync=$(get_log_date "synchronizing package lists")
     tot=$(pacman -Qq | wc -l)
     exp=$(pacman -Qeq | wc -l)
     out=$(pacman -Quq | wc -l)
     orp=$(pacman -Qdtq | wc -l)
     loc=$(pacman -Qmq | wc -l)
-    echo "$now" "$tot" "$exp" "$out" "$orp" "$loc" > "$stat_file"
+    echo "$now" "$last_upgrade" "$last_sync" "$tot" "$exp" "$out" \
+         "$orp" "$loc" > "$stat_file"
 }
 
 if [[ -f "$stat_file" ]]; then