diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index e230db6..b50d4a3 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -11,3 +11,4 @@ roms/
 __pycache__/
 *.pyc
 *.dlx
+a.out
diff --git a/docs/STATUS.md b/docs/STATUS.md
index a3e7f03..a52eefa 100644
--- a/docs/STATUS.md
+++ b/docs/STATUS.md
@@ -117,6 +117,15 @@ notifier subscription in a global; the stack register is `SP` not `A7`;
 - piping MAME (or any long job) through `grep` block-buffers — write to a file.
 - `pkill -f <pattern>` matches your own shell and kills it (exit 144).
   Use `pkill -x` or kill by PID.
+- **`until ! pgrep -f foo.py; do sleep; done` watcher loops never exit.** The
+  watching shell's own command line contains the string `foo.py`, so `pgrep -f`
+  matches the watcher itself and the loop spins forever. Session 2 left 11 of
+  these wedged for over an hour. Wait on the PID (`while kill -0 $PID`) or on a
+  sentinel file the job touches when it finishes -- never on a `-f` name match.
+- **`timeout N mame ...` does not kill MAME.** MAME catches SIGTERM and, with an
+  autoboot script blocked waiting on a flag that never arrives, never reaches
+  its shutdown path. `timeout` without `-k` then waits forever while MAME burns
+  a full core at `-nothrottle`. Always `timeout -k 5 N`.
 
 ---