diff --git a/io/iom_wait.c b/io/iom_wait.c
index e9187b0..33c956c 100644
--- a/io/iom_wait.c
+++ b/io/iom_wait.c
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ int iom_wait(iomux_t* c,int64* s,unsigned int* revents,unsigned long timeout) {
       r=epoll_wait(c->ctx, ee, freeslots, timeout);
       if (r<=0) {
 	/* we ran into a timeout, so let someone else take over */
-	c->working=0;
+	if (__sync_val_compare_and_swap(&c->working,1,0)==-2) return -2;
 #ifdef __dietlibc__
 	cnd_broadcast(&c->sem);
 #else
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ int iom_wait(iomux_t* c,int64* s,unsigned int* revents,unsigned long timeout) {
       int r=kevent(c->ctx, 0, 0, &kev, freeslots, &ts);
       if (r<=0) {
 	/* we ran into a timeout, so let someone else take over */
-	c->working=0;
+	if (__sync_val_compare_and_swap(&c->working,1,0)==-2) return -2;
 #ifdef __dietlibc__
 	cnd_broadcast(&c->sem);
 #else
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ int iom_wait(iomux_t* c,int64* s,unsigned int* revents,unsigned long timeout) {
 	 Either there are other events left, or we need one of them to
 	 wake up and call epoll_wait/kevent next, because we aren't
 	 doing it anymore */
-      c->working=0;
+      if (__sync_val_compare_and_swap(&c->working,1,0)==-2) return -2;
 #ifdef __dietlibc__
       cnd_signal(&c->sem);
 #else
diff --git a/io_internal.h b/io_internal.h
index 2d7c1bf..6d37c11 100644
--- a/io_internal.h
+++ b/io_internal.h
@@ -133,3 +133,7 @@ struct eventpacket {
 };
 
 #define debug_printf(x)
+
+struct iom_entry {
+  void* cookie;
+};
diff --git a/stralloc.h b/stralloc.h
index a96bf2c..b328667 100644
--- a/stralloc.h
+++ b/stralloc.h
@@ -82,6 +82,22 @@ int stralloc_cat(stralloc* sa,const stralloc* in);
  * in sa. It is the same as stralloc_catb(&sa,in,1). */
 int stralloc_append(stralloc* sa,const char* in); /* beware: this takes a pointer to 1 char */
 
+#if 0
+#define stralloc_APPEND(sa,in) \
+  ( ((sa)->len != (sa)->a) \
+    ? ( (sa)->s[(sa)->len++] = (*in), 1 ) \
+    : buffer_put((s),&(c),1) \
+  )
+#endif
+
+static inline int stralloc_APPEND(stralloc* sa,const char* in) {
+  if (sa->len<sa->a) {
+    sa->s[sa->len++]=*in;
+    return 1;
+  }
+  return stralloc_append(sa,in);
+}
+
 /* stralloc_starts returns 1 if the \0-terminated string in "in", without
  * the terminating \0, is a prefix of the string stored in sa. Otherwise
  * it returns 0. sa must already be allocated. */