diff --git a/config.ini.sample b/config.ini.sample
index f675586..b7c9a02 100644
--- a/config.ini.sample
+++ b/config.ini.sample
@@ -4,17 +4,11 @@ database = proxylist.sqlite
 proxy_max_fail = 5
 
 [watcherd]
-enabled = true
 proxy_file = false
-checktime = 1800
 threads = 10
 timeout = 15
-read_timeout = 20
-max_fail = 5
 
 [proxyfind]
-enabled = true
 search = true
-maxfail = 10
 timeout = 30
 threads = 3
diff --git a/config.py b/config.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..421c064
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+from ConfigParser import SafeConfigParser
+
+_loaded = False
+
+def load():
+	if _loaded: return
+	global database, maxfail, search, torhosts, watchd_threads, checktime, timeout, read_timeout
+
+	## read the config files
+	parser = SafeConfigParser()
+	parser.read('config.ini')
+
+	database = parser.get('global', 'database')
+	maxfail = parser.getint('global', 'proxy_max_fail')
+
+	search = parser.getboolean('proxyfind', 'search')
+
+	torhosts = [ str(i).strip() for i in parser.get('global', 'tor_host').split(',') ]
+	watchd_threads = parser.getint('watcherd', 'threads')
+	timeout = parser.getint('watcherd', 'timeout')
+
+	# allow overriding select items from the commandline
+	import argparse
+	aparse = argparse.ArgumentParser()
+	aparse.add_argument('--watchd_threads', help="how many proxy checker threads to spin up, 0==none, default: 10", type=int, default=watchd_threads, required=False)
+	args = aparse.parse_args()
+
+	watchd_threads = args.watchd_threads
+
+	global servers
+	with open('servers.txt', 'r') as handle:
+		servers = handle.read().split('\n')
diff --git a/ppf.py b/ppf.py
index a91a4de..c87bf48 100755
--- a/ppf.py
+++ b/ppf.py
@@ -6,13 +6,13 @@ import random, time
 import re
 import urllib
 import hashlib
-from ConfigParser import SafeConfigParser
 from requests.packages.urllib3.exceptions import InsecureRequestWarning
 requests.packages.urllib3.disable_warnings(InsecureRequestWarning)
 import mysqlite
 import proxywatchd
 from misc import _log
 from soup_parser import soupify
+import config
 
 base_header = {
 	'Accept-Language':'en-US,en;q=0.8',
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ base_header = {
 
 searx_instances = ('https://searx.me', 'https://searx.xyz', 'https://searx.site', 'https://searx.win', 'https://searx.ru', 'https://stemy.me/searx', 'https://searx.at', 'https://listi.me', 'https://searx.dk', 'https://searx.laquadrature.net' )
 retry_messages = ('Engines cannot retrieve results', 'Rate limit exceeded')
-CONFIG = 'config.ini'
 
 def cleanhtml(raw_html):
 	cleanr = re.compile('<.*?>')
@@ -45,6 +44,7 @@ def import_from_file(fn, sqlite):
 def fetch_contents(uri):
 	headers = base_header
 	try: resp = requests.get(uri, timeout=45, headers=headers, verify=False, proxies=proxies)
+	except KeyboardInterrupt as e: raise e
 	except: return ''
 	data = resp.text
 
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ def insert_proxies(proxies, uri, sqlite):
 def proxyfind(sqlite = None):
 	#print('entering proxyfind...')
 
-	if not sqlite: sqlite = mysqlite.mysqlite(database,str)
+	if not sqlite: sqlite = mysqlite.mysqlite(config.database,str)
 
 	uris = [ i[0] for i in sqlite.execute('SELECT url FROM uris WHERE error=0 and url not like "%github%" ORDER BY RANDOM() LIMIT 10').fetchall() ]
 
@@ -113,6 +113,7 @@ def proxyleech(sqlite, rows):
 
 	for row in rows:
 		try: content = fetch_contents(row[0])
+		except KeyboardInterrupt as e: raise e
 		except: content = ''
 
 		uniques = []
@@ -120,6 +121,7 @@ def proxyleech(sqlite, rows):
 			if p in uniques: continue
 			try:
 				if not is_reserved_ipv4(p.split(':')[0]): uniques.append(p)
+			except KeyboardInterrupt as e: raise e
 			except:
 				pass
 
@@ -149,16 +151,10 @@ def proxyleech(sqlite, rows):
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
-	## read the config files
-	parser = SafeConfigParser()
-	parser.read(CONFIG)
+	config.load()
+	proxies={'http':'socks4://%s' % random.choice(config.torhosts),'https':'socks4://%s' % random.choice(config.torhosts)}
 
-	database = parser.get('global', 'database')
-	search = parser.getboolean('proxyfind', 'search')
-	tor_hosts = parser.get('global', 'tor_host').split(',')
-	proxies={'http':'socks4://%s' % random.choice(tor_hosts),'https':'socks4://%s' % random.choice(tor_hosts)}
-
-	sqlite = mysqlite.mysqlite(database, str)
+	sqlite = mysqlite.mysqlite(config.database, str)
 
 	## create dbs if required
 	sqlite.execute('CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS uris (added INT, url TEXT, check_time INT, error INT, driver INT, hash TEXT)')
@@ -178,7 +174,11 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
 	empty = [ urignore.append(i.split('/')[2]) for i in searx_instances ]
 
 	# start proxy watcher
-	watcherd = proxywatchd.Proxywatchd(CONFIG) if parser.getboolean('watcherd', 'enabled') else None
+	if config.watchd_threads > 0:
+		watcherd = proxywatchd.Proxywatchd()
+		watcherd.start()
+	else:
+		watcherd = None
 
 	while True:
 		try:
@@ -186,13 +186,14 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
 			rows = [ [i[0],i[1],i[2]] for i in sqlite.execute('SELECT url,hash,error FROM uris WHERE (check_time<? AND error<?) ORDER BY RANDOM() LIMIT 25', (time.time(), 10)).fetchall() ]
 			if len(rows): proxyleech(sqlite,rows)
 			## search for new website during free time
-			elif search: proxyfind(sqlite)
+			elif config.search: proxyfind(sqlite)
 			## sleep
 			else: time.sleep(10)
 
-		except KeyboardInterrupt: break
+		except KeyboardInterrupt:
+			if watcherd:
+				watcherd.stop()
+				watcherd.finish()
+			break
 
 	print '\r',
-
-	# stop things
-	if watcherd: watcherd.stop()
diff --git a/proxywatchd.py b/proxywatchd.py
index f0daee0..31a29f1 100644
--- a/proxywatchd.py
+++ b/proxywatchd.py
@@ -1,158 +1,245 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python
 
-from threading import Thread
-import threading, commands
-import socket, time, random, sys, string, re
+import threading
+import time, random, string, re, copy
 import requests
 #from geoip import geolite2
 
-from ConfigParser import SafeConfigParser
+import config
 
 import mysqlite
 from misc import _log
 import rocksock
 
-class Proxywatchd(Thread):
+_run_standalone = False
 
-	def stop(self):
-		_log('Requesting proxywatchd to halt (%d thread(s))' % len([item for item in self.threads if item.isAlive()]))
-		self.running = 0
-
-	def __init__(self, config_file):
-		Thread.__init__(self)
-
-		self.threads = []
-		self.running = 1
-		self.parser = SafeConfigParser()
-		self.parser.read(config_file)
-
-		self.maxfail = self.parser.getint('global', 'proxy_max_fail')
-		self.maxthreads = self.parser.getint('watcherd', 'threads')
-		self.checktime = self.parser.getint('watcherd', 'checktime')
-		self.timeout = self.parser.getint('watcherd', 'timeout')
-		self.database = self.parser.get('global', 'database')
-		self.torhosts = [ str(i).strip() for i in self.parser.get('global', 'tor_host').split(',') ]
-		self.read_timeout = self.parser.getint('watcherd', 'read_timeout')
-
-		# create table if needed
-		self.mysqlite = mysqlite.mysqlite(self.database, str)
-		self.mysqlite.execute('CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS proxylist (proxy BLOB, country BLOB, added INT, failed INT, tested INT, source BLOB, dronebl INT, proto TEXT, duration INT)')
-		self.mysqlite.commit()
-		self.echoise = time.time() - 3600;
-		self.ticks = time.time() - 3600;
-
-		with open('servers.txt', 'r') as handle: self.servers = handle.read().split('\n')
-
-		self.start()
-
-	def run(self):
-		_log('Starting proxywatchd..', 'notice')
-
-		threads = []
-		self.mysqlite = mysqlite.mysqlite(self.database, str)
-
-		while self.running:
-
-			if len(threads) < self.maxthreads:
-				t = threading.Thread(target=self.daemon, args=(self.servers,))
-				t.start()
-				threads.append(t)
-				time.sleep( random.choice( xrange(1,3)))
-
-			else: time.sleep(1)
-
-			if (time.time() - self.echoise) >= 180:
-				_log('Proxywatchd threads: %d/%d' % (len(threads), self.maxthreads))
-				self.echoise = time.time()
-
-		self.mysqlite.close()
+class WorkerJob():
+	def __init__(self, proxy, proto, failcount):
+		self.proxy = proxy
+		self.proto = proto
+		self.failcount = failcount
+		self.nextcheck = None
+		self.duration = None
 
 	def is_drone_bl(self, proxy):
 		p = proxy.split(':')[0]
-		proxies = {'http':'socks4://%s:%s@%s' % (p,p,random.choice(self.torhosts))}
+		proxies = {'http':'socks4://%s:%s@%s' % (p,p,random.choice(config.torhosts))}
 		resp = requests.get('http://dronebl.org/lookup?ip=%s' % p, proxies=proxies)
 		if 'No incidents regarding' in resp.text: return 0
 		else: return 1
 
-	def connect_socket(self, proxy, servers, proto = None):
-		protos = ['http', 'socks5', 'socks4'] if proto is None else proto
+	def connect_socket(self):
+		protos = ['http', 'socks5', 'socks4'] if self.proto is None else self.proto
 
 		for proto in protos:
-			torhost = random.choice(self.torhosts)
+			torhost = random.choice(config.torhosts)
 			duration = time.time()
-			proxies = [ rocksock.RocksockProxyFromURL('socks4://%s' % torhost),
-									rocksock.RocksockProxyFromURL('%s://%s' % (proto, proxy[0])),
-								]
+			proxies = [
+				rocksock.RocksockProxyFromURL('socks4://%s' % torhost),
+				rocksock.RocksockProxyFromURL('%s://%s' % (proto, self.proxy)),
+			]
 
-			srv = random.choice(servers).strip()
+			srv = random.choice(config.servers).strip()
 			try:
-				sock = rocksock.Rocksock(host=srv, port=6697, ssl=True, proxies=proxies, timeout=self.timeout)
+				sock = rocksock.Rocksock(host=srv, port=6697, ssl=True, proxies=proxies, timeout=config.timeout)
 				sock.connect()
 				sock.send('%s\n' % random.choice(['NICK', 'USER', 'JOIN', 'MODE', 'PART', 'INVITE', 'KNOCK', 'WHOIS', 'WHO', 'NOTICE', 'PRIVMSG', 'PING', 'QUIT']))
 				return sock, proto, duration, torhost, srv
-
+			except KeyboardInterrupt as e:
+				raise(e)
 			except: sock.disconnect()
 
 		return None, None, None, None, None
 
-	def daemon(self, servers):
-		sqlite = mysqlite.mysqlite(self.database, str)
-		threadid = ''.join( [ random.choice(string.letters) for x in range(5) ] )
+	def run(self):
+		self.nextcheck = (time.time() + 1800 + ((1+int(self.failcount)) * 3600))
 
-		q = 'SELECT proxy,failed,country,proto FROM proxylist WHERE failed<? and tested<? ORDER BY RANDOM() LIMIT ?'
+		sock, proto, duration, tor, srv = self.connect_socket()
+		if not sock:
+			self.failcount += 1
+			return
+		try:
+			recv = sock.recv(6)
 
-		while self.running:
-			sqlite_requests = []
-			rows = sqlite.execute(q, (self.maxfail, time.time(), random.randint(10,20))).fetchall()
-			if not len(rows):
-				time.sleep(random.randint(10,20))
-				continue
+			# good data
+			if re.match('^(:|ERROR|PING|PONG|NOTICE|\*\*\*)', recv, re.IGNORECASE):
+				duration = (time.time() - duration)
+				self.nextcheck = (time.time() + 1800)
 
-			abc = ' OR proxy='.join( [ '?' for x in xrange(0, len(rows)) ] )
-			args = [ (time.time() + 180) ]
-			e = [ args.append(i[0]) for i in rows ]
-			sqlite.executemany('UPDATE proxylist SET tested=? WHERE proxy=%s' % abc, (args,))
-			sqlite.commit()
+				#match = geolite2.lookup(proxy[0].split(':')[0])
+				match = None
+				if match is not None: match = match.country
+				else: match = 'unknown'
 
-			for proxy in rows:
-				time.sleep(0.1)
-				nextcheck = (time.time() + 1800 + ((1+int(proxy[1])) * 3600))
+				#dronebl = self.is_drone_bl(proxy[0])
+				self.proto = proto
+				self.duation = duration
+				self.failcount = 0
+				_log('%s://%s; c: %s; d: %d sec(s); tor: %s; srv: %s; recv: %s' % (proto, self.proxy, match, duration, tor, srv, recv), 'xxxxx')
+		except KeyboardInterrupt as e:
+			raise e
+		except:
+			self.failcount += 1
+		finally:
+			sock.disconnect()
 
-				sock, proto, duration, tor, srv = self.connect_socket(proxy, servers, proto=proxy[3])
-				if not sock:
-					sqlite_requests.append(((proxy[1]+1), nextcheck, 1, 'unknown', None, 0, proxy[0],))
-					continue
 
-				try:
-					recv = sock.recv(6)
+class WorkerThread():
+	def __init__ (self, id):
+		self.id = id
+		self.done = threading.Event()
+		self.thread = None
+		self.workqueue = []
+		self.workdone = []
+	def stop(self):
+		self.done.set()
+	def term(self):
+		if self.thread: self.thread.join()
+	def add_jobs(self, jobs):
+		self.workqueue.extend(jobs)
+	def jobcount(self):
+		return len(self.workqueue)
+	def collect(self):
+		wd = copy.copy(self.workdone)
+		self.workdone = []
+		return wd
+	def start_thread(self):
+		self.thread = threading.Thread(target=self.workloop)
+		self.thread.start()
+	def workloop(self):
+		while True:
+			if len(self.workqueue):
+				job = self.workqueue.pop()
+				job.run()
+				self.workdone.append(job)
+			elif not self.thread:
+				break
+			if self.done.is_set(): break
+			time.sleep(0.01)
+		if self.thread:
+			_log("thread %s terminated", self.id)
 
-					# good data
-					if re.match('^(:|ERROR|PING|PONG|NOTICE|\*\*\*)', recv, re.IGNORECASE):
-						duration = (time.time() - duration)
-						nextcheck = (time.time() + 1800)
+class Proxywatchd():
 
-						#match = geolite2.lookup(proxy[0].split(':')[0])
-						match = None
-						if match is not None: match = match.country
-						else: match = 'unknown'
+	def stop(self):
+		_log('Requesting proxywatchd to halt (%d thread(s))' % len([item for item in self.threads if True]))
+		self.stopping.set()
 
-						#dronebl = self.is_drone_bl(proxy[0])
-						sqlite_requests.append( (0, nextcheck, 1, match, proto, duration, proxy[0],))
-						_log('%s://%s; c: %s; d: %d sec(s); tor: %s; srv: %s; recv: %s' % (proto, proxy[0], match, duration, tor, srv, recv), threadid)
+	def _cleanup(self):
+		for wt in self.threads:
+			wt.stop()
+		for wt in self.threads:
+			wt.term()
+		self.collect_work()
+		self.submit_collected()
+		self.mysqlite.close()
+		self.stopped.set()
 
-					# bad data
-					else:
-						sqlite_requests.append(( (proxy[1]+1), nextcheck, 1, 'unknown', None, 0, proxy[0],))
+	def finish(self):
+		if not self.in_background: self._cleanup()
+		while not self.stopped.is_set(): time.sleep(0.1)
 
-				# also bad
-				except:
-					sqlite_requests.append(( (proxy[1]+1), nextcheck, 1, 'unknown', None, 0, proxy[0],))
+	def __init__(self):
+		config.load()
+		self.in_background = False
+		self.threads = []
+		self.stopping = threading.Event()
+		self.stopped = threading.Event()
 
-				finally:
-					sock.disconnect()
+		# create table if needed
+		self.mysqlite = mysqlite.mysqlite(config.database, str)
+		self.mysqlite.execute('CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS proxylist (proxy BLOB, country BLOB, added INT, failed INT, tested INT, source BLOB, dronebl INT, proto TEXT, duration INT)')
+		self.mysqlite.commit()
+		self.mysqlite.close()
+		self.mysqlite = None
 
-			for r in sqlite_requests:
-				sqlite.execute('UPDATE proxylist SET failed=?,tested=?,dronebl=?,country=?,proto=?,duration=? WHERE proxy=?', r)
-			sqlite.commit()
+		self.submit_after = 200 # number of collected jobs before writing db
+		self.echoise = time.time() - 3600;
+		self.ticks = time.time() - 3600;
+		self.jobs = []
+		self.collected = []
 
-		sqlite.close()
+	def prepare_jobs(self):
+		q = 'SELECT proxy,proto,failed FROM proxylist WHERE failed<? and tested<? ORDER BY RANDOM()' # ' LIMIT ?'
+		rows = self.mysqlite.execute(q, (config.maxfail, time.time())).fetchall()
+		for row in rows:
+			job = WorkerJob(row[0], row[1], row[2])
+			self.jobs.append(job)
+
+	def collect_work(self):
+		for wt in self.threads:
+			self.collected.extend(wt.collect())
+
+	def submit_collected(self):
+		query = 'UPDATE proxylist SET failed=?,tested=?,dronebl=?,country=?,proto=?,duration=? WHERE proxy=?'
+		for job in self.collected:
+			self.mysqlite.execute(query, (job.failcount, job.nextcheck, 1, "unknown", job.proto, job.duration, job.proxy))
+		self.mysqlite.commit()
+		self.collected = []
+
+	def start(self):
+		if config.watchd_threads == 1 and _run_standalone:
+			return self._run()
+		else:
+			return self._run_background()
+
+	def run(self):
+		if self.in_background:
+			while 1: time.sleep(0.1)
+
+	def _run_background(self):
+		self.in_background = True
+		t = threading.Thread(target=self._run)
+                t.start()
+
+	def _run(self):
+		_log('Starting proxywatchd..', 'notice')
+		self.mysqlite = mysqlite.mysqlite(config.database, str)
+
+		for i in range(config.watchd_threads):
+			threadid = ''.join( [ random.choice(string.letters) for x in range(5) ] )
+			wt = WorkerThread(threadid)
+			if self.in_background:
+				wt.start_thread()
+			self.threads.append(wt)
+
+		while True:
+
+			if self.stopping.is_set():
+				if self.in_background: self._cleanup()
+				break
+
+			if len(self.jobs) == 0:
+				self.prepare_jobs()
+				if len(self.jobs):
+					jpt = len(self.jobs)/config.watchd_threads
+					if len(self.jobs)/float(config.watchd_threads) - jpt > 0.0: jpt += 1
+					for tid in range(config.watchd_threads):
+						self.threads[tid].add_jobs(self.jobs[tid*jpt:tid*jpt+jpt])
+					self.jobs = []
+
+			if not self.in_background: # single_thread scenario
+				self.threads[0].workloop()
+
+			self.collect_work()
+
+			if len(self.collected) > self.submit_after:
+				self.submit_collected()
+
+			time.sleep(1)
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+	_run_standalone = True
+
+	config.load()
+
+	w = Proxywatchd()
+	try:
+		w.start()
+		w.run()
+	except KeyboardInterrupt as e:
+		raise e
+	finally:
+		w.stop()
+		w.finish()