diff --git a/ghostwheel.fn.sh b/ghostwheel.fn.sh
index d4c74dd..9e07b5d 100755
--- a/ghostwheel.fn.sh
+++ b/ghostwheel.fn.sh
@@ -51,33 +51,82 @@ C4_T_OKAY="${C4_T_OKAY-OKAY}"
 C4_T_FAIL="${C4_T_FAIL-FAIL}"
 
 ####
-#Lab:  this ugly beast merges bash associate arrays
+## Lab:  this ugly beast merges bash associate arrays
 # (c=(`unset a b c; \
 #      declare -A a=([b]="bb" [c]="cc"); \
 #      declare -A b=([d]="dd"); declare -p a b | \
 # 	   perl -e '@a= map { chomp; s/^.*=\(|\)$//g; $_ } <>; print qq(@a)' \
 #     `); declare -p c)
-# declare -A c=(["[c]=\"cc\" [b]=\"bb\"  [d]=\"dd\" "]="" )
+## :Lab declare -A c=(["[c]=\"cc\" [b]=\"bb\"  [d]=\"dd\" "]="" )
+####
+## Lab: this one can let us pass functions around
+# (foo="$(declare -fx foo; \
+#	  function foo { \
+#           echo hello;\
+#         } ; \
+#         export -pf foo; \
+#           declare -pf foo; \
+#  )" ; \
+#  eval "$foo"; \
+#  foo )
+## :Lab hello;
 ####
 
-#### c4.maa -
-###  join valueset assignments of bash assoicative arrays
+#### c4.f.dval
+###  output assignments from bash arrays
 ###  (unset a b c; \
 ###    declare -A a=([b]="bb" [c]="cc"); \
 ###    declare -A b=([d]="dd");\
-###    echo $( c4.maa a b ) )
-function c4.maa {
-    # avoid warning from declare -p when no arguments are given
-    test "$*" && \
-	declare -p $@ \
-	    | perl -e ' # combine assignments:
-         $\=q( ); # 1. join ouput on space
-         print map { # 6. output the line
-           chomp;  # 3. rm -f newline
-           s/^.*=\(|\)$//g; # 4. extract assignments
-           $_  # 5. use value (not replacment count)
-         } <>' # 2. walk input from declare -p
-} #### -END c4.maa
+###    echo $( c4.f.dval a b ) )
+function c4.f.dval {
+    declare -p $@ | perl -e '
+      # combine assignments: 
+      $\=q( );    # 1. join ouput on space
+      print map { # 6. output the line
+          chomp;  # 3. rm -f newline
+          s/^.*=\(|\)$//g; # 4. extract assignments
+          $_      # 5. use value (not replacment count)
+      } <>'       # 2. walk input from declare -p
+}
+#### -END c4.f.dval
+
+
+#### c4.f.prgs_Array -
+###  create associative array from (quoted) name list and args
+function c4.f.pargs {
+    declare -la rv=()
+    while test -n "$1" ; do
+	rv+=$1; shift
+    done
+    c4.f.dval rv
+}
+#### -END c4.f.pargs_Array
+
+#### c4.f.sargs_Array -
+###  create array from (quoted) string list
+function c4.f.sargs {
+    local -a rv;
+    local -i i=0;
+    for arg in $1 ; do
+	rv+=$arg;
+    done
+    c4.f.dval rv
+}
+#### -END c4.f.sargs
+
+#### c4.f.nrgs_Array -
+###  create associative array from (quoted) name list and args
+#(eval "declare -lA v=($( . ghostwheel.fn.sh; c4.f.nargs "a b" "c" "d" ))"; echo "${v[a]}") #c
+function c4.f.nargs {
+    local names="$1"; shift;
+    local -A rv;
+    local n; for n in $names ; do
+	rv[$n]="$1";
+	shift;
+    done
+    c4.f.dval rv
+}
+#### -END c4.f.pargs_Array
 
 function c4.t.b {
     C4_TN=$((++C4_TN))
@@ -86,7 +135,7 @@ function c4.t.b {
 	[tn]=$C4_TN
 	[okrv]=0 [okay]="$C4_T_OKAY" [fail]="$C4_T_FAIL"
 	[tags]="$1" [runl]="$2"	[name]="$3" [desc]="$4"
-    );        shift;      shift;      shift;      shift;
+    ); shift 4;
 
     # pick the first non-empty tag as a prefix
     for t in ${ta[tags]} ; do
@@ -223,7 +272,7 @@ function c4.s.first {
 	fi
     done
 }
-c4.t.b "s" 0 "first" "[ x z] == z" test "x" == '$( c4.s.first "" "$foo" "x" "z" )'
+c4.t.b "s" 0 "first" "[ x z] == x" test "x" == '$( c4.s.first "" "$foo" "x" "z" )'
 
 ##  Return first non-empty item matching PATTERN from SET
 ##  when NEGATE is ! or NOT return first non-empty, non-
@@ -257,7 +306,7 @@ function c4.s.firstmatch {
     done
 }
 c4.t.b "s" 0 "firstmatch" "[x o x] == x" test "x" == '"$( c4.s.firstmatch "x" "o" "x" )"'
-c4.t.b "s" 0 "firstmatch" "[!x  o x] == o" test "o" == '"$( c4.s.firstmatch "!" "x" "" "x" "o" )"'
+c4.t.b "s" 0 "firstmatch" "[!x  x o] == o" test "o" == '"$( c4.s.firstmatch "!" "x" "" "x" "o" )"'
 
 ##  give a friendly "did it work?" report
 ##  TODO supress ANSI color-codes when STDOUT isn't a TTY
@@ -325,10 +374,9 @@ function c4.updn {
     fi
     echo -e "Load \e[1;${C4_UPDN_NC}m${what}\e[0m [\e[1;${color}m${up}\e[0m]$msg"
 }
-#for n in $( seq 0 64 ) ; do (C4_UPDN_GC="$n";c4.updn "foo" "UP" "$n"); done
-#echo_updown "foo" "up" "bar" #[[OK][foo [UP]	bar]]
 
 ###  SYSUTIL
+#( function foo { declare -p; }; foo)
 
 ##  print hostname if current (or given) file is on a spoke
 function c4.s.host {
@@ -413,163 +461,6 @@ c4.t.b "s" 0 "gw_is_localhost_f" "== hostname -f" test "0" == '"$(c4.gw_is_local
 c4.t.b "s" 0 "gw_is_localhost" "== hostname -s" test "0" == '"$(c4.gw_is_localhost `hostname -s`; echo "$?")"' 
 c4.t.b "s" 0 "name" "!= moo" test "1" == '"$(c4.gw_is_localhost "moo"; echo "$?")"' 
 
-##  check validity/availability of a node
-_c4_is_gn=
-function c4.i.is_gn {
-seq "$(<.min)" "$(<.max)" | grep -v "$( perl -le 'printf q{\(%s\)}, join q{\|}, map {chomp;$_} <>' <.skip )" | grep "$(hostname -s | tr -d '[[:alpha:]]')" >/dev/null 2>&1 && echo OK
-}
-
-##  Create a shell script by reading STDIN
-_c4_mksh_infh=/dev/stdin    # read from STDIN by default
-_c4_mksh_otfh=/dev/stdout   # write to STDOUT by default
-_c4_mksh_bash=/usr/bin/bash # script for bash by default
-function c4.mksh {
-    local C4_MKSH_INFH="$(c4.s.first      "$C4_MKSH_INFH" "$_c4_mksh_infh" /dev/stdin)"
-    local C4_MKSH_OTFH="$(c4.s.first "$1" "$C4_MKSH_OTFH" "$_c4_mksh_otfh" /dev/stdout)"
-    local C4_MKSH_BASH="$(c4.s.first "$2" "$C4_MKSH_BASH" "$_c4_mksh_bash" /usr/bin/bash)"
-
-    printf '#!%s'"\n" "$C4_MKSH_BASH" >$C4_MKSH_OTFH
-
-    while IFS= read -r line; do
-	echo "$line" >> $C4_MKSH_OTFH
-    done <$C4_MKSH_INFH
-
-    # set the executable bit when making a regular file
-    test -f $C4_MKSH_OTFH && chmod a+x $C4_MKSH_OTFH
-}
-
-# run command on rhost via ssh when not on rhost
-_c4_ssh_debug="$(c4.s.first "$_C4_SSH_DEBUG" "$C4_DEBUG")"
-_C4_SSH="${_C4_SSH:-ssh}"
-function c4.ssh {
-    local host="$1"; shift;
-    if c4.gw_is_localhost "$host" ; then # run locally
-	if test -z "$_c4_ssh_debug" ; then
-	    $@
-	else
-	    echo "$@"
-	fi		
-    else # use ssh
-	local sshcmd="$( printf '%s %s' \
-	      		 	"$(c4.s.first $C4_SSH $_C4_SSH "ssh")" \
-	      		 	"$(c4.fqn "$host" )" \
-				)";
-	if test -z "$_c4_ssh_debug" ; then
-	    $sshcmd $@
-	else
-	    echo "$sshcmd $@"
-	fi	
-    fi
-    #local rhost="$( c4.gw_is_localhost "$1" && echo $1 )"
-}
-
-# run command on rhost via ssh when not on rhost
-_c4_ssh_debug="$(c4.s.first "$_C4_SSH_DEBUG" "$C4_DEBUG")"
-_C4_SSH="${_C4_SSH:-ssh}"
-function c4.ssh2 {
-    if test -z "$1" ; then
-	echo "WF:C4.ssh empty or mssing hostname" 1>&2
-	return 1;
-    fi
-
-    _c4_ssh_hi=$1; shift;
-    _c4_ssh_ho=
-    _c4_ssh_hs=
-    _c4_ssh_hc=
-
-    # ensure we have both long and short name
-    if echo "$_c4_ssh_hi" | grep \. 1>/dev/null ; then
-	# TODO: could be smarter, given e.g. x.gw10.foo and is10 are gw10
-	_c4_ssh_hs="$( echo "$_c4_ssh_hi" | cut -d '.' -f 1 )"
-	_c4_ssh_ho="$_c4_ssh_hi";
-    else
-	_c4_hs="$_c4_ssh_hin";
-	_c4_ho="$( c4.fqn $_c4_hs )";
-    fi
-
-    if test "$C4_GW" != "$_c4_ssh_hs" ; then
-	_c4_ssh_hc="$(printf '%s %s ' "$_C4_SSH" "$_c4_ssh_ho")";
-    fi	
-
-    if test -z "$_c4_ssh_debug" ; then
-	$_c4_ssh_hc"$@"
-    else
-	#echo "$_c4_ssh_hc"'"'"$@"'"'
-	local pre=
-	local post=
-	if test -n "$_c4_ssh_hc" ; then
-	    pre="'"
-	    post="'"
-	fi
-	echo "$_c4_ssh_hc$pre$@$post"
-    fi
-}
-
-
-## run mkdir locally if the given spoke is up, otherwise use SSH
-_c4_mkdir_debug="$(c4.s.first "$_C4_MKDIR_DEBUG" "$C4_DEBUG")"
-function c4.mkdir {
-    _c4_mkdir_islocal="$(
-      c4.s.host "$(
-        c4.s.firstmatch ! - "$@"
-      )"
-     )"
-    if test -n "$_c4_mkdir_islocal" ; then
-	if test -z "$_c4_mkdir_debug" ; then
-	    mkdir $@
-	else
-	    echo mkdir $@
-	fi
-    else
-	c4.ssh mkdir $@
-    fi
-}
-
-##  
-_c4_rsync_debug="$(c4.s.first "$_C4_RSYNC_DEBUG" "$C4_DEBUG")"
-function c4.rsync {
-    local m== "$( c4.s.firstmatch ":" "$@" )";
-    if test -n "$m" ; then
-	m="$(echo "$m" | cut -d ':' -f 1)"
-    else
-	m="$(c4.s.host "$( c4.s.firstmatch ! ^ - "$@" )")"
-    fi
-    if test -n "$m" && c4.gw_is_localhost "$m"; then
-	if test -z "$_c4_rsync_debug" ; then
-	    echo TROUBLE mkdir $@
-	else
-	    echo mkdir $@
-	fi
-    else
-	c4.ssh mkdir $@
-    fi
-}
-
-
-# run command on rhost via ssh when not on rhost
-_c4_cmd_debug="$(c4.s.first "$_C4_CMD_DEBUG" "$C4_DEBUG")"
-# function c4.cmd {
-    # _c4_mkdir_islocal="$(
-    #   c4.s.host "$(
-    #     c4.s.firstmatch ! - "$@"
-    #   )"
-    #  )"
-#     if test -n "$_c4_mkdir_islocal" ; then
-#     if test -z "$_c4_rsync_debug" ; then
-# 	$_c4__cmdpre $@
-#     else
-# 	echo $_c4__cmdpre $@
-#     fi
-#}
-
-# run rsync on rhost via ssh when not on rhost
-# function c4.rsync {
-#     if test -z "$_c4_rsync_debug" ; then
-# 	$_c4_rsync_ssh $@
-#     else
-# 	echo $_c4_rsync_ssh $@
-#     fi
-# }
 
 ### IDENTITY
 ###  - bootstrapping
@@ -594,22 +485,57 @@ function c4.i.gn_max () {
     printf '%d' $C4_I_GN_MAX
 }
 
-
+C4_I_GN_SKIP=
 function c4.i.gn_skip {
-    local gn=$1;
-
-    #if test -z "$gn" -o ! "$gn" -gt "0"
+    if test -n "$1" -o -z "$C4_I_GN_SKIP"; then
+	C4_I_GN_SKIP="$(c4.i.vals gn skip)";
+    fi
+    echo $C4_I_GN_SKIP
 }
 
-##  return first identifier from source
-##  where SOURCE is a readable file
-function c4.i.val {
-    
+C4_I_GN_SKIPPED=()
+function c4.i.gn_skipped {
+    local gn=$1;
+    if test -z "$C4_I_GN_SKIPPED"; then
+	C4_I_GN_SKIPPED[$gn]=1
+	if test -n "$gn" \
+		-a 0 -lt "$gn" \
+		-a $(c4.i.gn_min) -le "$gn" \
+		-a $(c4.i.gn_max) -ge "$gn" \
+		>/dev/null 2>&1; then
+	    C4_I_GN_SKIPPED[$gn]=0
+	    local n;
+	    for n in $(c4.i.gn_skip) ; do
+		if test "$gn" == "$n" ; then
+		    C4_I_GN_SKIPPED[$gn]=1;
+		    break
+		fi
+	    done
+	fi
+    fi
+    test 0 -eq "${C4_I_GN_SKIPPED[$gn]}"
+}
+
+##  check validity/availability of a node
+_c4_is_gn=
+#function c4.i.is_gn {
+#seq "$(<.min)" "$(<.max)" | grep -v "$( perl -le 'printf q{\(%s\)}, join q{\|}, map {chomp;$_} <>' <.skip )" | grep "$(hostname -s | tr -d '[[:alpha:]]')" >/dev/null 2>&1 && echo OK
+#}
+
+
+function c4.fa_src {
     local src #="$(case $# in 1) $1 ;; *) $( c4.i.of $@ ) ;; esac) 1)"; shift;
     case $# in
 	1) src=$1 ;;
 	*) src=$( c4.i.of $@ ) ;;
     esac
+    test -n "$src" && printf "%s" "$src"
+}
+
+##  return first identifier from source
+##  where SOURCE is a readable file
+function c4.i.val {
+    local src=$( c4.fa_src $@ )
     if test ! -r "$src" ; then
 	# || test 0 == "$(file "$src" | grep text >2 2>&1; echo $?)"
 	echo "WARN" "C4R${C4_RUN}${C4_TR}_VAL: missing SRC" >&2 # LOG
@@ -618,21 +544,71 @@ function c4.i.val {
     head -1 $src
 }
 
+##  return source identifiers
+##  where SOURCE is a readable file
+function c4.i.vals {
+    local src=$( c4.fa_src $@ )
+    if test ! -r "$src" ; then
+	echo "WARN" "C4R${C4_RUN}${C4_TR}_VAL: missing SRC" >&2 # LOG
+	return 1;
+    fi
+    cat $src
+}
+
 ##  call COMMAND for each identifier from SOURCE
 ##  where SOURCE is a readable file
 function c4.i.for {
-    local src="$1"; shift;
+    local src=$( c4.fa_src $1 )
     if test ! -r "$src" ; then
-	# || test 0 == "$(file "$src" | grep text >2 2>&1; echo $?)"
 	echo "WARN" "C4R${C4_RUN}${C4_TR}_FOR: missing SRC" >&2 # LOG
 	return 1;
     fi
-    local line=;
-    while read line ; do
+
+    local line=; while read line ; do
 	$@ "'""$line""'"
     done <$src
 }
 
+function c4.i.autosave {
+    test -z "$C4_I_INHIBIT_AUTOSAVE" \
+	|| return;
+
+    local src=$( c4.fa_src $1 ); shift
+    if test ! -r "$src" ; then
+	echo "WARN" "C4R${C4_RUN}${C4_TR}_AUTOSAVE: missing SRC" >&2 # LOG
+	return 1;
+    fi
+
+    cp $src $src~
+}
+
+function c4.i.clear {
+    local src=$( c4.fa_src $1 ); shift
+    if test ! -r "$src" ; then
+	echo "WARN" "C4R${C4_RUN}${C4_TR}_CLEAR: missing SRC" >&2 # LOG
+	return 1;
+    fi
+    c4.i.autosave $src
+    printf ''>$src
+}
+
+function c4.i.set {
+    local src=$( c4.fa_src $1 ); shift
+    if test ! -r "$src" ; then
+	echo "WARN" "C4R${C4_RUN}${C4_TR}_SET: missing SRC" >&2 # LOG
+	return 1;
+    fi
+
+    c4.i.clear $src # clear handles autosave (when not inhibitied)
+
+    local v;
+    for v in "$@" ; do
+	printf '%s'"\n" "$v" >>$src
+    done
+}
+
+
+
 ##  return identity source of [[ <context1> [...]] query
 ##  where QUERY (and CONTEXT1, etc, if provided) are words
 function c4.i.of {
@@ -705,9 +681,117 @@ function c4.s.sshfs {
 	echo "WARN" "C4R${C4_RUN}S_SSHFS: missing or non-directory TO \"$2\" (FROM \"$1\")" >&2 # LOG
 	return 1;
     fi
-    : $C4_S_SSHFS_CMD $C4_S_SSHFS_OPT $@
+    $C4_S_SSHFS_CMD $C4_S_SSHFS_OPT $@
 }
 
+## run mkdir locally if the given spoke is up, otherwise use SSH
+_c4_mkdir_debug="$(c4.s.first "$_C4_MKDIR_DEBUG" "$C4_DEBUG")"
+function c4.mkdir {
+    _c4_mkdir_islocal="$(
+      c4.s.host "$(
+        c4.s.firstmatch ! - "$@"
+      )"
+     )"
+    if test -n "$_c4_mkdir_islocal" ; then
+	if test -z "$_c4_mkdir_debug" ; then
+	    mkdir $@
+	else
+	    echo mkdir $@
+	fi
+    else
+	c4.ssh mkdir $@
+    fi
+}
+
+##  Create a shell script by reading STDIN
+_c4_mksh_infh=/dev/stdin    # read from STDIN by default
+_c4_mksh_otfh=/dev/stdout   # write to STDOUT by default
+_c4_mksh_bash=/usr/bin/bash # script for bash by default
+function c4.mksh {
+    local C4_MKSH_INFH="$(c4.s.first      "$C4_MKSH_INFH" "$_c4_mksh_infh" /dev/stdin)"
+    local C4_MKSH_OTFH="$(c4.s.first "$1" "$C4_MKSH_OTFH" "$_c4_mksh_otfh" /dev/stdout)"
+    local C4_MKSH_BASH="$(c4.s.first "$2" "$C4_MKSH_BASH" "$_c4_mksh_bash" /usr/bin/bash)"
+
+    printf '#!%s'"\n" "$C4_MKSH_BASH" >$C4_MKSH_OTFH
+
+    while IFS= read -r line; do
+	echo "$line" >> $C4_MKSH_OTFH
+    done <$C4_MKSH_INFH
+
+    # set the executable bit when making a regular file
+    test -f $C4_MKSH_OTFH && chmod a+x $C4_MKSH_OTFH
+}
+
+# run command on rhost via ssh when not on rhost
+_c4_ssh_debug="$(c4.s.first "$_C4_SSH_DEBUG" "$C4_DEBUG")"
+_C4_SSH="${_C4_SSH:-ssh}"
+function c4.ssh {
+    local host="$1"; shift;
+    if c4.gw_is_localhost "$host" ; then # run locally
+	if test -z "$_c4_ssh_debug" ; then
+	    $@
+	else
+	    echo "$@"
+	fi		
+    else # use ssh
+	local sshcmd="$( printf '%s %s' \
+	      		 	"$(c4.s.first $C4_SSH $_C4_SSH "ssh")" \
+	      		 	"$(c4.fqn "$host" )" \
+				)";
+	if test -z "$_c4_ssh_debug" ; then
+	    $sshcmd $@
+	else
+	    echo "$sshcmd $@"
+	fi	
+    fi
+}
+
+##  
+_c4_rsync_debug="$(c4.s.first "$_C4_RSYNC_DEBUG" "$C4_DEBUG")"
+function c4.rsync {
+    local m== "$( c4.s.firstmatch ":" "$@" )";
+    if test -n "$m" ; then
+	m="$(echo "$m" | cut -d ':' -f 1)"
+    else
+	m="$(c4.s.host "$( c4.s.firstmatch ! ^ - "$@" )")"
+    fi
+    if test -n "$m" && c4.gw_is_localhost "$m"; then
+	if test -z "$_c4_rsync_debug" ; then
+	    echo TROUBLE mkdir $@
+	else
+	    echo mkdir $@
+	fi
+    else
+	c4.ssh mkdir $@
+    fi
+}
+
+
+# run command on rhost via ssh when not on rhost
+_c4_cmd_debug="$(c4.s.first "$_C4_CMD_DEBUG" "$C4_DEBUG")"
+# function c4.cmd {
+    # _c4_mkdir_islocal="$(
+    #   c4.s.host "$(
+    #     c4.s.firstmatch ! - "$@"
+    #   )"
+    #  )"
+#     if test -n "$_c4_mkdir_islocal" ; then
+#     if test -z "$_c4_rsync_debug" ; then
+# 	$_c4__cmdpre $@
+#     else
+# 	echo $_c4__cmdpre $@
+#     fi
+#}
+
+# run rsync on rhost via ssh when not on rhost
+# function c4.rsync {
+#     if test -z "$_c4_rsync_debug" ; then
+# 	$_c4_rsync_ssh $@
+#     else
+# 	echo $_c4_rsync_ssh $@
+#     fi
+# }
+
 ####
 #### END
 ####