diff --git a/app/plugins/contactRetry.go b/app/plugins/contactRetry.go
index 3589c1a..23f0609 100644
--- a/app/plugins/contactRetry.go
+++ b/app/plugins/contactRetry.go
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ const circutTimeoutSecs int = 120
 const MaxBaseTimeoutSec = 5 * 60 // a max base time out of 5 min
 const maxFailedBackoff = 6       // 2^6 = 64 -> 64 * [2m to 5m] = 2h8m to 5h20m
 
+const PriorityQueueTimeSinceQualifierHours float64 = 168
+
 type connectionType int
 
 const (
@@ -112,14 +114,15 @@ type contactRetry struct {
 	onion          string
 	lastCheck      time.Time
 
-	connections  sync.Map //[string]*contact
-	connCount    int
-	pendingQueue *connectionQueue
+	connections   sync.Map //[string]*contact
+	connCount     int
+	pendingQueue  *connectionQueue
+	priorityQueue *connectionQueue
 }
 
 // NewConnectionRetry returns a Plugin that when started will retry connecting to contacts with a failedCount timing
 func NewConnectionRetry(bus event.Manager, onion string) Plugin {
-	cr := &contactRetry{bus: bus, queue: event.NewQueue(), breakChan: make(chan bool, 1), connections: sync.Map{}, connCount: 0, ACNUp: false, ACNUpTime: time.Now(), protocolEngine: false, onion: onion, pendingQueue: newConnectionQueue()}
+	cr := &contactRetry{bus: bus, queue: event.NewQueue(), breakChan: make(chan bool, 1), connections: sync.Map{}, connCount: 0, ACNUp: false, ACNUpTime: time.Now(), protocolEngine: false, onion: onion, pendingQueue: newConnectionQueue(), priorityQueue: newConnectionQueue()}
 	return cr
 }
 
@@ -175,9 +178,26 @@ func (cr *contactRetry) run() {
 		if cr.ACNUp {
 			cr.requeueReady()
 			connectingCount := cr.connectingCount()
-			log.Debugf("checking queue (len: %v) of total conns watched: %v, with current connecingCount: %v", len(cr.pendingQueue.queue), cr.connCount, connectingCount)
+			log.Debugf("checking queues (priority len: %v) (pending len: %v) of total conns watched: %v, with current connecingCount: %v", len(cr.priorityQueue.queue), len(cr.pendingQueue.queue), cr.connCount, connectingCount)
+
+			// do priority connections first...
+			for connectingCount < cr.maxTorCircuitsPending() && len(cr.priorityQueue.queue) > 0 {
+				contact := cr.priorityQueue.dequeue()
+				if contact == nil {
+					break
+				}
+				// could have received incoming connection while in queue, make sure still disconnected before trying
+				if contact.state == connections.DISCONNECTED {
+					cr.publishConnectionRequest(contact)
+					connectingCount++
+				}
+			}
+
 			for connectingCount < cr.maxTorCircuitsPending() && len(cr.pendingQueue.queue) > 0 {
 				contact := cr.pendingQueue.dequeue()
+				if contact == nil {
+					break
+				}
 				// could have received incoming connection while in queue, make sure still disconnected before trying
 				if contact.state == connections.DISCONNECTED {
 					cr.publishConnectionRequest(contact)
@@ -220,7 +240,13 @@ func (cr *contactRetry) run() {
 				if c, ok := cr.connections.Load(id); ok {
 					contact := c.(*contact)
 					if contact.state == connections.DISCONNECTED && !contact.queued {
-						cr.pendingQueue.insert(contact)
+
+						// prioritize connections made in the last week
+						if time.Since(contact.lastSeen).Hours() < PriorityQueueTimeSinceQualifierHours {
+							cr.priorityQueue.insert(contact)
+						} else {
+							cr.pendingQueue.insert(contact)
+						}
 					}
 				}
 			case event.ProtocolEngineCreated:
@@ -283,7 +309,11 @@ func (cr *contactRetry) requeueReady() {
 		return true
 	})
 	for _, contact := range retryable {
-		cr.pendingQueue.insert(contact)
+		if time.Since(contact.lastSeen).Hours() < PriorityQueueTimeSinceQualifierHours {
+			cr.priorityQueue.insert(contact)
+		} else {
+			cr.pendingQueue.insert(contact)
+		}
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/peer/cwtch_peer.go b/peer/cwtch_peer.go
index 9b29ba7..6f911ee 100644
--- a/peer/cwtch_peer.go
+++ b/peer/cwtch_peer.go
@@ -825,7 +825,9 @@ func (cp *cwtchPeer) QueuePeeringWithOnion(handle string) {
 	if err == nil {
 		lastSeen = cp.GetConversationLastSeenTime(ci.ID)
 	}
-	cp.eventBus.Publish(event.NewEvent(event.QueuePeerRequest, map[event.Field]string{event.RemotePeer: handle, event.LastSeen: lastSeen.Format(time.RFC3339Nano)}))
+	if !ci.ACL[ci.Handle].Blocked && ci.Accepted {
+		cp.eventBus.Publish(event.NewEvent(event.QueuePeerRequest, map[event.Field]string{event.RemotePeer: handle, event.LastSeen: lastSeen.Format(time.RFC3339Nano)}))
+	}
 }
 
 // QueueJoinServer sends the request to join a server directly to the contact retry queue; this is a mechanism to not flood tor with circuit requests
diff --git a/testing/quality.sh b/testing/quality.sh
index 5f6427f..c0bb82b 100755
--- a/testing/quality.sh
+++ b/testing/quality.sh
@@ -3,9 +3,6 @@
 echo "Checking code quality (you want to see no output here)"
 echo ""
 
-echo "Vetting:"
-go vet ./...
-
 echo ""
 echo "Linting:"