diff --git a/planetstack/openstack_observer/event_loop.py b/planetstack/openstack_observer/event_loop.py
index 9e8c7b4..12965bb 100644
--- a/planetstack/openstack_observer/event_loop.py
+++ b/planetstack/openstack_observer/event_loop.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 from collections import defaultdict
 from core.models import *
 from django.db.models import F, Q
+from django.db import connection
 #from openstack.manager import OpenStackManager
 from openstack.driver import OpenStackDriver
 from util.logger import Logger, logging, logger
@@ -238,6 +239,7 @@
 				raise StepNotReady
 
 	def sync(self, S, deletion):
+            try:
 		step = self.step_lookup[S]
 		start_time=time.time()
 
@@ -337,6 +339,8 @@
 		except KeyError,e:
 			logger.info('Step %r is a leaf' % step)
 			pass
+            finally:
+                connection.close()
 
 	def run(self):
 		if not self.driver.enabled:
diff --git a/planetstack/tools/get_instance_ip.py b/planetstack/tools/get_instance_ip.py
index c227e2e..b3e4502 100644
--- a/planetstack/tools/get_instance_ip.py
+++ b/planetstack/tools/get_instance_ip.py
@@ -21,8 +21,13 @@
     return r.json()[0]["id"]
 
 def get_node_id(host_name):
-    r = requests.get(NODES_API + "?name=%s" % host_name, auth=opencloud_auth)
-    return r.json()[0]["id"]
+     r = requests.get(NODES_API)
+     nodes = r.json()
+     for node in nodes:
+         if node["name"].lower() == host_name.lower():
+             return node["id"]
+     print >> sys.stderr, "Error: failed to find node %s" % host_name
+     sys.exit(-1)
 
 def get_slivers(slice_id=None, node_id=None):
     queries = []
diff --git a/planetstack/tools/get_instance_name.py b/planetstack/tools/get_instance_name.py
index a0b55d2..01fc841 100644
--- a/planetstack/tools/get_instance_name.py
+++ b/planetstack/tools/get_instance_name.py
@@ -18,8 +18,15 @@
     return r.json()[0]["id"]
 
 def get_node_id(host_name):
-    r = requests.get(NODES_API + "?name=%s" % host_name, auth=opencloud_auth)
-    return r.json()[0]["id"]
+#    r = requests.get(NODES_API + "?name=%s" % host_name, auth=opencloud_auth)
+#    return r.json()[0]["id"]
+     r = requests.get(NODES_API)
+     nodes = r.json()
+     for node in nodes:
+         if node["name"].lower() == host_name.lower():
+             return node["id"]
+     print >> sys.stderr, "Error: failed to find node %s" % host_name
+     sys.exit(-1)
 
 def get_slivers(slice_id=None, node_id=None):
     queries = []