diff --git a/hydra.gemspec b/hydra.gemspec
index 4ea67e6..b5f0f92 100644
--- a/hydra.gemspec
+++ b/hydra.gemspec
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
 
   s.required_rubygems_version = Gem::Requirement.new(">= 0") if s.respond_to? :required_rubygems_version=
   s.authors = ["Nick Gauthier"]
-  s.date = %q{2010-02-04}
+  s.date = %q{2010-02-05}
   s.description = %q{Spread your tests over multiple machines to test your code faster.}
   s.email = %q{nick@smartlogicsolutions.com}
   s.extra_rdoc_files = [
diff --git a/lib/hydra.rb b/lib/hydra.rb
index bcd4f1f..d659346 100644
--- a/lib/hydra.rb
+++ b/lib/hydra.rb
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ require 'hydra/pipe'
 require 'hydra/ssh'
 require 'hydra/stdio'
 require 'hydra/message'
+require 'hydra/safe_fork'
 require 'hydra/runner'
 require 'hydra/worker'
 require 'hydra/master'
diff --git a/lib/hydra/master.rb b/lib/hydra/master.rb
index 87d9c8e..ec883a4 100644
--- a/lib/hydra/master.rb
+++ b/lib/hydra/master.rb
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ module Hydra #:nodoc:
       runners = worker.fetch('runners') { raise "You must specify the number of runners" }
       trace "Booting local worker" 
       pipe = Hydra::Pipe.new
-      child = Process.fork do
+      child = SafeFork.fork do
         pipe.identify_as_child
         Hydra::Worker.new(:io => pipe, :runners => runners, :verbose => @verbose)
       end
@@ -129,7 +129,11 @@ module Hydra #:nodoc:
             begin
               message = worker[:io].gets
               trace "got message: #{message}"
-              message.handle(self, worker) if message
+              # if it exists and its for me.
+              # SSH gives us back echoes, so we need to ignore our own messages
+              if message and !message.class.to_s.index("Worker").nil?
+                message.handle(self, worker) 
+              end
             rescue IOError
               trace "lost Worker [#{worker.inspect}]"
               Thread.exit
diff --git a/lib/hydra/messaging_io.rb b/lib/hydra/messaging_io.rb
index 4b5a468..0534d25 100644
--- a/lib/hydra/messaging_io.rb
+++ b/lib/hydra/messaging_io.rb
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ module Hydra #:nodoc:
       return nil unless message
       return Message.build(eval(message.chomp))
     rescue SyntaxError, NameError
-      $stderr.write "Not a message: [#{message.inspect}]\n"
+      #$stderr.write "Not a message: [#{message.inspect}]\n"
       return gets
     end
 
diff --git a/lib/hydra/runner.rb b/lib/hydra/runner.rb
index 3fc50af..0a0c72c 100644
--- a/lib/hydra/runner.rb
+++ b/lib/hydra/runner.rb
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ module Hydra #:nodoc:
       while @running
         begin
           message = @io.gets
-          if message
+          if message and !message.class.to_s.index("Worker").nil?
             trace "Received message from worker"
             trace "\t#{message.inspect}"
             message.handle(self)
@@ -92,9 +92,12 @@ module Hydra #:nodoc:
             eval(c.first)
           end
         rescue NameError
-          trace "Could not load [#{c.first}] from [#{f}]"
+          # means we could not load [c.first], but thats ok, its just not
+          # one of the classes we want to test
+          nil
         rescue SyntaxError
-          trace "Could not load [#{c.first}] from [#{f}]"
+          # see above
+          nil
         end
       end
       return klasses.select{|k| k.respond_to? 'suite'}
diff --git a/lib/hydra/safe_fork.rb b/lib/hydra/safe_fork.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f98aecb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/hydra/safe_fork.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+class SafeFork
+  def self.fork
+    begin
+      # remove our connection so it doesn't get cloned
+      ActiveRecord::Base.remove_connection if defined?(ActiveRecord)
+      # fork a process
+      child = Process.fork do
+        begin
+          # create a new connection and perform the action
+          ActiveRecord::Base.establish_connection if defined?(ActiveRecord)
+          yield
+        ensure
+          # make sure we remove the connection before we're done
+          ActiveRecord::Base.remove_connection if defined?(ActiveRecord)
+        end      
+      end
+    ensure
+      # make sure we re-establish the connection before returning to the main instance
+      ActiveRecord::Base.establish_connection if defined?(ActiveRecord)
+    end
+    return child
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/hydra/ssh.rb b/lib/hydra/ssh.rb
index 3985939..f0e1340 100644
--- a/lib/hydra/ssh.rb
+++ b/lib/hydra/ssh.rb
@@ -24,9 +24,14 @@ module Hydra #:nodoc:
     #  Hydra::SSH.new('-p 3022 user@server.com')
     # etc..
     def initialize(connection_options, directory, command)
-      @writer, @reader, @error = popen3("ssh #{connection_options}")
+      @writer, @reader, @error = popen3("ssh -tt #{connection_options}")
       @writer.write("cd #{directory}\n")
       @writer.write(command+"\n")
     end
+
+    def close
+      @writer.write "exit\n"
+      super
+    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/hydra/worker.rb b/lib/hydra/worker.rb
index 6375d70..5e3b23e 100644
--- a/lib/hydra/worker.rb
+++ b/lib/hydra/worker.rb
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ module Hydra #:nodoc:
       trace "Booting #{num_runners} Runners"
       num_runners.times do
         pipe = Hydra::Pipe.new
-        child = Process.fork do
+        child = SafeFork.fork do
           pipe.identify_as_child
           Hydra::Runner.new(:io => pipe, :verbose => @verbose)
         end
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ module Hydra #:nodoc:
         while @running
           begin
             message = @io.gets
-            if message
+            if message and !message.class.to_s.index("Master").nil?
               trace "Received Message from Master" 
               trace "\t#{message.inspect}"
               message.handle(self)
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ module Hydra #:nodoc:
           while @running
             begin
               message = r[:io].gets
-              if message
+              if message and !message.class.to_s.index("Runner").nil?
                 trace "Received Message from Runner"
                 trace "\t#{message.inspect}"
                 message.handle(self, r)
diff --git a/test/fixtures/echo_the_dolphin.rb b/test/fixtures/echo_the_dolphin.rb
index 9d9d12e..f4e5356 100755
--- a/test/fixtures/echo_the_dolphin.rb
+++ b/test/fixtures/echo_the_dolphin.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env ruby
 # Echoes back to the sender
 $stdout.sync = true
-while line = $stdin.gets
-  $stdout.write(line)
+while line = $stdin.get
+  $stdout.write line
 end
 
diff --git a/test/runner_test.rb b/test/runner_test.rb
index a8bbec3..c196060 100644
--- a/test/runner_test.rb
+++ b/test/runner_test.rb
@@ -38,16 +38,21 @@ class RunnerTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
       ssh = Hydra::SSH.new(
         'localhost', 
         File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), '..', 'lib')),
-        "ruby -e \"require 'rubygems'; require 'hydra'; Hydra::Runner.new(:io => Hydra::Stdio.new);\""
+        "ruby -e \"require 'rubygems'; require 'hydra'; Hydra::Runner.new(:io => Hydra::Stdio.new, :verbose => true);\""
       )
       assert ssh.gets.is_a?(Hydra::Messages::Runner::RequestFile)
       ssh.write(Hydra::Messages::Worker::RunFile.new(:file => test_file))
       
       # grab its response. This makes us wait for it to finish
+      echo = ssh.gets # get the ssh echo
       response = ssh.gets
+
+      assert_equal Hydra::Messages::Runner::Results, response.class
       
       # tell it to shut down
       ssh.write(Hydra::Messages::Worker::Shutdown.new)
+
+      ssh.close
       
       # ensure it ran
       assert File.exists?(target_file)
diff --git a/test/ssh_test.rb b/test/ssh_test.rb
index e4b6011..e197254 100644
--- a/test/ssh_test.rb
+++ b/test/ssh_test.rb
@@ -1,21 +1,15 @@
 require File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), 'test_helper')
 
 class SSHTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
-  context "an ssh connection" do
-    setup do
-      @ssh = Hydra::SSH.new(
-        'localhost', # connect to this machine
-        File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__))), # move to the test directory
-        "ruby fixtures/echo_the_dolphin.rb"
-      )
-      @message = Hydra::Messages::TestMessage.new
-    end
-    teardown do
-      @ssh.close
-    end
-    should "be able to execute a command" do
-      @ssh.write @message 
-      assert_equal @message.text, @ssh.gets.text
-    end
+  should "be able to execute a command over ssh" do
+    ssh = Hydra::SSH.new(
+      'localhost', # connect to this machine
+      File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__))), # move to the test directory
+      "ruby fixtures/echo_the_dolphin.rb"
+    )
+    message = Hydra::Messages::TestMessage.new
+    ssh.write message 
+    assert_equal message.text, ssh.gets.text
+    ssh.close
   end
 end