diff --git a/common/watcher.py b/common/watcher.py
index 5fcab2d..6ebb60c 100644
--- a/common/watcher.py
+++ b/common/watcher.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import json
 watcher_sock = None
 
 class Watcher:
+    @staticmethod
     def ensure_socket_connected():
         global watcher_sock
         if watcher_sock is None or watcher_sock.fileno() == -1:  # Checks if socket is not initialized or closed
@@ -16,19 +17,17 @@ class Watcher:
                 # If connection fails, set sock to None and do nothing
                 watcher_sock = None
 
+    @staticmethod
     def log_watch(var_name, message):
         global watcher_sock
-        self.ensure_socket_connected()  # Ensure the socket is connected before attempting to log
+        Watcher.ensure_socket_connected()  # Ensure the socket is connected before attempting to log
         if watcher_sock:  # Proceed only if sock is not None (i.e., is connected)
-            message_json = json.dumps(message)
+            message_json = json.dumps({var_name: message})
             try:
                 watcher_sock.sendall(message_json.encode('utf-8') + b'\n')
             except socket.error:
-                nothing=False
                 # Handle potential error in sending (e.g., if connection was lost)
-            watcher_sock.close()  # Close the current socket to clean up resources
-            watcher_sock = None  # Reset sock to ensure reconnection attempt on next call
-
-#message = {"variable": "car_stats", "value": {"car_lights_on": [3, 5, 7], "car_state": "on"}}
-#log_watch(sock, message)
-
+                watcher_sock = None  # Ensure that the next attempt will try to reconnect
+            finally:
+                watcher_sock.close()  # Close the current socket to clean up resources
+                watcher_sock = None  # Reset sock to ensure reconnection attempt on next call
diff --git a/shell/watcher.js b/shell/watcher.js
index 7715219..d1a3c95 100644
--- a/shell/watcher.js
+++ b/shell/watcher.js
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ unix_socket_server.listen(socketPath, () => {
 });
 
 function processMessage(message) {
+  console.log(message);
   try {
     const { variable, value } = JSON.parse(message);
     const diff = calculateDiff(progvars[variable], value);
diff --git a/system/timezoned.py b/system/timezoned.py
index b46c6e0..9b1d2be 100755
--- a/system/timezoned.py
+++ b/system/timezoned.py
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ from openpilot.common.watcher import Watcher
 
 REQUEST_HEADERS = {'User-Agent': "openpilot-" + get_version()}
 
-
 def set_timezone(valid_timezones, timezone):
   if timezone not in valid_timezones:
     cloudlog.error(f"Timezone not supported {timezone}")
@@ -48,6 +47,8 @@ def main() -> NoReturn:
     set_timezone(valid_timezones, timezone)
 
   while True:
+    Watcher.log_watch("location", "starting")
+
     time.sleep(60)
 
     location = params.get("LastGPSPosition", encoding='utf8')