diff --git a/eventBindings.go b/eventBindings.go
index 3633ca7..d869474 100644
--- a/eventBindings.go
+++ b/eventBindings.go
@@ -154,12 +154,12 @@ func theLetterD(g *gocui.Gui, v *gocui.View) error {
 
 	fakeStartWidth = me.FakeW
 	fakeStartHeight = me.TabH + me.FramePadH
-	if showDebug {
+	if me.showDebug {
 		showFake()
-		showDebug = false
+		me.showDebug = false
 	} else {
 		hideFake()
-		showDebug = true
+		me.showDebug = true
 	}
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/eventMouse.go b/eventMouse.go
index a6bd19e..31bf2d3 100644
--- a/eventMouse.go
+++ b/eventMouse.go
@@ -129,10 +129,7 @@ func mouseDown(g *gocui.Gui, v *gocui.View) error {
 // this needs to go
 // event triggers when you push down on a mouse button
 func msgDown(g *gocui.Gui, v *gocui.View) error {
-	initialMouseX, initialMouseY = g.MousePosition()
-
-	w := initialMouseX
-	h := initialMouseY
+	w, h := g.MousePosition()
 
 	for _, tk := range findByXY(w, h) {
 		tk.dumpWidget("msgDown()")
@@ -140,8 +137,8 @@ func msgDown(g *gocui.Gui, v *gocui.View) error {
 
 	vx, vy, _, _, err := g.ViewPosition("msg")
 	if err == nil {
-		me.stdout.offsetW = initialMouseX - vx
-		me.stdout.offsetH = initialMouseY - vy
+		me.stdout.offsetW = w - vx
+		me.stdout.offsetH = h - vy
 	}
 	log.Info("setting mousedown to true")
 	// msgMouseDown = true
diff --git a/structs.go b/structs.go
index b77225a..2a406be 100644
--- a/structs.go
+++ b/structs.go
@@ -25,10 +25,9 @@ import (
 // 2025 note: doesn't seem terrible to call this 'me' anymore. notsure.
 var me config
 
-var showDebug bool = true   // todo: move this into config struct
-var redoWidgets bool = true // todo: move this into config struct
-
-// todo: move all this to a protobuf. then, redo all this mess. it got me here, but now it's time to clean it up for good
+// todo: move all this to a protobuf. then, redo all this mess.
+// it got me here, but now it's time to clean it up for good
+// I can't get a GO plugins that use protobuf to load yet (versioning mismatch)
 type config struct {
 	baseGui          *gocui.Gui     // the main gocui handle
 	treeRoot         *tree.Node     // the base of the binary tree. it should have id == 0
@@ -68,6 +67,7 @@ type config struct {
 	globalMouseDown  bool           // yep, mouse is pressed
 	newWindowTrigger chan bool      // work around hack to redraw windows a bit after NewWindow()
 	stdout           stdout         // information for the STDOUT window
+	showDebug        bool           // todo: move this into config struct
 }
 
 // settings for the stdout window
@@ -82,13 +82,6 @@ type stdout struct {
 	offsetH     int        // the current 'h' offset
 }
 
-// deprecate these
-var (
-	initialMouseX, initialMouseY int
-	// initialMouseX, initialMouseY, xOffset, yOffset int
-	// msgMouseDown                                   bool
-)
-
 // this is the gocui way
 // corner starts at in the upper left corner
 type rectType struct {