diff --git a/tell.py b/tell.py
index fef71c6..ebc0f76 100755
--- a/tell.py
+++ b/tell.py
@@ -5,12 +5,16 @@ Copyright 2013, sfan5
 """
 
 import random
-from tools import deprecated
 from thread import start_new_thread, allocate_lock
 import sqlite3
+import time
+import hashlib
 
 tell_list = []
-telldb_lock = allocate_lock()
+tell_pending = []
+tell_lastdiskwrite = 0
+tell_lastlisthash = ''
+tell_diskwriteinterval = 60 # seconds
 
 def tell(phenny, input): 
 	for x in phenny.bot.commands["high"].values():
@@ -25,26 +29,18 @@ def tell(phenny, input):
 	teller = input.nick
 	target = arg.split(" ")[0]
 	text = " ".join(arg.split(" ")[1:])
-	d = (teller, target, text)
 	if target.lower() == teller.lower():
 		return phenny.say("You can tell that to yourself")
 	if target.lower() == phenny.nick.lower():
 		return phenny.say("I'm not dumb, you know?")
 
-	telldb_lock.acquire()
-	tell_list.append(d)
-	db = sqlite3.connect("tell.sqlite")
-	c = db.cursor()
-	c.execute("INSERT INTO tell VALUES (?,?,?)", d)
-	c.close()
-	db.commit()
-	db.close()
-	telldb_lock.release()
+	d = (teller, target, text, int(time.time()))
+	tell_pending.append(("INSERT INTO tell (nick, tellee, msg, time) VALUES (?,?,?,?)", d))
 
 	response = "I'll pass that on when %s is around" % target
 	rand = random.random()
-	if rand > 0.99: response = "yeah, yeah"
-	elif rand > 0.9: response = "yeah, sure, whatever"
+	if rand > 0.75: response = "yeah, yeah"
+	elif rand > 0.85: response = "yeah, sure, whatever"
 
 	phenny.reply(response)
 
@@ -52,18 +48,26 @@ tell.commands = ["tell"]
 
 def checktell(phenny, input):
 	for e in tell_list:
-		if e[1].lower() == input.nick.lower():
-			phenny.say("%s: <%s> %s" % (input.nick, e[0], e[2]))
-			telldb_lock.acquire()
+		if e[2].lower() == input.nick.lower():
+			phenny.say("%s: %s <%s> %s" % (input.nick, time.strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S', time.gmtime(e[4])), e[1], e[3]))
 			tell_list.remove(e)
-			db = sqlite3.connect("tell.sqlite")
-			c = db.cursor()
-			c.execute("DELETE FROM tell WHERE nick = ? AND channel = ? AND msg = ?", e)
-			c.close()
-			db.commit()
-			db.close()
-			telldb_lock.release()
+			tell_pending.append(("DELETE FROM tell WHERE id = ?", (e[0],)))
+			break
+
+	if time.time() - tell_diskwriteinterval > tell_lastdiskwrite:
+		tell_lastdiskwrite = time.time()
+		current_hash = hashlib.sha1(','.join(str(e[0]) for e in tell_list)).hexdigest()
+		if current_hash == tell_lastlisthash:
 			return
+		tell_lastlisthash = current_hash
+		db = sqlite3.connect("tell.sqlite")
+		c = db.cursor()
+		for tr in tell_pending:
+			c.execute(*tr)
+		c.close()
+		db.commit()
+		db.close()
+		tell_pending = []
 
 def note(phenny, input):
 	if input.sender.startswith('#'):
@@ -80,19 +84,18 @@ note_join.rule = r'.*'
 note_join.event = 'JOIN'
 note_join.priority = 'low'
 
-#telldb_lock.acquire() # Just to be safe
 db = sqlite3.connect("tell.sqlite")
 c = db.cursor()
-c.execute("CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS tell (nick text, channel text, msg text)")
-c.execute("SELECT nick, channel, msg FROM tell")
+c.execute("CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS tell (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, nick TEXT, tellee TEXT, msg TEXT, time INTEGER)")
+c.execute("SELECT * FROM tell")
 while True:
 	e = c.fetchone()
 	if not e:
 		break
 	tell_list.append(e)
 c.close()
+db.commit()
 db.close()
-#telldb_lock.acquire()
 
 if __name__ == '__main__': 
    print __doc__.strip()