diff --git a/cmd/fdsn-holdings-consumer/main.go b/cmd/fdsn-holdings-consumer/main.go
index fc36d5d..2fb4a0f 100644
--- a/cmd/fdsn-holdings-consumer/main.go
+++ b/cmd/fdsn-holdings-consumer/main.go
@@ -28,11 +28,10 @@ import (
 	"github.com/GeoNet/kit/cfg"
 	"github.com/GeoNet/kit/health"
 	"github.com/GeoNet/kit/metrics"
-	"github.com/GeoNet/kit/slogger"
 )
 
 const (
-	healthCheckAged    = 5 * time.Minute  //need to have a good heartbeat within this time (depends on tilde-bundle)
+	healthCheckAged    = 5 * time.Minute  //need to have a good heartbeat within this time
 	healthCheckStartup = 5 * time.Minute  //ignore heartbeat messages for this time after starting
 	healthCheckTimeout = 30 * time.Second //health check timeout
 	healthCheckService = ":7777"          //end point to listen to for SOH checks
@@ -41,18 +40,40 @@ const (
 
 var (
 	db           *sql.DB
-	queueURL     = os.Getenv("SQS_QUEUE_URL")
+	queueURL     string
 	sqsClient    sqs.SQS
 	s3Client     *s3.S3
 	saveHoldings *sql.Stmt
-
-	sLogger = slogger.NewSmartLogger(10*time.Minute, "") // log repeated error messages
 )
 
 type event struct {
 	s3.Event
 }
 
+// init and check aws variables
+func initAwsClient() {
+	queueURL = os.Getenv("SQS_QUEUE_URL")
+	if queueURL == "" {
+		log.Fatal("SQS_QUEUE_URL is not set")
+	}
+
+	var err error
+	sqsClient, err = sqs.NewWithMaxRetries(100)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("error creating SQS client: %s", err)
+	}
+	if err = sqsClient.CheckQueue(queueURL); err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("error checking queueURL %s:  %s", queueURL, err.Error())
+	}
+
+	s3c, err := s3.NewWithMaxRetries(3)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("error creating S3 client: %s", err)
+	}
+	s3Client = &s3c
+
+}
+
 func main() {
 	//check health
 	if health.RunningHealthCheck() {
@@ -60,6 +81,7 @@ func main() {
 	}
 
 	//run as normal service
+	initAwsClient()
 	p, err := cfg.PostgresEnv()
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatalf("error reading DB config from the environment vars: %s", err)
@@ -117,17 +139,6 @@ ping:
 		break ping
 	}
 
-	sqsClient, err = sqs.NewWithMaxRetries(100)
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatalf("error creating SQS client: %s", err)
-	}
-
-	s3c, err := s3.NewWithMaxRetries(3)
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatalf("error creating S3 client: %s", err)
-	}
-	s3Client = &s3c
-
 	log.Println("listening for messages")
 
 	var r sqs.Raw
@@ -138,40 +149,31 @@ ping:
 
 loop1:
 	for {
+		health.Ok() // update soh
 		r, err = sqsClient.ReceiveWithContext(ctx, queueURL, 600)
 		if err != nil {
 			switch {
+			case sqs.IsNoMessagesError(err):
+				continue
 			case sqs.Cancelled(err): //stoped
 				log.Println("##1 system stop... ")
 				break loop1
-			case sqs.IsNoMessagesError(err):
-				n := sLogger.Log(err)
-				if n%100 == 0 { //don't log all repeated error messages
-					log.Printf("no message received for %d times ", n)
-				}
 			default:
 				slog.Warn("problem receiving message, backing off", "err", err)
 				time.Sleep(time.Second * 20)
 			}
-			// update soh
-			health.Ok()
 			continue
 		}
 
 		err = metrics.DoProcess(&e, []byte(r.Body))
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Printf("problem processing message, skipping deletion for redelivery: %s", err)
-			// update soh
-			health.Ok()
 			continue
 		}
-
 		err = sqsClient.Delete(queueURL, r.ReceiptHandle)
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Printf("problem deleting message, continuing: %s", err)
 		}
-		// update soh
-		health.Ok()
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/cmd/fdsn-quake-consumer/main.go b/cmd/fdsn-quake-consumer/main.go
index 9f1ce3a..5961c06 100644
--- a/cmd/fdsn-quake-consumer/main.go
+++ b/cmd/fdsn-quake-consumer/main.go
@@ -22,11 +22,10 @@ import (
 	"github.com/GeoNet/kit/cfg"
 	"github.com/GeoNet/kit/health"
 	"github.com/GeoNet/kit/metrics"
-	"github.com/GeoNet/kit/slogger"
 )
 
 const (
-	healthCheckAged    = 5 * time.Minute  //need to have a good heartbeat within this time (depends on tilde-bundle)
+	healthCheckAged    = 5 * time.Minute  //need to have a good heartbeat within this time
 	healthCheckStartup = 5 * time.Minute  //ignore heartbeat messages for this time after starting
 	healthCheckTimeout = 30 * time.Second //health check timeout
 	healthCheckService = ":7777"          //end point to listen to for SOH checks
@@ -38,14 +37,34 @@ var (
 	s3Client  s3.S3
 	sqsClient sqs.SQS
 	db        *sql.DB
-
-	sLogger = slogger.NewSmartLogger(10*time.Minute, "") // log repeated error messages
 )
 
 type notification struct {
 	s3.Event
 }
 
+// init and check aws clients
+func initAwsClients() {
+	queueURL = os.Getenv("SQS_QUEUE_URL")
+	if queueURL == "" {
+		log.Fatal("SQS_QUEUE_URL is not set")
+	}
+
+	var err error
+	s3Client, err = s3.NewWithMaxRetries(100)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("creating S3 client: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	sqsClient, err = sqs.NewWithMaxRetries(100)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("creating SQS client: %s", err)
+	}
+	if err = sqsClient.CheckQueue(queueURL); err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("error checking queueURL %s:  %s", queueURL, err.Error())
+	}
+}
+
 func main() {
 	//check health
 	if health.RunningHealthCheck() {
@@ -53,6 +72,8 @@ func main() {
 	}
 
 	//run as normal service
+	initAwsClients()
+
 	p, err := cfg.PostgresEnv()
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatalf("error reading DB config from the environment vars: %s", err)
@@ -83,16 +104,6 @@ ping:
 		break ping
 	}
 
-	s3Client, err = s3.NewWithMaxRetries(100)
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatalf("creating S3 client: %s", err)
-	}
-
-	sqsClient, err = sqs.NewWithMaxRetries(100)
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatalf("creating SQS client: %s", err)
-	}
-
 	log.Println("listening for messages")
 
 	var r sqs.Raw
@@ -103,31 +114,26 @@ ping:
 
 loop1:
 	for {
+		health.Ok() // update soh
+
 		r, err = sqsClient.ReceiveWithContext(ctx, queueURL, 600)
 		if err != nil {
 			switch {
+			case sqs.IsNoMessagesError(err):
+				continue
 			case sqs.Cancelled(err): //stoped
 				log.Println("##1 system stop... ")
 				break loop1
-			case sqs.IsNoMessagesError(err):
-				n := sLogger.Log(err)
-				if n%100 == 0 { //don't log all repeated error messages
-					log.Printf("no message received for %d times ", n)
-				}
 			default:
 				slog.Warn("problem receiving message, backing off", "err", err)
 				time.Sleep(time.Second * 20)
 			}
-			// update soh
-			health.Ok()
 			continue
 		}
 
 		err = metrics.DoProcess(&n, []byte(r.Body))
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Printf("problem processing message, skipping deletion for redelivery: %s", err)
-			// update soh
-			health.Ok()
 			continue
 		}
 
@@ -135,8 +141,6 @@ loop1:
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Printf("problem deleting message, continuing: %s", err)
 		}
-		// update soh
-		health.Ok()
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/cmd/fdsn-ws/fdsn_dataselect.go b/cmd/fdsn-ws/fdsn_dataselect.go
index 9e0c979..153da40 100644
--- a/cmd/fdsn-ws/fdsn_dataselect.go
+++ b/cmd/fdsn-ws/fdsn_dataselect.go
@@ -63,6 +63,10 @@ func initDataselectTemplate() {
 		log.Fatalf("error creating S3 client: %s", err)
 	}
 	s3Client = &s3c
+
+	if err = s3Client.CheckBucket(S3_BUCKET); err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("error checking S3_BUCKET %s:  %s", S3_BUCKET, err.Error())
+	}
 }
 
 // fdsnDataMetricsV1Handler handles all datametrics queries.
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 87342e0..a77ad9f 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ module github.com/GeoNet/fdsn
 go 1.21
 
 require (
-	github.com/GeoNet/kit v0.0.0-20241117195712-f2c17e5af268
+	github.com/GeoNet/kit v0.0.0-20241129025613-745247c4fb1c
 	github.com/gorilla/schema v1.4.1
 	github.com/joho/godotenv v1.5.1
 	github.com/lib/pq v1.10.3
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index a5c407f..8e89387 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-github.com/GeoNet/kit v0.0.0-20241117195712-f2c17e5af268 h1:SeKMshwK+xOgKLKrMSPhYTQImmLop5tXXei/wOmgO80=
-github.com/GeoNet/kit v0.0.0-20241117195712-f2c17e5af268/go.mod h1:O5T12WrCE1SOD52A9Ye//Wjl3HX7BFZv3dXzDz3adMo=
+github.com/GeoNet/kit v0.0.0-20241129025613-745247c4fb1c h1:yrk9pbtLaPEWmmrx2v5U457PnEzIg1o+Q6X0hOZWWS0=
+github.com/GeoNet/kit v0.0.0-20241129025613-745247c4fb1c/go.mod h1:O5T12WrCE1SOD52A9Ye//Wjl3HX7BFZv3dXzDz3adMo=
 github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go-v2 v1.25.3 h1:xYiLpZTQs1mzvz5PaI6uR0Wh57ippuEthxS4iK5v0n0=
 github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go-v2 v1.25.3/go.mod h1:35hUlJVYd+M++iLI3ALmVwMOyRYMmRqUXpTtRGW+K9I=
 github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go-v2/aws/protocol/eventstream v1.6.1 h1:gTK2uhtAPtFcdRRJilZPx8uJLL2J85xK11nKtWL0wfU=
diff --git a/vendor/github.com/GeoNet/kit/aws/s3/s3.go b/vendor/github.com/GeoNet/kit/aws/s3/s3.go
index 1cd6baf..9a0cdab 100644
--- a/vendor/github.com/GeoNet/kit/aws/s3/s3.go
+++ b/vendor/github.com/GeoNet/kit/aws/s3/s3.go
@@ -271,6 +271,15 @@ func (s *S3) PutWithMetadata(bucket, key string, object []byte, metadata Meta) e
 	return err
 }
 
+// CheckBucket checks if the given S3 bucket exists and is accessible.
+func (s *S3) CheckBucket(bucket string) error {
+	_, err := s.client.HeadBucket(context.TODO(), &s3.HeadBucketInput{
+		Bucket: aws.String(bucket),
+	})
+
+	return err
+}
+
 // Exists checks if an object for key already exists in the bucket.
 func (s *S3) Exists(bucket, key string) (bool, error) {
 
diff --git a/vendor/github.com/GeoNet/kit/aws/sqs/sqs.go b/vendor/github.com/GeoNet/kit/aws/sqs/sqs.go
index bd7f21c..58c7a4b 100644
--- a/vendor/github.com/GeoNet/kit/aws/sqs/sqs.go
+++ b/vendor/github.com/GeoNet/kit/aws/sqs/sqs.go
@@ -320,6 +320,18 @@ func (s *SQS) CreateQueue(queueName string, isFifoQueue bool) (string, error) {
 	return aws.ToString(queue.QueueUrl), err
 }
 
+// CheckQueue checks if the given SQS queue exists and is accessible.
+func (s *SQS) CheckQueue(queueUrl string) error {
+	params := sqs.GetQueueAttributesInput{
+		QueueUrl: aws.String(queueUrl),
+		AttributeNames: []types.QueueAttributeName{
+			types.QueueAttributeNameAll,
+		},
+	}
+	_, err := s.client.GetQueueAttributes(context.TODO(), &params)
+	return err
+}
+
 // DeleteQueue deletes an Amazon SQS queue.
 func (s *SQS) DeleteQueue(queueUrl string) error {
 	_, err := s.client.DeleteQueue(context.TODO(), &sqs.DeleteQueueInput{
diff --git a/vendor/modules.txt b/vendor/modules.txt
index 5dbd532..447cf6a 100644
--- a/vendor/modules.txt
+++ b/vendor/modules.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# github.com/GeoNet/kit v0.0.0-20241117195712-f2c17e5af268
+# github.com/GeoNet/kit v0.0.0-20241129025613-745247c4fb1c
 ## explicit; go 1.21
 github.com/GeoNet/kit/aws/s3
 github.com/GeoNet/kit/aws/sqs