diff --git a/auxilary.py b/auxilary.py
index 91962bb..a6f4e2c 100644
--- a/auxilary.py
+++ b/auxilary.py
@@ -50,12 +50,14 @@ class CountdownTimer(Thread):
 	def __del__(self):
 		self.stop()
 		
-def waitForPath(path, timeout=30):
+def waitForPath(path, logger=None, timeout=30):
 	for i in range(0, timeout):
 		if os.path.exists(path):
 			return
 		time.sleep(1)
-	raise FileNotFoundError('Could not find {} after {} seconds'.format(path, timeout))
+	if logger:
+		logger.error('Could not find %s after %s seconds', path, timeout)
+	raise SystemExit
 
 # we shouldn't need this if we are disabling the usb hub globally and nuking any past connections
 #~ def freeBusyPath(path, logger=None):
diff --git a/listeners.py b/listeners.py
index d431553..425a469 100644
--- a/listeners.py
+++ b/listeners.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ class KeypadListener(Thread):
 		
 		devPath = '/dev/input/by-id/usb-04d9_1203-event-kbd'
 		
-		waitForPath(devPath)
+		waitForPath(devPath, logger)
 
 		self._dev = InputDevice(devPath)
 		self._dev.grab()
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ class KeypadListener(Thread):
 			self._dev.ungrab()
 			logger.debug('Released keypad device')
 		except IOError:
-			logger.debug('Failed to release keypad device')
+			logger.error('Failed to release keypad device')
 		except AttributeError:
 			pass
 			
diff --git a/sharedLogging.py b/sharedLogging.py
index 2392cd6..d97edbd 100644
--- a/sharedLogging.py
+++ b/sharedLogging.py
@@ -2,6 +2,15 @@ import logging, os
 from subprocess import run, PIPE, CalledProcessError
 from logging.handlers import TimedRotatingFileHandler
 
+"""
+Logger conventions
+- CRITICAL: for things that cause crashes. sends email
+- ERROR: for things that cause startup/shutdown issues
+- WARNING: for recoverable issues that may cause future problems
+- INFO: state changes and sensor readings
+- DEBUG: all extraneous crap
+"""
+
 # formats console output depending on whether we have gluster
 def _formatConsole(gluster = False):
 	c = '' if gluster else '[CONSOLE ONLY] '
@@ -33,7 +42,7 @@ class GlusterFSHandler(TimedRotatingFileHandler):
 		if not os.path.exists(logdest):
 			os.mkdir(logdest)
 		elif os.path.isfile(logdest):
-			logger.critical('%s is present but is a file (vs a directory). ' \
+			logger.error('%s is present but is a file (vs a directory). ' \
 				'Please (re)move this file to prevent data loss', logdest)
 			raise SystemExit
 		
@@ -62,10 +71,8 @@ class GlusterFSHandler(TimedRotatingFileHandler):
 		try:
 			run(cmd, check=True, stdout=PIPE, stderr=PIPE)
 		except CalledProcessError as e:
-			# we assume that this will only get thrown when the logger is not
-			# active, so use fallback to get the explicit mount errors
 			stderr = e.stderr.decode('ascii').rstrip()
-			logger.critical(stderr)
+			logger.error(stderr)
 			raise SystemExit
 			
 	def close(self):
diff --git a/stateMachine.py b/stateMachine.py
index 6978491..fb4727e 100644
--- a/stateMachine.py
+++ b/stateMachine.py
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ class State:
 			self.sound = sound
 		
 	def entry(self):
-		logger.debug('entering ' + self.name)
+		logger.info('entering ' + self.name)
 		if self.sound:
 			self.sound.play()
 		self.stateMachine.LED.blink = self.blinkLED
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ class State:
 			c()
 		
 	def exit(self):
-		logger.debug('exiting ' + self.name)
+		logger.info('exiting ' + self.name)
 		if self.sound:
 			self.sound.stop()
 		for c in self.exitCallbacks:
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ class StateMachine:
 				secretTable[secret]()
 				logger.debug('Secret pipe listener received: \"%s\"', secret)
 			elif logger:
-				logger.error('Secret pipe listener received invalid secret')
+				logger.debug('Secret pipe listener received invalid secret')
 	
 		self.secretListener = PipeListener(
 			callback = secretCallback,
@@ -206,13 +206,13 @@ class StateMachine:
 		
 	def __del__(self):
 		if hasattr(self, 'LED'):
-				self.LED.__del__()
+			self.LED.__del__()
 			
 		if hasattr(self, 'soundLib'):
 			self.soundLib.__del__()
 			
-		if hasattr(self, 'pipeListener'):
-			self.pipeListener.__del__()
+		if hasattr(self, 'secretListener'):
+			self.secretListener.__del__()
 		
 		if hasattr(self, 'keypadListener'):
 			self.keypadListener.__del__()
diff --git a/stream.py b/stream.py
index 1f10d9e..2a6bac2 100644
--- a/stream.py
+++ b/stream.py
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
-# this entire module is lovingly based on the gst-launch tool kindly provided
-# by the gstreamer wizards themselves...with unecessary crap cut out
+"""
+this entire module is lovingly based on the gst-launch tool kindly provided
+by the gstreamer wizards themselves...with unecessary crap cut out
 
-# we make the following assumptions here and optimize as such
-# - all streams are "live"
-# - will not need EOS (no mp4s)
-# - will not require SIGINT (this entire program won't understand them anyways)
-# - no tags or TOCs
+we make the following assumptions here and optimize as such
+- all streams are "live"
+- will not need EOS (no mp4s)
+- will not require SIGINT (this entire program won't understand them anyways)
+- no tags or TOCs
+"""
 
 from auxilary import async, waitForPath
 from threading import Thread
diff --git a/webInterface.py b/webInterface.py
index 0fddd6d..6ee387f 100644
--- a/webInterface.py
+++ b/webInterface.py
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ def initWebInterface(stateMachine):
 	try:
 		check_output(['pidof', 'janus'])
 	except CalledProcessError:
-		logger.critical('Janus not running. Aborting')
+		logger.error('Janus not running. Aborting')
 		raise SystemExit
 
 	app = Flask(__name__)