diff --git a/uc/main.c b/uc/main.c
index ff0052b..2b4364f 100644
--- a/uc/main.c
+++ b/uc/main.c
@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@
 #include <avr/wdt.h>
 
 // variable declarations
+uint8_t i;
+
 volatile struct state aux[4] = {{false, false, START}, {false, false, START}, {false, false, START}, {false, false, START}};
 
 volatile struct sensor EEMEM EEPROM_measurements[4] = {{SENSOR0, START}, {SENSOR1, START}, {SENSOR2, START}, {SENSOR3, START}};
@@ -111,7 +113,7 @@ ISR(ANALOG_COMP_vect) {
   // enable ADC and start a first ADC conversion
   ADCSRA |= (1<<ADEN) | (1<<ADSC);
 
-  printString("msg metervalues written to EEPROM (BROWN-OUT)\n");
+  printString("msg BROWN-OUT\n");
 }
 
 // interrupt service routine for watchdog timeout
@@ -119,7 +121,7 @@ ISR(WDT_vect) {
   for (i=0; i<4; i++)
     eeprom_write_block((const void*)&measurements[i].value, (void*)&EEPROM_measurements[i].value, 4);
 
-  printString("msg metervalues written to EEPROM (WDT)\n");
+  printString("msg WDT\n");
 }
 
 // disable WDT
@@ -210,22 +212,20 @@ void setup()
 
 void send(const struct sensor *measurement)
 {
-  uint8_t i, length;
-  char buffer[49];
+  uint8_t i = 46;
+  uint32_t value = measurement->value;
+  char pulse[49];
 
-  // determine the length of value
-  ltoa(measurement->value, buffer, 10);
-  length = strlen(buffer);
+  // generate pulse message structure
+  strcpy(pulse, "pls ");
+  strcpy(&pulse[4], measurement->id);
+  strcpy(&pulse[36], ":0000000000\n");
 
-  strcpy(buffer, "pls ");
-  strcpy(&buffer[4], measurement->id);
-  strcpy(&buffer[36], ":");
-  // insert leading 0's
-  for (i=0; i<10-length; i++) strcpy(&buffer[37+i], "0");
-  ltoa(measurement->value, &buffer[47-length], 10);
-  strcpy(&buffer[47], "\n");
+  do {                              // generate digits in reverse order
+    pulse[i--] = '0' + value % 10;  // get next digit
+  } while ((value /= 10) > 0);      // delete it
 
-  printString(buffer);
+  printString(pulse);
 
   // blink the green LED
   PORTB |= (1<<PB5);
@@ -257,6 +257,7 @@ int main(void)
   // so the pulses are counted but not sent to the deamon
   for (i=0; i<4; i++) _delay_ms(5000);
 
+  serialFlush();
   WDT_on();
 
   for (;;) loop();
diff --git a/uc/main.h b/uc/main.h
index fdb738c..6563e41 100644
--- a/uc/main.h
+++ b/uc/main.h
@@ -50,8 +50,6 @@
 #define END0 0xcccccccc
 
 // datastructures
-uint8_t i;
-
 struct state {
   boolean pulse;
   boolean toggle;
diff --git a/uc/wiring/serial.c b/uc/wiring/serial.c
index a12f6b4..3d0cf67 100755
--- a/uc/wiring/serial.c
+++ b/uc/wiring/serial.c
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
 // using a ring buffer (I think), in which rx_buffer_head is the index of the
 // location to which to write the next incoming character and rx_buffer_tail
 // is the index of the location from which to read.
-#define RX_BUFFER_SIZE 128
+#define RX_BUFFER_SIZE 64
 
 unsigned char rx_buffer[RX_BUFFER_SIZE];
 
@@ -128,21 +128,11 @@ SIGNAL(SIG_UART_RECV)
 	}
 }
 
-void printMode(int mode)
-{
-	// do nothing, we only support serial printing, not lcd.
-}
-
 void printByte(unsigned char c)
 {
 	serialWrite(c);
 }
 
-void printNewline()
-{
-	printByte('\n');
-}
-
 void printString(const char *s)
 {
 	while (*s)
@@ -194,19 +184,3 @@ void printBinary(unsigned long n)
 {
 	printIntegerInBase(n, 2);
 }
-
-/* Including print() adds approximately 1500 bytes to the binary size,
- * so we replace it with the smaller and less-confusing printString(),
- * printInteger(), etc.
-void print(const char *format, ...)
-{
-	char buf[256];
-	va_list ap;
-	
-	va_start(ap, format);
-	vsnprintf(buf, 256, format, ap);
-	va_end(ap);
-	
-	printString(buf);
-}
-*/
diff --git a/uc/wiring/wiring.h b/uc/wiring/wiring.h
index 6a0c058..c4d4daa 100755
--- a/uc/wiring/wiring.h
+++ b/uc/wiring/wiring.h
@@ -99,9 +99,7 @@ void serialWrite(unsigned char);
 int serialAvailable(void);
 int serialRead(void);
 void serialFlush(void);
-void printMode(int);
 void printByte(unsigned char c);
-void printNewline(void);
 void printString(const char *s);
 void printInteger(long n);
 void printHex(unsigned long n);