diff --git a/backfiller/backfiller/main.py b/backfiller/backfiller/main.py
index 5423c96..718d237 100644
--- a/backfiller/backfiller/main.py
+++ b/backfiller/backfiller/main.py
@@ -11,11 +11,12 @@
 import os
 import time
 import datetime
+import errno
 
 import requests
 
-hour_fmt = '%Y-%m-%dT%H'
-
+HOUR_FMT = '%Y-%m-%dT%H'
+TIMEOUT = 5
 
 def get_nodes():
 
@@ -36,38 +37,71 @@ def list_local_segments(base_dir, stream, variant, hour):
 	# could just call restreamer.list_segments but this avoids http/json
 	# overheads
 	path = os.path.join(base_dir, stream, variant, hour)
-	local_segments = [name for name in os.listdir(path) if not
+	try:
+		local_segments = [name for name in os.listdir(path) if not
 						name.startswith('.')]
-	return local_segments
+	except OSError as e:
+		if e.errno != errno.ENOENT:
+			raise:
+		else:
+			local_segments = []
 
-def list_remote_hours(node, stream, variant):
+	return local_segments
 
+def list_remote_hours(node, stream, variant, timeout=TIMEOUT):
+	
 	# just a wrapper around a call to restreamer.list_hours
-	# TODO if the call fails, log it and just return an empty list
 
-	resp = requests.get('https://{}/files/{}/{}'.format(node, stream, variant))
+	uri = 'https://{}/files/{}/{}'.format(node, stream, variant)
+
+	try:
+		resp = requests.get(uri, timeout=timeout)
+
+	except requests.exceptions.Timeout:
+		return []
+
+	if resp.status_code != request.codes.ok:
+		return []
+
 	hours = resp.json()
 
 	return hours
 
-def list_remote_segments(node, stream, variant, hour):
+def list_remote_segments(node, stream, variant, hour, timeout=TIMEOUT):
 
 	# just a wrapper around a call to restreamer.list_segments
-	# TODO if the call fails, log it and just return an empty list
 
-	resp = requests.get('https://{}/files/{}/{}/{}'.format(node, stream,
-						variant, hour_str))
+	uri = 'https://{}/files/{}/{}/{}'.format(node, stream, variant, hour_str)
+
+	try:
+		resp = requests.get(uri, timeout=timeout)
+
+	except requests.exceptions.Timeout:
+		return []
+
+	if resp.status_code != request.codes.ok:
+		return []
+
 	remote_segments = resp.json()
 	return remote_segments
 
 # based on _get_segment in downloader/main
 # very basic error handling
-def get_remote_segment(base_dir, node, stream, variant, hour, missing_segment):
+def get_remote_segment(base_dir, node, stream, variant, hour, missing_segment,
+			timeout=TIMEOUT):
 
-	resp = requests.get('https://{}/segments/{}/{}/{}/{}'.format(node, stream,
-						variant, hour, missing_segment), stream=True)
+	uri = 'https://{}/segments/{}/{}/{}/{}'.format(node, stream, variant,
+			hour, missing_segment)
 
-	if resp.status_code != 200:
+	resp = requests.get(uri, stream=True,
+						timeout=timeout)
+	try:
+		resp = requests.get(uri, stream=True, timeout=timeout)
+
+	except requests.exceptions.Timeout:
+		return False
+
+	if resp.status_code != requests.codes.ok:
 		return False
 
 	temp_name = 'temp_backfill'
@@ -82,7 +116,7 @@ def get_remote_segment(base_dir, node, stream, variant, hour, missing_segment):
 		try:
 			os.mkdir(dir_path)
 		except OSError as e:
-			# Ignore if EEXISTS. This is needed to avoid a race if two getters run at once.
+			# Ignore if EEXISTS. This is needed to avoid a race if a getter is running at the same time.
 			if e.errno != errno.EEXIST:
 				raise
 
@@ -114,16 +148,15 @@ def backfill(base_dir, stream, variants, hours=None, nodes=None,
 
 		now = datetime.datetime.utcnow()
 		
-		now_str = now.strftime(hour_fmt)
-		now_hour = datetime.strptime(now_str, hour_fmt)
+		now_str = now.strftime(HOUR_FMT)
 
 		hours = [now_str]
 
 		for i in range(n_hours - 1):
 
-			previous_hour =  datetime.strptime(hours[-1], hour_fmt)
+			previous_hour =  datetime.strptime(hours[-1], HOUR_FMT)
 			current_hour = previous_hour + datetime.timedelta(hours=-1)
-			hours.append(current_hour.strftime(hour_fmt))
+			hours.append(current_hour.strftime(HOUR_FMT))
 
 	for node in nodes:
 
@@ -148,12 +181,12 @@ def backfill_node(base_dir, node, stream, variants, hours, failure_limit):
 			node_hours = hours
 
 		for hour in node_hours:
-			# if this fails, get an empty list back so this loop quickly
-			# finishes			
+
 			local_segments = list_local_segments(base_dir, stream, variant,
 								hour)
 			local_segments = set(local_segments)
-			#should include the result of this in the failure count
+			# if this fails, get an empty list back so no missing segments are
+			# requested
 			remote_segments = list_remote_segments(node, stream, variant, hour)
 			remote_segments = set(remote_segments)
 			missing_segments = remote_segments - local_segments
@@ -168,6 +201,8 @@ def backfill_node(base_dir, node, stream, variants, hours, failure_limit):
 
 				if failures > failure_limit:
 					return
+
+
 							
 # all wait times are in minutes
 # obviously adjust default times in response to how long back filling actually