diff --git a/brozzler/__init__.py b/brozzler/__init__.py
index 516c8d0..7715ecf 100644
--- a/brozzler/__init__.py
+++ b/brozzler/__init__.py
@@ -39,42 +39,6 @@ class ReachedLimit(Exception):
     def __str__(self):
         return self.__repr__()
 
-class Rethinker:
-    import logging
-    logger = logging.getLogger(__module__ + "." + __qualname__)
-
-    def __init__(self, servers=["localhost"], db=None):
-        self.servers = servers
-        self.db = db
-
-    # https://github.com/rethinkdb/rethinkdb-example-webpy-blog/blob/master/model.py
-    # "Best practices: Managing connections: a connection per request"
-    def _random_server_connection(self):
-        import random
-        import rethinkdb as r
-        while True:
-            server = random.choice(self.servers)
-            try:
-                try:
-                    host, port = server.split(":")
-                    return r.connect(host=host, port=port)
-                except ValueError:
-                    return r.connect(host=server)
-            except Exception as e:
-                self.logger.error("will keep trying to get a connection after failure connecting to %s", server, exc_info=True)
-                import time
-                time.sleep(0.5)
-
-    def run(self, query):
-        import rethinkdb as r
-        while True:
-            with self._random_server_connection() as conn:
-                try:
-                    return query.run(conn, db=self.db)
-                except (r.ReqlAvailabilityError, r.ReqlTimeoutError) as e:
-                    self.logger.error("will retry rethinkdb query/operation %s which failed like so:", exc_info=True)
-            time.sleep(0.5)
-
 class BaseDictable:
     def to_dict(self):
         d = dict(vars(self))
diff --git a/brozzler/frontier.py b/brozzler/frontier.py
index 3908319..1af7044 100644
--- a/brozzler/frontier.py
+++ b/brozzler/frontier.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ r = rethinkdb
 import random
 import time
 import datetime
+import pyrethink
 
 class UnexpectedDbResult(Exception):
     pass
@@ -13,7 +14,7 @@ class RethinkDbFrontier:
     logger = logging.getLogger(__module__ + "." + __qualname__)
 
     def __init__(self, servers=["localhost"], db="brozzler", shards=3, replicas=3):
-        self.r = brozzler.Rethinker(servers, db)
+        self.r = pyrethink.Rethinker(servers, db)
         self.shards = shards
         self.replicas = replicas
         self._ensure_db()
@@ -127,8 +128,8 @@ class RethinkDbFrontier:
             raise brozzler.NothingToClaim
 
     def has_outstanding_pages(self, site):
-        cursor = self.r.run(r.table("pages").between([site.id,0,False,brozzler.MIN_PRIORITY], [site.id,0,True,brozzler.MAX_PRIORITY], index="priority_by_site").limit(1))
-        return len(list(cursor)) > 0
+        results_iter = self.r.results_iter(r.table("pages").between([site.id,0,False,brozzler.MIN_PRIORITY], [site.id,0,True,brozzler.MAX_PRIORITY], index="priority_by_site").limit(1))
+        return len(list(results_iter)) > 0
 
     def page(self, id):
         result = self.r.run(r.table("pages").get(id))
@@ -147,7 +148,7 @@ class RethinkDbFrontier:
             self.update_site(site)
 
     def active_jobs(self):
-        results = self.r.run(r.table("jobs").filter({"status":"ACTIVE"}))
+        results = self.r.results_iter(r.table("jobs").filter({"status":"ACTIVE"}))
         for result in results:
             yield brozzler.Job(**result)
 
@@ -165,11 +166,12 @@ class RethinkDbFrontier:
             self.logger.warn("%s is already %s", job, job.status)
             return True
 
-        results = self.r.run(r.table("sites").get_all(job_id, index="job_id"))
+        results = self.r.results_iter(r.table("sites").get_all(job_id, index="job_id"))
         n = 0
         for result in results:
             site = brozzler.Site(**result)
             if not site.status.startswith("FINISH"):
+                results.close()
                 return False
             n += 1
 
@@ -188,7 +190,7 @@ class RethinkDbFrontier:
     def disclaim_site(self, site, page=None):
         self.logger.info("disclaiming %s", site)
         site.claimed = False
-        site.last_disclaimed = time.time()
+        site.last_disclaimed = time.time()  # XXX use string or rethinkdb time type?
         if not page and not self.has_outstanding_pages(site):
             self.finished(site, "FINISHED")
         else:
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 90e4404..5ba1ccd 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,11 +1,15 @@
 PyYAML
-git+https://github.com/nlevitt/surt.git@py3
-# -e /home/nlevitt/workspace/surt
 git+https://github.com/nlevitt/youtube-dl.git@brozzler
 git+https://github.com/seomoz/reppy.git   # https://github.com/seomoz/reppy/commit/7661606c not in pypi package
 requests
 git+https://github.com/nlevitt/websocket-client.git@tweaks
 rethinkdb
 pillow
+
+git+https://github.com/nlevitt/surt.git@py3
+https://github.com/nlevitt/pyrethink.git
+.
+
+# -e /home/nlevitt/workspace/surt
+# -e /home/nlevitt/workspace/pyrethink
 # -e .
--e .