diff --git a/lib/hydra/master.rb b/lib/hydra/master.rb
index 587d9a2..d9f21d3 100644
--- a/lib/hydra/master.rb
+++ b/lib/hydra/master.rb
@@ -39,11 +39,11 @@ module Hydra #:nodoc:
     private
     
     def boot_workers(workers)
-      workers.each do |w|
+      workers.each do |worker|
         pipe = Hydra::Pipe.new
         child = Process.fork do
           pipe.identify_as_child
-          Hydra::Worker.new(:io => pipe, :runners => w[:runners])
+          Hydra::Worker.new(:io => pipe, :runners => worker[:runners])
         end
         pipe.identify_as_parent
         @workers << { :pid => child, :io => pipe, :idle => false }
@@ -51,20 +51,18 @@ module Hydra #:nodoc:
     end
 
     def process_messages
-      @running = true
-
       Thread.abort_on_exception = true
 
-      @workers.each do |w|
+      @workers.each do |worker|
         @listeners << Thread.new do
-          while @running
+          while true
             begin
-              message = w[:io].gets
-              message.handle(self, w) if message
+              message = worker[:io].gets
+              message.handle(self, worker) if message
             rescue IOError => ex
-              $stderr.write "Master lost Worker [#{w.inspect}]\n"
-              w[:io].close
-              @workers.delete(w)
+              $stderr.write "Master lost Worker [#{worker.inspect}]\n"
+              worker[:io].close
+              @workers.delete(worker)
               Thread.exit
             end
           end
diff --git a/lib/hydra/messaging_io.rb b/lib/hydra/messaging_io.rb
index 551826d..95e10b9 100644
--- a/lib/hydra/messaging_io.rb
+++ b/lib/hydra/messaging_io.rb
@@ -20,11 +20,9 @@ module Hydra #:nodoc:
     def write(message)
       raise IOError unless @writer
       raise UnprocessableMessage unless message.is_a?(Hydra::Message)
-      begin
-        @writer.write(message.serialize+"\n")
-      rescue Errno::EPIPE
-        raise IOError
-      end
+      @writer.write(message.serialize+"\n")
+    rescue Errno::EPIPE
+      raise IOError
     end
 
     # Closes the IO object.
diff --git a/lib/hydra/worker.rb b/lib/hydra/worker.rb
index f60864c..aabfe7b 100644
--- a/lib/hydra/worker.rb
+++ b/lib/hydra/worker.rb
@@ -36,9 +36,9 @@ module Hydra #:nodoc:
     # When the master sends a file down to the worker, it hits this
     # method. Then the worker delegates the file down to a runner.
     def delegate_file(message)
-      r = idle_runner
-      r[:idle] = false
-      r[:io].write(RunFile.new(eval(message.serialize)))
+      runner = idle_runner
+      runner[:idle] = false
+      runner[:io].write(RunFile.new(eval(message.serialize)))
     end
 
     # When a runner finishes, it sends the results up to the worker. Then the
@@ -82,12 +82,19 @@ module Hydra #:nodoc:
       $stdout.write "WORKER| Processing Messages\n" if @verbose
       @running = true
 
-      # Abort the worker if one of the runners has an exception
       # TODO: catch this exception, return a dying message to the master
       # then shutdown
       Thread.abort_on_exception = true
 
-      # Worker listens and handles messages
+      process_messages_from_master
+      process_messages_from_runners
+
+      @listeners.each{|l| l.join }
+      @io.close
+      $stdout.write "WORKER| Done processing messages\n" if @verbose
+    end
+
+    def process_messages_from_master
       @listeners << Thread.new do
         while @running
           begin
@@ -105,9 +112,9 @@ module Hydra #:nodoc:
           end
         end
       end
+    end
 
-      # Runners listen, but when they handle they pass themselves
-      # so we can reference them when we deal with their messages
+    def process_messages_from_runners
       @runners.each do |r|
         @listeners << Thread.new do
           while @running
@@ -125,16 +132,13 @@ module Hydra #:nodoc:
           end
         end
       end
-      @listeners.each{|l| l.join }
-      @io.close
-      $stdout.write "WORKER| Done processing messages\n" if @verbose
     end
 
     # Get the next idle runner
     def idle_runner #:nodoc:
       idle_r = nil
       while idle_r.nil?
-        idle_r = @runners.detect{|r| r[:idle]}
+        idle_r = @runners.detect{|runner| runner[:idle]}
         sleep(1)
       end
       return idle_r