diff --git a/status/Makefile b/status/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..78fce1e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/status/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+CFLAGS += -g
+
+run: status
+	./status
+
+clean:
+	rm -f status *.o
+
+status: status.c order.c io.o keyval.o
+	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o $@ $@.c io.o keyval.o
+
+order.c: order.def.c
+	- cp -v order.def.c $@
+
+io.o: io.c io.h
+	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c -o $@ io.c
+
+keyval.o: keyval.c keyval.h settings.c
+	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -c -o $@ keyval.c
+
+settings.c: settings.def.c
+	- cp -v settings.def.c $@
diff --git a/status/README b/status/README
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2881d41
--- /dev/null
+++ b/status/README
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+   __  ___  __  ___  _  _  __
+  / _//   //  //   // // // _/ STATUS
+ _'.  / // _  // / / // /_'.   how's your day going?
+/__/ /_//_//_//_/  /__/ /__/   DTB 2025. Public Domain.
+
+build: $ make
diff --git a/status/io.c b/status/io.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d8151dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/status/io.c
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+#undef NDEBUG /* LOAD-BEARING ASSERTS! */
+#include <assert.h> /* assert(3) */
+#include <errno.h> /* errno */
+#include <stdio.h> /* fputs(3), stdout, NULL */
+#include "io.h"
+
+/* output */
+static char *hold = NULL;
+
+void
+drop(void) { hold = NULL; }
+
+void
+out(char *s) {
+	if (hold != NULL)
+		{ errno = 0; fputs(hold, stdout); assert(errno == 0); }
+	hold = s;
+}
diff --git a/status/io.h b/status/io.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7554589
--- /dev/null
+++ b/status/io.h
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+void drop(void);   /* Set the buffer to NULL. */
+void out(char *s); /* Print the buffer if not NULL and replace it with s. */
diff --git a/status/keyval.c b/status/keyval.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4c5c6ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/status/keyval.c
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+/* 2025 DTB. Public domain. */
+
+#undef NDEBUG /* LOAD-BEARING ASSERTS! */
+#include <assert.h> /* assert(3) */
+#include <string.h> /* strcmp(3) */
+#include "keyval.h"
+
+static struct State state = { 0 };
+
+void
+cpy(char *key) {
+	state.settings[state.setting_last].key = key;
+	state.settings[state.setting_last].val = get(key);
+	assert(++state.setting_last < state_settings_size);
+}
+
+void
+del(char *key) {
+	size_t i;
+	for (i = idx(key); i < state.setting_last; ++i) {
+		state.settings[i].key = state.settings[i + 1].key;
+		state.settings[i].val = state.settings[i + 1].val;
+	}
+	--state.setting_last;
+}
+
+char *
+get(char *key) { return state.settings[idx(key)].val; }
+
+size_t
+idx(char *key) {
+	size_t r;
+	for (r = 0; state.settings[r].key != NULL
+				&& strcmp(state.settings[r].key, key) != 0;
+			++r);
+	return (state.settings[r].key == NULL) ? state.setting_last : r;
+}
+
+void
+keyval_init(void) {
+	/* Unnecessary, but means a wrong state.setting_last won't blow up. */
+	(void)memset(&state.settings[state.setting_last],
+		state_settings_size - state.setting_last, '\0');
+#include "settings.c"
+}
+
+size_t
+ren(char *key, char *new) {
+	size_t i;
+	if ((i = idx(key)) != state.setting_last)
+		{ state.settings[i].key = new; }
+	return i;
+}
+
+size_t
+set(char *key, char *val) {
+	size_t i;
+	i = idx(key);
+	state.settings[i].key = key;
+	state.settings[i].val = val;
+	if (i == state.setting_last)
+		{ assert(++state.setting_last < state_settings_size); }
+	return i;
+}
diff --git a/status/keyval.h b/status/keyval.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fba2276
--- /dev/null
+++ b/status/keyval.h
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+/* 2025 DTB. Public domain. */
+
+/* keyval store */
+#ifndef state_settings_size
+#	define state_settings_size 100
+#endif
+
+struct State {
+	size_t setting_last;
+	struct Setting { char *key; char *val; } settings[state_settings_size];
+};
+
+void    cpy(char *key); /* Duplicate the setting key. */
+void    del(char *key); /* Delete the first instance of key in settings. */
+char *  get(char *key); /* Get the corresponding val to key in settings. */
+void keyval_init(void); /* Sanitize the settings store. */
+size_t  idx(char *key); /* Returns the index of key if in settings, or
+                         * state.setting_last. */
+size_t ren(char *key, char *dst); /* Rename the first instance of key in
+                                   * settings. */
+size_t set(char *key, char *val); /* Set the first instance of key in
+                                   * settings. */
diff --git a/status/order.def.c b/status/order.def.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8afdc68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/status/order.def.c
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+/* This is a C source file #included at global scope in status.c. There are a
+ * number of useful functions defined in status.c and #included headers to try
+ * to make iteration a little more convenient. */
+
+/* Environment
+ * getenv(key) gets the value of an environment variable
+ * setenv(key, val, overwrite) sets key to val in the environment, overwriting
+ *	val if key was already defined and overwrite is 0
+ * set_timezone(val) sets TZ to val in the environment, then calls tzset(3) to
+ *	set appropriate timezone values. if val is NULL, it clears the TZ val,
+ *	which restores the timezone to the system local time
+ * get(key) gets the val corresponding to key in settings
+ * set(key, val) sets the val corresponding to key in settings
+ * idx(key) returns the index of key in settings
+ * del(key) deletes the first instance of key in settings
+ * cpy(key) creates an identical instance to key in settings
+ * ren(key, dst) renames key to dst in settings
+ * keyval_init() cleans the settings in case of a glitch */
+
+/* I/O
+ * out(s) holds s and prints what it was previously holding, if it wasn't NULL
+ * drop() sets out()'s held value to NULL */
+
+/* Status
+ * status_static(s) outputs s and then the separator val, unless
+ *	status_static() is called as the last function in order
+ * status_time(fmt) outputs the time for the current time zone in the
+ *	strftime(3) fmt */
+void
+order() {
+	/* there are a couple good ways to print without the separator. the
+	 * best is to use out() to write directly to the output buffer */
+	out("utc"); /* => "utc" */
+	/* but another way is to use status_static to write a message and
+	 * separator, then use drop() to recall the last thing written (always
+	 * the separator in status_* functions) */
+	status_static(" "); drop(); /* => " " */
+	set_timezone("");
+	status_time("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M"); /* => "2025-03-27T00:00 // " */
+
+	/* and another way is to use the weird key-val system */
+	cpy("separator");      /* duplicate setting */
+	set("separator", " "); /* overwrite first setting */
+	set_timezone(NULL);
+	status_static("local"); /* use first setting */
+	del("separator");       /* delete the first, restoring the second */
+	status_time("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M");
+	drop();
+	/* => "local 2025-03-26T18:00" */
+
+	/* all => "utc 2025-03-27T00:00 // local 2025-03-26T18:00" */
+}
diff --git a/status/settings.def.c b/status/settings.def.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e027fbd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/status/settings.def.c
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+set("interval_seconds", "1");
+set("separator", " // ");
diff --git a/status/status.c b/status/status.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fe144af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/status/status.c
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+#undef NDEBUG /* LOAD-BEARING ASSERTS! */
+#include <assert.h> /* assert(3) */
+#include <limits.h> /* UCHAR_MAX */
+#include <stdio.h> /* fputs(3), stdout, NULL */
+#include <stdlib.h> /* atoi(3) */
+#include <time.h> /* localtime(3), strftime(3), time(2), time_t, struct tm */
+#include <unistd.h> /* sleep(3) */
+#include "io.h" /* drop(3), out(3) */
+#include "keyval.h" /* cpy(3), del(3), get(3), keyval_init(3), set(3) */
+
+typedef unsigned char tick_t;
+#define TICK_MAX UCHAR_MAX
+
+unsigned int slept = 0;
+tick_t ticker = 0;
+
+void
+set_timezone(char *zone) {
+	if (zone == NULL) { assert(unsetenv("TZ") == 0); }
+	else { assert(setenv("TZ", zone, 1) == 0); }
+	tzset();
+}
+
+void
+status_static(char *s) { out(s); out(get("separator")); }
+
+#ifndef status_time_bufsize
+#	define status_time_bufsize 100
+#endif
+void
+status_time(char *fmt) {
+	static char buf[status_time_bufsize];
+	struct tm *tm;
+	static time_t t = 0;
+	static tick_t last_tick = 0;
+
+	if (ticker == 0) { t = time(NULL); }
+	else if (ticker != last_tick) { t += slept; }
+	last_tick = ticker;
+	assert((tm = localtime(&t)) != NULL);
+	assert(strftime(buf, sizeof(buf) / sizeof(*buf), fmt, tm) != 0);
+
+	out(buf);
+	out(get("separator"));
+}
+
+#include "order.c"
+
+int main(int argc, char *argv) {
+	keyval_init();
+
+	while(1) {
+		order();
+		drop();
+		out("\n");
+		slept = sleep(atoi(get("interval_seconds")));
+		ticker = ++ticker % TICK_MAX;
+	}
+}