diff --git a/hosts/modules/gui/sxmo/default.nix b/hosts/modules/gui/sxmo/default.nix
index a00fc41b..26aae493 100644
--- a/hosts/modules/gui/sxmo/default.nix
+++ b/hosts/modules/gui/sxmo/default.nix
@@ -293,7 +293,7 @@ in
           enable = true;
           # we manage the greeter ourselves  (TODO: merge this into sway config as well)
           useGreeter = false;
-          waybar.top = import ./waybar-top.nix;
+          waybar.top = import ./waybar-top.nix { inherit pkgs; };
           # reset extra waybar style
           waybar.extra_style = "";
           config = {
diff --git a/hosts/modules/gui/sxmo/waybar-sxmo-status b/hosts/modules/gui/sxmo/waybar-sxmo-status
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..e64dd5fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hosts/modules/gui/sxmo/waybar-sxmo-status
@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env nix-shell
+#!nix-shell -i bash -p sxmo-utils -p sxmo-utils.runtimeDeps
+#
+# usage:
+# waybar-sxmo-status widget1 [ widget2 [...]]
+#
+# where each widget is one of:
+# - modem-state
+# - modem-tech
+# - modem-signal
+# - wifi-status
+
+# sxmo_hook_statusbar.sh assumes:
+# - mmcli, jq on PATH
+# - sxmo_hook_icons.sh and sxmo_common.sh are sourcable
+#   - from sxmo_common, it only uses sxmobar (and aliases jq=gojq)
+
+# setup environment so that the hooks will be on PATH:
+# - sxmo_hook_statusbar.sh
+# - sxmo_hook_icons.sh
+export HOME="${HOME:-/home/colin}"
+export XDG_CONFIG_HOME="${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}"
+export PATH="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/sxmo/hooks:$PATH"
+
+# clunky interaction between us and sxmo_hook_statusbar.sh:
+# - we export `sxmobar` to it, but within that function cannot modify the environment
+#   of *this* script, because it gets run in a different process.
+# - so, `sxmobar` prints info to stdout, and then this script re-interprets that info.
+# - practically, `sxmobar` prints shell commands, and then this script `eval`s them, to achieve that IPC.
+sxmobar() {
+  action="$1"
+  shift
+  if [ "$action" = "-a" ]; then
+    while [ -n "$*" ]; do
+      arg="$1"
+      case "$arg" in
+        "-f"|"-b"|"-t"|"-e")
+          # foreground/background/text/emphasis: ignore it
+          shift
+          shift
+          ;;
+        *)
+          # begin arguments
+          break
+          ;;
+      esac
+    done
+
+    echo "setitem $@"
+  fi
+}
+export -f sxmobar
+
+setitem() {
+  id="$1"
+  priority="$2"
+  value="$3"
+  case "$id" in
+    modem-state)
+      modem_state="$value"
+      ;;
+    modem-tech)
+      modem_tech="$value"
+      ;;
+    modem-signal)
+      modem_signal="$value"
+      ;;
+    wifi-status)
+      wifi_status="$value"
+      ;;
+  esac
+}
+
+while [ -n "$*" ]; do
+  variable="$1"
+  shift
+  case "$variable" in
+    "--verbose")
+      set -x
+      ;;
+    "modem-state")
+      if [ -z "$modem_state" ]; then
+        eval "$(sxmo_hook_statusbar.sh modem)"
+      fi
+      echo -n "$modem_state"
+      ;;
+    "modem-tech")
+      if [ -z "$modem_tech" ]; then
+        eval "$(sxmo_hook_statusbar.sh modem)"
+      fi
+      echo -n "$modem_tech"
+      ;;
+    "modem-signal")
+      if [ -z "$modem_signal" ]; then
+        eval "$(sxmo_hook_statusbar.sh modem)"
+      fi
+      echo -n "$modem_signal"
+      ;;
+    "wifi-status")
+      if [ -z "$wifi_status" ]; then
+        eval "$(sxmo_hook_statusbar.sh network wifi wlan0)"
+      fi
+      echo -n "$wifi_status"
+      ;;
+    *)
+      echo -n "UNK: $variable"
+      ;;
+  esac
+done
diff --git a/hosts/modules/gui/sxmo/waybar-top.nix b/hosts/modules/gui/sxmo/waybar-top.nix
index 5464ab40..b9b344e4 100644
--- a/hosts/modules/gui/sxmo/waybar-top.nix
+++ b/hosts/modules/gui/sxmo/waybar-top.nix
@@ -1,6 +1,14 @@
 # docs: https://github.com/Alexays/Waybar/wiki/Configuration
 # format specifiers: https://fmt.dev/latest/syntax.html#syntax
 # this is merged with the sway/waybar-top.nix defaults
+{ pkgs }:
+let
+  waybar-sxmo-status = pkgs.static-nix-shell.mkBash {
+    pname = "waybar-sxmo-status";
+    src = ./.;
+    pkgs = [ "sxmo-utils" "sxmo-utils.runtimeDeps" ];
+  };
+in
 {
   height = 26;
 
@@ -10,10 +18,12 @@
     "custom/swaync"
     "clock"
     "battery"
+    "custom/sxmo-sane"
+    # "custom/sxmo"
     # "custom/sxmo/modem-state"
-    "custom/sxmo/modem-tech"
-    "custom/sxmo/modem-signal"
-    "custom/sxmo/wifi"
+    # "custom/sxmo/modem-tech"
+    # "custom/sxmo/modem-signal"
+    # "custom/sxmo/wifi"
   ];
 
   "sway/workspaces" = {
@@ -28,6 +38,14 @@
     };
   };
 
+  "custom/sxmo-sane" = {
+    # this calls all the SXMO indicators, inline.
+    # so it works even without the "statusbar periodics" sxmo service running.
+    interval = 2;
+    format = "{}";
+    exec = "${waybar-sxmo-status}/bin/waybar-sxmo-status modem-state modem-tech modem-signal wifi-status";
+  };
+
   "custom/sxmo" = {
     # this gives wifi state, battery, mic/speaker, lockstate, time all as one widget.
     # a good starting point, but may want to split these apart later to make things configurable.