diff --git a/nilmdb/client.py b/nilmdb/client.py
index 78a5720..efed506 100644
--- a/nilmdb/client.py
+++ b/nilmdb/client.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import time
 import sys
 import re
 import os
-import json
+import simplejson as json
 import urlparse
 import urllib
 import pycurl
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ class Client(object):
             "path": path
         }
         if start is not None:
-            params["start"] = repr(start)  # keep full precision
+            params["start"] = repr(start)  # use repr to keep precision
         if end is not None:
             params["end"] = repr(end)
 
@@ -249,15 +249,16 @@ class Client(object):
 
     def stream_extract(self, path, start = None, end = None, bare = False):
         """
-        Return a generator that yields chunks of ascii-formatted data
-        from the stream.  Multiple requests are made to the server if
-        the results get truncated.
+        Extract data from a stream.  Returns a generator that yields
+        chunks of ASCII-formatted data that matches the database
+        layout for the given path.  Multiple requests are made to the
+        server if shorter requests get truncated.
         """
         params = {
             "path": path
         }
         if start is not None:
-            params["start"] = repr(start)  # keep full precision
+            params["start"] = repr(start)  # use repr to keep precision
         if end is not None:
             params["end"] = repr(end)
         params["bare"] = bare
diff --git a/nilmdb/cmdline/extract.py b/nilmdb/cmdline/extract.py
index e362584..71644b8 100644
--- a/nilmdb/cmdline/extract.py
+++ b/nilmdb/cmdline/extract.py
@@ -39,8 +39,6 @@ def cmd_extract(self):
         printf("# start: %s\n", self.time_string(self.args.start))
         printf("# end: %s\n", self.time_string(self.args.end))
 
-    return 0
-
     printed = False
     for data in self.client.stream_extract(self.args.path,
                                            self.args.start,
diff --git a/nilmdb/server.py b/nilmdb/server.py
index a2547ac..1e0bdd5 100644
--- a/nilmdb/server.py
+++ b/nilmdb/server.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import cherrypy
 import sys
 import time
 import os
-import json
+import simplejson as json
 
 try:
     import cherrypy
diff --git a/runserver.py b/runserver.py
index f7e7232..aafc5e8 100755
--- a/runserver.py
+++ b/runserver.py
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/python
 
 import nilmdb
-import json
 import argparse
 
 parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='Run the NILM server')
diff --git a/tests/test_client.py b/tests/test_client.py
index fed08e6..8c2f001 100644
--- a/tests/test_client.py
+++ b/tests/test_client.py
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import datetime_tz
 
 from nose.tools import *
 from nose.tools import assert_raises
-import json
 import itertools
 import distutils.version
 import os
diff --git a/tests/test_cmdline.py b/tests/test_cmdline.py
index ef5c780..6ca5c52 100644
--- a/tests/test_cmdline.py
+++ b/tests/test_cmdline.py
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import nilmdb.cmdline
 
 from nose.tools import *
 from nose.tools import assert_raises
-import json
 import itertools
 import datetime_tz
 import os
@@ -352,10 +351,13 @@ class TestCmdline(object):
         eq_(self.captured.count('\n'), 11)
 
     def test_cmdline_8_extract(self):
+        # nonexistent stream
         self.fail("extract /no/such/foo --start 2000-01-01 --end 2020-01-01")
+        self.contain("Error getting stream info")
 
-        self.ok("extract -a /newton/prep --start 2000-01-01 --end 2020-01-01")
-        self.dump()
+        # full dump
+        # self.ok("extract -a /newton/prep --start 2000-01-01 --end 2020-01-01")
+        # self.dump()
 
     def test_cmdline_9_truncated(self):
         # Test truncated responses by overriding the nilmdb response_size
diff --git a/tests/test_layout.py b/tests/test_layout.py
index 114ba2b..bdb1129 100644
--- a/tests/test_layout.py
+++ b/tests/test_layout.py
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ import nilmdb
 from nose.tools import *
 from nose.tools import assert_raises
 import distutils.version
-import json
 import itertools
 import os
 import shutil
diff --git a/tests/test_nilmdb.py b/tests/test_nilmdb.py
index 8db93d5..b7a1c7d 100644
--- a/tests/test_nilmdb.py
+++ b/tests/test_nilmdb.py
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@ import nilmdb
 from nose.tools import *
 from nose.tools import assert_raises
 import distutils.version
-import json
-import itertools 
+import simplejson as json
+import itertools
 import os
 import shutil
 import sys