diff --git a/sync_es.py b/sync_es.py
index f52ca2b..444c905 100755
--- a/sync_es.py
+++ b/sync_es.py
@@ -263,54 +263,67 @@ class EsPoster(ExitingThread):
 
         last_save = time.time()
         since_last = 0
+        # XXX keep track of last posted position for save points, awkward
+        posted_log_file = None
+        posted_log_pos = None
 
         while True:
             actions = []
-            while len(actions) < self.chunk_size:
+            now = time.time()
+            # wait up to flush_interval seconds after starting the batch
+            deadline = now + self.flush_interval
+            while len(actions) < self.chunk_size and now < deadline:
+                timeout = deadline - now
                 try:
                     # grab next event from queue with metadata that creepily
                     # updates, surviving outside the scope of the loop
                     ((log_file, log_pos, timestamp), action) = \
-                            self.read_buf.get(block=True, timeout=self.flush_interval)
+                            self.read_buf.get(block=True, timeout=timeout)
                     actions.append(action)
+                    now = time.time()
                 except Empty:
                     # nothing new for the whole interval
                     break
 
-            if not actions:
-                # nothing to post
-                log.debug("no changes...")
-                continue
+            if actions:
+                # XXX "time" to get histogram of no events per bulk
+                stats.timing('actions_per_bulk', len(actions))
 
-            # XXX "time" to get histogram of no events per bulk
-            stats.timing('actions_per_bulk', len(actions))
-
-            try:
-                with stats.timer('post_bulk'):
-                    bulk(es, actions, chunk_size=self.chunk_size)
-            except BulkIndexError as bie:
-                 # in certain cases where we're really out of sync, we update a
-                 # stat when the torrent doc is, causing a "document missing"
-                 # error from es, with no way to suppress that server-side.
-                 # Thus ignore that type of error if it's the only problem
-                for e in bie.errors:
-                    try:
-                        if e['update']['error']['type'] != 'document_missing_exception':
+                try:
+                    with stats.timer('post_bulk'):
+                        bulk(es, actions, chunk_size=self.chunk_size)
+                except BulkIndexError as bie:
+                     # in certain cases where we're really out of sync, we update a
+                     # stat when the torrent doc is, causing a "document missing"
+                     # error from es, with no way to suppress that server-side.
+                     # Thus ignore that type of error if it's the only problem
+                    for e in bie.errors:
+                        try:
+                            if e['update']['error']['type'] != 'document_missing_exception':
+                                raise bie
+                        except KeyError:
                             raise bie
-                    except KeyError:
-                        raise bie
 
-            # how far we're behind, wall clock
-            stats.gauge('process_latency', int((time.time() - timestamp) * 1000))
+                # how far we've gotten in the actual log
+                posted_log_file = log_file
+                posted_log_pos = log_pos
+
+                # how far we're behind, wall clock
+                stats.gauge('process_latency', int((time.time() - timestamp) * 1000))
+            else:
+                log.debug("no changes...")
 
             since_last += len(actions)
-            if since_last >= 10000 or (time.time() - last_save) > 10:
+            # TODO instead of this manual timeout loop, could move this to another queue/thread
+            if posted_log_file is not None and (since_last >= 10000 or (time.time() - last_save) > 10):
                 log.info(f"saving position {log_file}/{log_pos}, {time.time() - timestamp:,.3f} seconds behind")
                 with stats.timer('save_pos'):
                     with open(SAVE_LOC, 'w') as f:
-                        json.dump({"log_file": log_file, "log_pos": log_pos}, f)
+                        json.dump({"log_file": posted_log_file, "log_pos": posted_log_pos}, f)
                 last_save = time.time()
                 since_last = 0
+                posted_log_file = None
+                posted_log_pos = None
 
 # in-memory queue between binlog and es. The bigger it is, the more events we
 # can parse in memory while waiting for es to catch up, at the expense of heap.