diff --git a/lib/hydra/master.rb b/lib/hydra/master.rb
index 5200a41..fdea5de 100644
--- a/lib/hydra/master.rb
+++ b/lib/hydra/master.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 require 'hydra/hash'
 require 'open3'
-require 'tmpdir'
+require 'hydra/tmpdir'
 require 'erb'
 require 'yaml'
 
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ module Hydra #:nodoc:
     end
 
     def heuristic_file
-      @heuristic_file ||= File.join(Dir.tmpdir, 'hydra_heuristics.yml')
+      @heuristic_file ||= File.join(Dir.consistent_tmpdir, 'hydra_heuristics.yml')
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/hydra/tmpdir.rb b/lib/hydra/tmpdir.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1c75adb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/hydra/tmpdir.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+require 'tmpdir'
+
+class Dir
+  def self.consistent_tmpdir
+    if RUBY_PLATFORM =~ /darwin/i
+      '/tmp' # OS X normally returns a crazy tmpdir, BUT when logged in via SSH, it is '/tmp'. This unifies it.
+    else
+      Dir.tmpdir
+    end
+  end
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/hydra/worker.rb b/lib/hydra/worker.rb
index b4f7b47..c0b6f2b 100644
--- a/lib/hydra/worker.rb
+++ b/lib/hydra/worker.rb
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ module Hydra #:nodoc:
       @runners = []
       @listeners = []
 
+      load_worker_initializer
       boot_runners(opts.fetch(:runners) { 1 })
       @io.write(Hydra::Messages::Worker::WorkerBegin.new)
 
@@ -28,7 +29,15 @@ module Hydra #:nodoc:
       @runners.each{|r| Process.wait r[:pid] }
     end
 
-
+    def load_worker_initializer
+      if File.exist?('./hydra_worker_init.rb')
+        trace('Requiring hydra_worker_init.rb')
+        require 'hydra_worker_init'
+      else
+        trace('hydra_worker_init.rb not present')
+      end
+    end
+    
     # message handling methods
 
     # When a runner wants a file, it hits this method with a message.
diff --git a/test/fixtures/features/step_definitions.rb b/test/fixtures/features/step_definitions.rb
index 08f6487..a27365c 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/features/step_definitions.rb
+++ b/test/fixtures/features/step_definitions.rb
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 Given /^a target file$/ do
-  @target_file = File.expand_path(File.join(Dir.tmpdir, 'hydra_test.txt'))
+  @target_file = File.expand_path(File.join(Dir.consistent_tmpdir, 'hydra_test.txt'))
 end
 
 Given /^an alternate target file$/ do
-  @target_file = File.expand_path(File.join(Dir.tmpdir, 'alternate_hydra_test.txt'))
+  @target_file = File.expand_path(File.join(Dir.consistent_tmpdir, 'alternate_hydra_test.txt'))
 end
 
 When /^I write "([^\"]*)" to the file$/ do |text|
diff --git a/test/fixtures/write_file.rb b/test/fixtures/write_file.rb
index 76fcd35..0d76ab8 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/write_file.rb
+++ b/test/fixtures/write_file.rb
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ require File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), '..', 'test_helper')
 
 class WriteFileTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
   def test_write_a_file
-    File.open(File.join(Dir.tmpdir, 'hydra_test.txt'), 'a') do |f|
+    File.open(File.join(Dir.consistent_tmpdir, 'hydra_test.txt'), 'a') do |f|
       f.write "HYDRA"
     end
   end
diff --git a/test/fixtures/write_file_alternate_spec.rb b/test/fixtures/write_file_alternate_spec.rb
index d3fbb0e..e3ef5ac 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/write_file_alternate_spec.rb
+++ b/test/fixtures/write_file_alternate_spec.rb
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
-require 'tmpdir'
 require 'rspec'
+require 'hydra/tmpdir'
 context "file writing" do
   it "writes to a file" do
-    File.open(File.join(Dir.tmpdir, 'alternate_hydra_test.txt'), 'a') do |f|
+    File.open(File.join(Dir.consistent_tmpdir, 'alternate_hydra_test.txt'), 'a') do |f|
       f.write "HYDRA"
     end
   end
diff --git a/test/fixtures/write_file_spec.rb b/test/fixtures/write_file_spec.rb
index 60ece30..be2f4c8 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/write_file_spec.rb
+++ b/test/fixtures/write_file_spec.rb
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
-require 'tmpdir'
 require 'rspec'
+require 'hydra/tmpdir'
 context "file writing" do
   it "writes to a file" do
-    File.open(File.join(Dir.tmpdir, 'hydra_test.txt'), 'a') do |f|
+    File.open(File.join(Dir.consistent_tmpdir, 'hydra_test.txt'), 'a') do |f|
       f.write "HYDRA"
     end
   end
diff --git a/test/fixtures/write_file_with_pending_spec.rb b/test/fixtures/write_file_with_pending_spec.rb
index f37d444..10f30af 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/write_file_with_pending_spec.rb
+++ b/test/fixtures/write_file_with_pending_spec.rb
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ require 'tmpdir'
 require 'rspec'
 context "file writing" do
   it "writes to a file" do
-    File.open(File.join(Dir.tmpdir, 'hydra_test.txt'), 'a') do |f|
+    File.open(File.join(Dir.consistent_tmpdir, 'hydra_test.txt'), 'a') do |f|
       f.write "HYDRA"
     end
   end
diff --git a/test/master_test.rb b/test/master_test.rb
index 18b1611..2177102 100644
--- a/test/master_test.rb
+++ b/test/master_test.rb
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ class MasterTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
       Hydra::Master.new(:files => [test_file])
       assert File.exists?(target_file)
       assert_equal "HYDRA", File.read(target_file)
-      report_file = File.join(Dir.tmpdir, 'hydra_heuristics.yml')
+      report_file = File.join(Dir.consistent_tmpdir, 'hydra_heuristics.yml')
       assert File.exists?(report_file)
       assert report = YAML.load_file(report_file)
       assert_not_nil report[test_file]
@@ -104,8 +104,8 @@ class MasterTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
     end
 
     should "synchronize a test file over ssh with rsync" do
-      local = File.join(Dir.tmpdir, 'hydra', 'local')
-      remote = File.join(Dir.tmpdir, 'hydra', 'remote')
+      local = File.join(Dir.consistent_tmpdir, 'hydra', 'local')
+      remote = File.join(Dir.consistent_tmpdir, 'hydra', 'remote')
       sync_test = File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), 'fixtures', 'sync_test.rb')
       [local, remote].each{|f| FileUtils.rm_rf f; FileUtils.mkdir_p f}
 
diff --git a/test/sync_test.rb b/test/sync_test.rb
index f98a435..998ab87 100644
--- a/test/sync_test.rb
+++ b/test/sync_test.rb
@@ -13,8 +13,8 @@ class SyncTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
     end
 
     should "synchronize a test file over ssh with rsync" do
-      local = File.join(Dir.tmpdir, 'hydra', 'local')
-      remote = File.join(Dir.tmpdir, 'hydra', 'remote')
+      local = File.join(Dir.consistent_tmpdir, 'hydra', 'local')
+      remote = File.join(Dir.consistent_tmpdir, 'hydra', 'remote')
       sync_test = File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), 'fixtures', 'sync_test.rb')
       [local, remote].each{|f| FileUtils.rm_rf f; FileUtils.mkdir_p f}
 
@@ -58,9 +58,9 @@ class SyncTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
     end
 
     should "synchronize a test file over ssh with rsync to multiple workers" do
-      local = File.join(Dir.tmpdir, 'hydra', 'local')
-      remote_a = File.join(Dir.tmpdir, 'hydra', 'remote_a')
-      remote_b = File.join(Dir.tmpdir, 'hydra', 'remote_b')
+      local = File.join(Dir.consistent_tmpdir, 'hydra', 'local')
+      remote_a = File.join(Dir.consistent_tmpdir, 'hydra', 'remote_a')
+      remote_b = File.join(Dir.consistent_tmpdir, 'hydra', 'remote_b')
       sync_test = File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), 'fixtures', 'sync_test.rb')
       [local, remote_a, remote_b].each{|f| FileUtils.rm_rf f; FileUtils.mkdir_p f}
 
diff --git a/test/test_helper.rb b/test/test_helper.rb
index 63b38a8..96c65bd 100644
--- a/test/test_helper.rb
+++ b/test/test_helper.rb
@@ -12,11 +12,11 @@ Test::Unit.run = false
 
 class Test::Unit::TestCase
   def target_file
-    File.expand_path(File.join(Dir.tmpdir, 'hydra_test.txt'))
+    File.expand_path(File.join(Dir.consistent_tmpdir, 'hydra_test.txt'))
   end
   
   def alternate_target_file
-    File.expand_path(File.join(Dir.tmpdir, 'alternate_hydra_test.txt'))
+    File.expand_path(File.join(Dir.consistent_tmpdir, 'alternate_hydra_test.txt'))
   end
 
   def test_file