diff --git a/blinkenlicht/README.md b/blinkenlicht/README.md
index c17abf7..1d0ea39 100644
--- a/blinkenlicht/README.md
+++ b/blinkenlicht/README.md
@@ -17,9 +17,9 @@ Not quite dogfood-ready yet, but fast approaching.
 * blinkenlicht.fnl is the module that parses `bar` and `indicator`
   forms and does all the UI
 
-* metric.fnl is a collection of functions that read metrics (load
-  average, battery status etc) from the system, for indicators to
-  display.
+* metric/*.fnl is a collection of modules that read metrics (load
+  average, connectivity, battery status etc) from the system, for
+  indicators to display.
 
 Use the `default.nix` for guidance as to libraries and other setup
 required - or just use it, of course.
@@ -43,10 +43,10 @@ Gtk will find it anyway. Magic.
 * [X] add some mechanism for indicators that wait for events instead of polling
 * [X] set indicator background colour (use css for this?)
 * [ ] update image/label widget instead of destroying
-* [ ] allow height customisation
+* [ ] allow image height customisation
 * [X] set poll interval based on indicators' requested intervals
 * [X] allow indicator to change styles based on status
 * [ ] add metrics for
-  - wireless connected/strength
+  - [X] wireless connected/strength
   - wwan connected/type (hspa, lte, etc)/signal
   - cpu %
diff --git a/blinkenlicht/bl.fnl b/blinkenlicht/bl.fnl
index d0bd88c..40190c7 100644
--- a/blinkenlicht/bl.fnl
+++ b/blinkenlicht/bl.fnl
@@ -3,10 +3,12 @@
 (local {: view} (require :fennel))
 
 (local iostream (require :iostream))
-(local metric (require :metric))
-(local uplink (require :uplink))
 (local modem (require :modem))
 
+(local uplink (require :metric.uplink))
+(local battery (require :metric.battery))
+(local cpustat (require :metric.cpustat))
+
 (stylesheet "licht.css")
 
 (fn battery-icon-codepoint [status percent]
@@ -40,26 +42,27 @@
      (indicator {
                  :wait-for { :interval (* 1 500) }
                  :refresh
-                 #(let [current (. (metric.cpustat) :iowait)
-                        delta (- current previous)
-                        v (if (> delta 4) "" "  ")]
-                    (set previous current)
-                    {:text v})
+                 (let [stat (cpustat.new)]
+                   #(let [current (. (stat:read) :iowait)
+                          delta (- current previous)
+                          v (if (> delta 4) "" "  ")]
+                      (set previous current)
+                      {:text v}))
                  }))
 
-   (let [modem (modem.new)]
-     (indicator {
-                 :wait-for {
+   (indicator {
+               :wait-for {
                             :interval (* 4 1000)
-                            }
-                 :refresh
+                          }
+               :refresh
+               (let [modem (modem.new)]
                  #(let [{:m3gpp-operator-name operator
-                         :signal-quality quality} (modem:value)]
+                         :signal-quality quality} (modem:read)]
                     {:text (.. operator
-                               ;" " (. quality 1) "dBm"
+                               ;;" " (. quality 1) "dBm"
                                )
-                     })
-                 }))
+                     }))
+                 })
 
    (let [uplink (uplink.new)
          input (iostream.from-descriptor uplink.fd)]
@@ -68,7 +71,7 @@
                             :input [input]
                             }
                  :refresh
-                 #(let [status (uplink:status)]
+                 #(let [status (uplink:read)]
                     (if status
                         {:text (.. (or status.ssid status.name "?")
                                    " "
@@ -85,15 +88,17 @@
    (indicator {
                :wait-for { :interval (* 1000 10) }
                :refresh
-               #(let [{:power-supply-capacity percent
-                       :power-supply-status status}
-                      (metric.battery "axp20x-battery")
-                      icon-code (battery-icon-codepoint
-                                 status (tonumber percent))]
-                  {:text
-                   (string.format "%s %d%%" (utf8.char icon-code) percent)
-                   :classes ["battery" (if (< (tonumber percent) 20) "low" "ok")]
-                   })
+               (let [battery (battery.new (or (os.getenv "BLINKEN_BATTERY")
+                                              "axp20x-battery"))]
+                 #(let [{:power-supply-capacity percent
+                         :power-supply-status status}
+                        (battery.read)
+                        icon-code (battery-icon-codepoint
+                                   status (tonumber percent))]
+                    {:text
+                     (string.format "%s %d%%" (utf8.char icon-code) percent)
+                     :classes ["battery" (if (< (tonumber percent) 20) "low" "ok")]
+                     }))
                })
    (indicator {
                :wait-for { :interval 4000 }
diff --git a/blinkenlicht/metric.fnl b/blinkenlicht/metric.fnl
deleted file mode 100644
index d963a23..0000000
--- a/blinkenlicht/metric.fnl
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,42 +0,0 @@
-(local {: view} (require :fennel))
-
-(fn loadavg []
-  (with-open [f (io.open "/proc/loadavg" :r)]
-    (let [line (f:read "*a")
-          (one five fifteen) (line:match "([%d.]+) +([%d.]+) +([%d.]+)")]
-      (values (tonumber one) (tonumber five) (tonumber fifteen)))))
-
-(fn battery [name]
-  (let [name (.. "/sys/class/power_supply/" name  "/uevent")]
-    (with-open [f (io.open name :r)]
-      (let [fields {}]
-        (each [line #(f:read "*l")]
-          (let [(name value) (line:match "([^=]+)=(.+)")]
-            (tset fields (: (name:gsub "_" "-") :lower) value)))
-        fields))))
-
-(fn parse-cpu-stat-line [line]
-  (let [labels [:user :nice :system :idle :iowait
-                :irq :softirq :steal :guest :guest_nice]
-        vals (icollect [field (line:gmatch "([%d.]+)")]
-                 (tonumber field))]
-    (collect [i label (ipairs labels)]
-      label (. vals i))))
-
-(var  proc-stat-handle nil)
-
-(fn cpustat [path]
-  (if proc-stat-handle
-      (proc-stat-handle:seek :set 0)
-      (set proc-stat-handle (io.open "/proc/stat" :r)))
-  (let [f proc-stat-handle]
-    (accumulate [ret nil
-                 line #(f:read "*l") ]
-                (if (= (string.sub line  1 (# "cpu ")) "cpu ")
-                    (parse-cpu-stat-line line)
-                    ret))))
-
-{: loadavg
- : battery
- : cpustat
- }
diff --git a/blinkenlicht/metric/battery.fnl b/blinkenlicht/metric/battery.fnl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4263ee3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/blinkenlicht/metric/battery.fnl
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+(fn battery [name]
+  (let [name (.. "/sys/class/power_supply/" name  "/uevent")]
+    (with-open [f (io.open name :r)]
+      (let [fields {}]
+        (each [line #(f:read "*l")]
+          (let [(name value) (line:match "([^=]+)=(.+)")]
+            (tset fields (: (name:gsub "_" "-") :lower) value)))
+        fields))))
+
+{ :new
+ (fn [name]
+   {
+    :read #(battery name)
+    })
+ }
diff --git a/blinkenlicht/metric/cpustat.fnl b/blinkenlicht/metric/cpustat.fnl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..23b0f8a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/blinkenlicht/metric/cpustat.fnl
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+(fn parse-cpu-stat-line [line]
+  (let [labels [:user :nice :system :idle :iowait
+                :irq :softirq :steal :guest :guest_nice]
+        vals (icollect [field (line:gmatch "([%d.]+)")]
+                 (tonumber field))]
+    (collect [i label (ipairs labels)]
+      label (. vals i))))
+
+(fn cpustat [proc-stat-handle]
+  (let [f proc-stat-handle]
+    (f:seek :set 0)
+    (accumulate [ret nil
+                 line #(f:read "*l")
+                 :until ret]
+                (if (= (string.sub line  1 (# "cpu ")) "cpu ")
+                    (parse-cpu-stat-line line)
+                    ret))))
+{
+ :new
+ #(let [handle (io.open "/proc/stat" :r)]
+    {
+     :read #(cpustat handle)
+     })
+ }
diff --git a/blinkenlicht/metric/loadavg.fnl b/blinkenlicht/metric/loadavg.fnl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0397ceb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/blinkenlicht/metric/loadavg.fnl
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+(fn loadavg []
+  (with-open [f (io.open "/proc/loadavg" :r)]
+    (let [line (f:read "*a")
+          (one five fifteen) (line:match "([%d.]+) +([%d.]+) +([%d.]+)")]
+      (values (tonumber one) (tonumber five) (tonumber fifteen)))))
+
+{:new #{
+        :read #(loadavg)
+        })
diff --git a/blinkenlicht/uplink.fnl b/blinkenlicht/metric/uplink.fnl
similarity index 91%
rename from blinkenlicht/uplink.fnl
rename to blinkenlicht/metric/uplink.fnl
index deb2a7e..02c8822 100644
--- a/blinkenlicht/uplink.fnl
+++ b/blinkenlicht/metric/uplink.fnl
@@ -90,13 +90,13 @@
      :refresh #(each [_ event (ipairs (sock:event))]
                  (handle-event event))
      :fd (sock:fd)
-     :status (fn [self]
-               (self:refresh)
-               (let [defaultroute routes.default
-                     interface (and defaultroute
-                                    (. links defaultroute.index))]
-                 (and interface (= interface.running "yes")
-                      (get-network-info interface))))
+     :read (fn [self]
+             (self:refresh)
+             (let [defaultroute routes.default
+                   interface (and defaultroute
+                                  (. links defaultroute.index))]
+               (and interface (= interface.running "yes")
+                    (get-network-info interface))))
      :wait #(sock:poll 1000)
      :interface (fn [self ifnum]
                   (. links ifnum))
diff --git a/blinkenlicht/modem.fnl b/blinkenlicht/modem.fnl
index e930a54..48fd27f 100644
--- a/blinkenlicht/modem.fnl
+++ b/blinkenlicht/modem.fnl
@@ -5,25 +5,22 @@
 (local variant dbus.variant)
 
 ;; https://www.freedesktop.org/software/ModemManager/api/latest/ref-dbus.html
-(var the-modem-manager nil)
+
 (fn  modem-manager []
-  (when (not the-modem-manager)
-    (set the-modem-manager
-         (dbus.Proxy:new
-          {
-           :bus dbus.Bus.SYSTEM
-           :name "org.freedesktop.ModemManager1"
-           :interface "org.freedesktop.DBus.ObjectManager"
-           :path "/org/freedesktop/ModemManager1"
-           })))
-  the-modem-manager)
+  (dbus.Proxy:new
+   {
+    :bus dbus.Bus.SYSTEM
+    :name "org.freedesktop.ModemManager1"
+    :interface "org.freedesktop.DBus.ObjectManager"
+    :path "/org/freedesktop/ModemManager1"
+    }))
 
 ;; this is a function because the path to the modem may change
 ;; (e.g. due to suspend/resume cycles causing services to be stopped
 ;; and started)
 
-(fn modem-interface []
-  (let [modem-path (next (: (assert (modem-manager)) :GetManagedObjects))]
+(fn modem-interface [manager]
+  (let [modem-path (next (: (assert manager) :GetManagedObjects))]
     (dbus.Proxy:new
      {
       :bus dbus.Bus.SYSTEM
@@ -33,10 +30,11 @@
       })))
 
 (fn new-modem-status []
-  {
-   :value #(let [m (modem-interface)]
-             (variant.strip (m:GetStatus)))
-   })
+  (let [manager (modem-manager)]
+    {
+     :read #(let [m (modem-interface manager)]
+              (variant.strip (m:GetStatus)))
+     }))
 
 (comment
 (let [ctx (: (GLib.MainLoop) :get_context)