diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 0650f2a8d..258226855 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -76,8 +76,8 @@ if (UNIX AND NOT APPLE)
    link_libraries(rt)
 endif()
 
-add_executable(objstore src/objstore.cc ${GENERATED_PROTOBUF_FILES})
+add_executable(objstore src/objstore.cc src/ipc.cc ${GENERATED_PROTOBUF_FILES})
 add_executable(scheduler src/scheduler.cc ${GENERATED_PROTOBUF_FILES})
-add_library(orchpylib SHARED src/orchpylib.cc src/worker.cc ${GENERATED_PROTOBUF_FILES})
+add_library(orchpylib SHARED src/orchpylib.cc src/worker.cc src/ipc.cc ${GENERATED_PROTOBUF_FILES})
 
 install(TARGETS objstore scheduler orchpylib DESTINATION ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/lib/orchpy/orchpy)
diff --git a/protos/orchestra.proto b/protos/orchestra.proto
index f31673275..638a7c9a5 100644
--- a/protos/orchestra.proto
+++ b/protos/orchestra.proto
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ service ObjStore {
   rpc DeliverObj(DeliverObjRequest) returns (AckReply);
   // Accept incoming data from another object store
   rpc StreamObj(stream ObjChunk) returns (AckReply);
-  rpc GetObj(GetObjRequest) returns (GetObjReply);
+  // Get debug info from the object store
   rpc ObjStoreDebugInfo(ObjStoreDebugInfoRequest) returns (ObjStoreDebugInfoReply);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/ipc.cc b/src/ipc.cc
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a46030a42
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ipc.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+#include "ipc.h"
+
+ObjHandle::ObjHandle(SegmentId segmentid, size_t size, IpcPointer ipcpointer)
+  : segmentid_(segmentid), size_(size), ipcpointer_(ipcpointer)
+{}
+
+MemorySegmentPool::MemorySegmentPool(bool create) : create_mode_(create) { }
+
+// creates a memory segment if it is not already there; if the pool is in create mode,
+// space is allocated, if it is in open mode, the shared memory is mapped into the process
+void MemorySegmentPool::open_segment(SegmentId segmentid, size_t size) {
+  if (segmentid < segments_.size()) {
+    return;
+  }
+  segment_names_.resize(segmentid + 1);
+  segments_.resize(segmentid + 1);
+  std::string segment_name = std::string("segment:") + std::to_string(segmentid);
+  if (create_mode_) {
+    assert(size > 0);
+    shared_memory_object::remove(segment_name.c_str()); // remove segment if it has not been properly removed from last run
+    size_t new_size = (size / page_size_ + 2) * page_size_; // additional room for boost's bookkeeping
+    segments_[segmentid] = std::unique_ptr<managed_shared_memory>(new managed_shared_memory(create_only, segment_name.c_str(), new_size));
+  } else {
+    segments_[segmentid] = std::unique_ptr<managed_shared_memory>(new managed_shared_memory(open_only, segment_name.c_str()));
+  }
+  segment_names_[segmentid] = segment_name;
+}
+
+ObjHandle MemorySegmentPool::allocate(size_t size) {
+  // TODO(pcm): at the moment, this always creates a new segment, this will be changed
+  SegmentId segmentid = segment_names_.size();
+  open_segment(segmentid, size);
+  void* ptr = segments_[segmentid]->allocate(size);
+  auto handle = segments_[segmentid]->get_handle_from_address(ptr);
+  return ObjHandle(segmentid, size, handle);
+}
+
+// returns address of the object refered to by the handle, needs to be called on
+// the process that will use the address
+char* MemorySegmentPool::get_address(ObjHandle pointer) {
+  if (pointer.segmentid() >= segments_.size()) {
+    open_segment(pointer.segmentid());
+  }
+  return static_cast<char*>(segments_[pointer.segmentid()]->get_address_from_handle(pointer.ipcpointer()));
+}
+
+MemorySegmentPool::~MemorySegmentPool() {
+  assert(segment_names_.size() == segments_.size());
+  for (size_t i = 0; i < segment_names_.size(); ++i) {
+    segments_[i].reset();
+    shared_memory_object::remove(segment_names_[i].c_str());
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/ipc.h b/src/ipc.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9e2e764f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ipc.h
@@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
+#ifndef ORCHESTRA_IPC_H
+#define ORCHESTRA_IPC_H
+
+#include <iostream>
+
+#include <boost/interprocess/managed_shared_memory.hpp>
+#include <boost/interprocess/ipc/message_queue.hpp>
+
+#include "orchestra/orchestra.h"
+
+using namespace boost::interprocess;
+
+// Methods for inter process communication (abstracts from the shared memory implementation)
+
+// Message Queues: Exchanging objects of type T between processes on a node
+
+template<typename T>
+class MessageQueue {
+public:
+  MessageQueue() {};
+
+  ~MessageQueue() {
+    message_queue::remove(name_.c_str());
+  }
+
+  MessageQueue(MessageQueue<T>&& other) noexcept
+    : name_(std::move(other.name_)),
+      queue_(std::move(other.queue_))
+  { }
+
+  bool connect(const std::string& name, bool create) {
+    name_ = name;
+    try {
+      if (create) {
+        message_queue::remove(name.c_str()); // remove queue if it has not been properly removed from last run
+        queue_ = std::unique_ptr<message_queue>(new message_queue(create_only, name.c_str(), 100, sizeof(T)));
+      } else {
+        queue_ = std::unique_ptr<message_queue>(new message_queue(open_only, name.c_str()));
+      }
+    } catch(interprocess_exception &ex) {
+      ORCH_LOG(ORCH_FATAL, "boost::interprocess exception: " << ex.what());
+    }
+    return true;
+  };
+
+  bool connected() {
+    return queue_ != NULL;
+  }
+
+  bool send(const T* object) {
+    try {
+      queue_->send(object, sizeof(T), 0);
+    } catch(interprocess_exception &ex) {
+      ORCH_LOG(ORCH_FATAL, "boost::interprocess exception: " << ex.what());
+    }
+    return true;
+  };
+
+  bool receive(T* object) {
+    unsigned int priority;
+    message_queue::size_type recvd_size;
+    try {
+      queue_->receive(object, sizeof(T), recvd_size, priority);
+    } catch(interprocess_exception &ex) {
+      ORCH_LOG(ORCH_FATAL, "boost::interprocess exception: " << ex.what());
+    }
+    return true;
+  }
+
+private:
+  std::string name_;
+  std::unique_ptr<message_queue> queue_;
+};
+
+// Object Queues
+
+// For communicating between object store and workers, the following
+// messages can be sent:
+
+// ALLOC: workerid, objref, size -> objhandle:
+// worker requests an allocation from the object store
+// GET: workerid, objref -> objhandle:
+// worker requests an object from the object store
+// DONE: workerid, objref -> ():
+// worker tells the object store that an object has been finalized
+
+enum ObjRequestType {ALLOC = 0, GET = 1, DONE = 2};
+
+struct ObjRequest {
+  WorkerId workerid; // worker that sends the request
+  ObjRequestType type; // do we want to allocate a new object or get a handle?
+  ObjRef objref; // object reference of the object to be returned/allocated
+  int64_t size; // if allocate, that's the size of the object
+};
+
+typedef size_t SegmentId; // index into a memory segment table
+typedef managed_shared_memory::handle_t IpcPointer;
+
+// Object handle: Handle to object that can be passed around between processes
+// that are connected to the same object store
+
+class ObjHandle {
+public:
+  ObjHandle(SegmentId segmentid = 0, size_t size = 0, IpcPointer ipcpointer = IpcPointer());
+  SegmentId segmentid() { return segmentid_; }
+  size_t size() { return size_; }
+  IpcPointer ipcpointer() { return ipcpointer_; }
+private:
+  SegmentId segmentid_;
+  size_t size_;
+  IpcPointer ipcpointer_;
+};
+
+// Memory segment pool: A collection of shared memory segments
+// used in two modes:
+// \item on the object store it is used with create = true, in this case the
+// segments are allocated
+// \item on the worker it is used in open mode, with create = false, in this case
+// the segments, which have been created by the object store, are just mapped
+// into memory
+
+class MemorySegmentPool {
+public:
+  MemorySegmentPool(bool create = false); // can be used in two modes: create mode and open mode (see above)
+  ~MemorySegmentPool();
+  ObjHandle allocate(size_t nbytes); // allocate a new shared object, potentially creating a new segment (only run on object store)
+  char* get_address(ObjHandle pointer); // get address of shared object
+private:
+  void open_segment(SegmentId segmentid, size_t size = 0); // create a segment or map an existing one into memory
+  bool create_mode_;
+  size_t page_size_ = mapped_region::get_page_size();
+  std::vector<std::string> segment_names_;
+  std::vector<std::unique_ptr<managed_shared_memory> > segments_;
+};
+
+#endif
diff --git a/src/objstore.cc b/src/objstore.cc
index 17aa3004d..635c93278 100644
--- a/src/objstore.cc
+++ b/src/objstore.cc
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 #include "objstore.h"
-#include <thread>
 #include <chrono>
 
 const size_t ObjStoreClient::CHUNK_SIZE = 8 * 1024;
@@ -24,7 +23,8 @@ Status ObjStoreClient::upload_data_to(slice data, ObjRef objref, ObjStore::Stub&
 }
 
 ObjStoreService::ObjStoreService(const std::string& objstore_address, std::shared_ptr<Channel> scheduler_channel)
-  : scheduler_stub_(Scheduler::NewStub(scheduler_channel)) {
+  : scheduler_stub_(Scheduler::NewStub(scheduler_channel)), segmentpool_(true), objstore_address_(objstore_address) {
+  recv_queue_.connect(std::string("queue:") + objstore_address + std::string(":obj"), true);
   ClientContext context;
   RegisterObjStoreRequest request;
   request.set_address(objstore_address);
@@ -33,29 +33,6 @@ ObjStoreService::ObjStoreService(const std::string& objstore_address, std::share
   objstoreid_ = reply.objstoreid();
 }
 
-ObjStoreService::~ObjStoreService() {
-  for (const auto& segment_name : memory_names_) {
-    shared_memory_object::remove(segment_name.c_str());
-  }
-}
-
-// this method needs to be protected by a memory_lock_
-void ObjStoreService::allocate_memory(ObjRef objref, size_t size) {
-  std::ostringstream stream;
-  stream << "obj-" << memory_names_.size();
-  std::string name = stream.str();
-  // Make sure that the name is not taken yet
-  shared_memory_object::remove(name.c_str());
-  memory_names_.push_back(name);
-  // Make room for boost::interprocess metadata
-  size_t new_size = (size / page_size + 2) * page_size;
-  shared_object& object = memory_[objref];
-  object.name = name;
-  object.memory = std::make_shared<managed_shared_memory>(create_only, name.c_str(), new_size);
-  object.ptr.data = static_cast<char*>(memory_[objref].memory->allocate(size));
-  object.ptr.len = size;
-}
-
 // this method needs to be protected by a objstores_lock_
 ObjStore::Stub& ObjStoreService::get_objstore_stub(const std::string& objstore_address) {
   auto iter = objstores_.find(objstore_address);
@@ -66,6 +43,7 @@ ObjStore::Stub& ObjStoreService::get_objstore_stub(const std::string& objstore_a
   return *objstores_[objstore_address];
 }
 
+/*
 Status ObjStoreService::DeliverObj(ServerContext* context, const DeliverObjRequest* request, AckReply* reply) {
   std::lock_guard<std::mutex> objstores_lock(objstores_lock_);
   ObjStore::Stub& stub = get_objstore_stub(request->objstore_address());
@@ -73,12 +51,16 @@ Status ObjStoreService::DeliverObj(ServerContext* context, const DeliverObjReque
   Status status = ObjStoreClient::upload_data_to(memory_[objref].ptr, objref, stub);
   return status;
 }
+*/
 
 Status ObjStoreService::ObjStoreDebugInfo(ServerContext* context, const ObjStoreDebugInfoRequest* request, ObjStoreDebugInfoReply* reply) {
   std::lock_guard<std::mutex> memory_lock(memory_lock_);
-  for (const auto& entry : memory_) {
-    reply->add_objref(entry.first);
+  for (size_t i = 0; i < memory_.size(); ++i) {
+    if (memory_[i].second) { // is the object available?
+      reply->add_objref(i);
+    }
   }
+  /*
   for (int i = 0; i < request->objref_size(); ++i) {
     ObjRef objref = request->objref(i);
     Obj* obj = new Obj();
@@ -86,31 +68,11 @@ Status ObjStoreService::ObjStoreDebugInfo(ServerContext* context, const ObjStore
     obj->ParseFromString(data);
     reply->mutable_obj()->AddAllocated(obj);
   }
+  */
   return Status::OK;
 }
 
-Status ObjStoreService::GetObj(ServerContext* context, const GetObjRequest* request, GetObjReply* reply) {
-  // TODO(pcm): There is one remaining case where this can fail, i.e. if an object is
-  // to be delivered from another store but hasn't yet arrived
-  ObjRef objref = request->objref();
-  while (true) {
-    // if the object has not been sent to the objstore, this has the potential to lead to an infinite loop
-    std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(10));
-    ORCH_LOG(ORCH_DEBUG, "looping in objstore " << objstoreid_ << " waiting for objref " << objref);
-    std::lock_guard<std::mutex> memory_lock(memory_lock_);
-    if (memory_.find(objref) != memory_.end()) {
-      break;
-    }
-  }
-  std::lock_guard<std::mutex> memory_lock(memory_lock_);
-  shared_object& object = memory_[objref];
-  reply->set_bucket(object.name);
-  auto handle = object.memory->get_handle_from_address(object.ptr.data);
-  reply->set_handle(handle);
-  reply->set_size(object.ptr.len);
-  return Status::OK;
-}
-
+/*
 Status ObjStoreService::StreamObj(ServerContext* context, ServerReader<ObjChunk>* reader, AckReply* reply) {
   ORCH_LOG(ORCH_VERBOSE, "begin to stream data to object store " << objstoreid_);
   memory_lock_.lock();
@@ -148,12 +110,85 @@ Status ObjStoreService::StreamObj(ServerContext* context, ServerReader<ObjChunk>
 
   return Status::OK;
 }
+*/
+
+void ObjStoreService::process_requests() {
+  ObjRequest request;
+  while (true) {
+    recv_queue_.receive(&request);
+    if (request.workerid >= send_queues_.size()) {
+      send_queues_.resize(request.workerid + 1);
+    }
+    if (!send_queues_[request.workerid].connected()) {
+      std::string queue_name = std::string("queue:") + objstore_address_ + std::string(":worker:") + std::to_string(request.workerid) + std::string(":obj");
+      send_queues_[request.workerid].connect(queue_name, false);
+    }
+    if (request.objref >= memory_.size()) {
+      memory_.resize(request.objref + 1);
+      memory_[request.objref].second = false;
+    }
+    switch (request.type) {
+      case ObjRequestType::ALLOC: {
+          ObjHandle reply = segmentpool_.allocate(request.size);
+          send_queues_[request.workerid].send(&reply);
+          if (request.objref >= memory_.size()) {
+            memory_.resize(request.objref + 1);
+          }
+          memory_[request.objref].first = reply;
+          memory_[request.objref].second = false;
+        }
+        break;
+      case ObjRequestType::GET: {
+          std::pair<ObjHandle, bool>& item = memory_[request.objref];
+          if (item.second) {
+            send_queues_[request.workerid].send(&item.first);
+          } else {
+            std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(pull_queue_lock_);
+            pull_queue_.push_back(std::make_pair(request.workerid, request.objref));
+          }
+        }
+        break;
+      case ObjRequestType::DONE: {
+        std::pair<ObjHandle, bool>& item = memory_[request.objref];
+        item.second = true;
+        std::lock_guard<std::mutex> pull_queue_lock(pull_queue_lock_);
+        for (size_t i = 0; i < pull_queue_.size(); ++i) {
+          if (pull_queue_[i].second == request.objref) {
+            ObjHandle& elem = memory_[request.objref].first;
+            send_queues_[pull_queue_[i].first].send(&item.first);
+            // Remove the pull task from the queue
+            std::swap(pull_queue_[i], pull_queue_[pull_queue_.size() - 1]);
+            pull_queue_.pop_back();
+            i -= 1;
+          }
+        }
+        // Tell the scheduler that the object arrived
+        // TODO(pcm): put this in a separate thread so we don't have to pay the latency here
+        ClientContext objready_context;
+        ObjReadyRequest objready_request;
+        objready_request.set_objref(request.objref);
+        objready_request.set_objstoreid(objstoreid_);
+        AckReply objready_reply;
+        scheduler_stub_->ObjReady(&objready_context, objready_request, &objready_reply);
+      }
+      break;
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+void ObjStoreService::start_objstore_service() {
+  communicator_thread_ = std::thread([this]() {
+    ORCH_LOG(ORCH_INFO, "started object store communicator server");
+    process_requests();
+  });
+}
 
 void start_objstore(const char* scheduler_addr, const char* objstore_addr) {
   auto scheduler_channel = grpc::CreateChannel(scheduler_addr, grpc::InsecureChannelCredentials());
   ORCH_LOG(ORCH_INFO, "object store " << objstore_addr << " connected to scheduler " << scheduler_addr);
   std::string objstore_address(objstore_addr);
   ObjStoreService service(objstore_address, scheduler_channel);
+  service.start_objstore_service();
   ServerBuilder builder;
   builder.AddListeningPort(std::string(objstore_addr), grpc::InsecureServerCredentials());
   builder.RegisterService(&service);
diff --git a/src/objstore.h b/src/objstore.h
index c45eb7f5c..27ba69df3 100644
--- a/src/objstore.h
+++ b/src/objstore.h
@@ -1,17 +1,16 @@
-#ifndef ORCHESTRA_OBJSTORE_SERVER_H
-#define ORCHESTRA_OBJSTORE_SERVER_H
+#ifndef ORCHESTRA_OBJSTORE_H
+#define ORCHESTRA_OBJSTORE_H
 
 #include <unordered_map>
 #include <memory>
+#include <thread>
 #include <iostream>
-#include <boost/interprocess/managed_shared_memory.hpp>
 #include <grpc++/grpc++.h>
 
-using namespace boost::interprocess;
-
 #include "orchestra/orchestra.h"
 #include "orchestra.grpc.pb.h"
 #include "types.pb.h"
+#include "ipc.h"
 
 using grpc::Server;
 using grpc::ServerBuilder;
@@ -29,34 +28,32 @@ public:
   static Status upload_data_to(slice data, ObjRef objref, ObjStore::Stub& stub);
 };
 
-struct shared_object {
-  std::string name;
-  std::shared_ptr<managed_shared_memory> memory;
-  slice ptr;
-};
-
 class ObjStoreService final : public ObjStore::Service {
 public:
   ObjStoreService(const std::string& objstore_address, std::shared_ptr<Channel> scheduler_channel);
-  ~ObjStoreService();
 
-  Status DeliverObj(ServerContext* context, const DeliverObjRequest* request, AckReply* reply) override;
+  // Status DeliverObj(ServerContext* context, const DeliverObjRequest* request, AckReply* reply) override;
+  // Status StreamObj(ServerContext* context, ServerReader<ObjChunk>* reader, AckReply* reply) override;
   Status ObjStoreDebugInfo(ServerContext* context, const ObjStoreDebugInfoRequest* request, ObjStoreDebugInfoReply* reply) override;
-  Status GetObj(ServerContext* context, const GetObjRequest* request, GetObjReply* reply) override;
-  Status StreamObj(ServerContext* context, ServerReader<ObjChunk>* reader, AckReply* reply) override;
+  void start_objstore_service();
 private:
-  void allocate_memory(ObjRef objref, size_t size);
   // check if we already connected to the other objstore, if yes, return reference to connection, otherwise connect
   ObjStore::Stub& get_objstore_stub(const std::string& objstore_address);
+  void process_requests();
 
-  std::vector<std::string> memory_names_;
-  std::unordered_map<ObjRef, shared_object> memory_;
+  std::string objstore_address_;
+  ObjStoreId objstoreid_; // id of this objectstore in the scheduler object store table
+  MemorySegmentPool segmentpool_;
+  std::vector<std::pair<ObjHandle, bool> > memory_; // object reference -> (memory address, memory finalized?)
   std::mutex memory_lock_;
-  size_t page_size = mapped_region::get_page_size();
   std::unordered_map<std::string, std::unique_ptr<ObjStore::Stub>> objstores_;
   std::mutex objstores_lock_;
   std::unique_ptr<Scheduler::Stub> scheduler_stub_;
-  ObjStoreId objstoreid_; // id of this objectstore in the scheduler object store table
+  std::vector<std::pair<WorkerId, ObjRef> > pull_queue_;
+  std::mutex pull_queue_lock_;
+  MessageQueue<ObjRequest> recv_queue_;
+  std::vector<MessageQueue<ObjHandle> > send_queues_; // workerid -> queue
+  std::thread communicator_thread_;
 };
 
 #endif
diff --git a/src/worker.cc b/src/worker.cc
index 387165fff..7c8d33e49 100644
--- a/src/worker.cc
+++ b/src/worker.cc
@@ -49,6 +49,9 @@ void Worker::register_worker(const std::string& worker_address, const std::strin
   ClientContext context;
   Status status = scheduler_stub_->RegisterWorker(&context, request, &reply);
   workerid_ = reply.workerid();
+  request_obj_queue_.connect(std::string("queue:") + objstore_address + std::string(":obj"), false);
+  std::string queue_name = std::string("queue:") + objstore_address + std::string(":worker:") + std::to_string(workerid_) + std::string(":obj");
+  receive_obj_queue_.connect(queue_name, true);
   return;
 }
 
@@ -75,41 +78,35 @@ ObjRef Worker::push_object(const Obj* obj) {
 }
 
 slice Worker::get_object(ObjRef objref) {
-  ClientContext context;
-  GetObjRequest request;
-  request.set_objref(objref);
-  GetObjReply reply;
-  objstore_stub_->GetObj(&context, request, &reply);
-  segment_ = managed_shared_memory(open_only, reply.bucket().c_str());
+  ObjRequest request;
+  request.workerid = workerid_;
+  request.type = ObjRequestType::GET;
+  request.objref = objref;
+  request_obj_queue_.send(&request);
+  ObjHandle result;
+  receive_obj_queue_.receive(&result);
   slice slice;
-  slice.data = static_cast<char*>(segment_.get_address_from_handle(reply.handle()));
-  slice.len = reply.size();
+  slice.data = segmentpool_.get_address(result);
+  slice.len = result.size();
   return slice;
 }
 
-// TODO: Do this with shared memory
+// TODO(pcm): More error handling
 void Worker::put_object(ObjRef objref, const Obj* obj) {
-  ObjChunk chunk;
   std::string data;
-  obj->SerializeToString(&data);
-  size_t totalsize = data.size();
-  ClientContext context;
-  AckReply reply;
-  std::unique_ptr<ClientWriter<ObjChunk> > writer(
-    objstore_stub_->StreamObj(&context, &reply));
-  const char* head = data.c_str();
-  for (size_t i = 0; i < data.length(); i += CHUNK_SIZE) {
-    chunk.set_objref(objref);
-    chunk.set_totalsize(totalsize);
-    chunk.set_data(head + i, std::min(CHUNK_SIZE, data.length() - i));
-    if (!writer->Write(chunk)) {
-      ORCH_LOG(ORCH_FATAL, "write failed during put_object");
-      // TODO(pcm): better error handling
-    }
-  }
-  writer->WritesDone();
-  Status status = writer->Finish();
-  // TODO(pcm): error handling
+  obj->SerializeToString(&data); // TODO(pcm): get rid of this serialization
+  ObjRequest request;
+  request.workerid = workerid_;
+  request.type = ObjRequestType::ALLOC;
+  request.objref = objref;
+  request.size = data.size();
+  request_obj_queue_.send(&request);
+  ObjHandle result;
+  receive_obj_queue_.receive(&result);
+  char* target = segmentpool_.get_address(result);
+  std::memcpy(target, &data[0], data.size());
+  request.type = ObjRequestType::DONE;
+  request_obj_queue_.send(&request);
 }
 
 void Worker::register_function(const std::string& name, size_t num_return_vals) {
@@ -128,13 +125,11 @@ Call* Worker::receive_next_task() {
     unsigned int priority;
     message_queue::size_type recvd_size;
     Call* call;
-    while (true) {
-      receive_queue_->receive(&call, sizeof(Call*), recvd_size, priority);
-      return call;
-    }
+    receive_queue_->receive(&call, sizeof(Call*), recvd_size, priority);
+    return call;
   }
   catch(interprocess_exception &ex){
-    std::cout << ex.what() << std::endl;
+    ORCH_LOG(ORCH_FATAL, ex.what());
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/worker.h b/src/worker.h
index 50b0d8a31..3281fb2d1 100644
--- a/src/worker.h
+++ b/src/worker.h
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ using grpc::Status;
 
 #include "orchestra.grpc.pb.h"
 #include "orchestra/orchestra.h"
+#include "ipc.h"
 
 using grpc::Channel;
 using grpc::ClientContext;
@@ -66,11 +67,13 @@ class Worker {
   std::unique_ptr<Scheduler::Stub> scheduler_stub_;
   std::unique_ptr<ObjStore::Stub> objstore_stub_;
   std::thread worker_server_thread_;
-  std::thread other_thread_;
   std::unique_ptr<message_queue> receive_queue_;
   managed_shared_memory segment_;
   WorkerId workerid_;
   std::string worker_address_;
+  MessageQueue<ObjRequest> request_obj_queue_;
+  MessageQueue<ObjHandle> receive_obj_queue_;
+  MemorySegmentPool segmentpool_;
 };
 
 #endif
diff --git a/test/runtest.py b/test/runtest.py
index 17877435c..47790343c 100644
--- a/test/runtest.py
+++ b/test/runtest.py
@@ -147,11 +147,11 @@ class ObjStoreTest(unittest.TestCase):
       self.assertEqual(result, data)
 
     # pushing an object, shipping it to another worker, and pulling it shouldn't change it
-    for data in ["h", "h" * 10000, 0, 0.0]:
-      objref = orchpy.push(data, worker1)
-      response = objstore1_stub.DeliverObj(orchestra_pb2.DeliverObjRequest(objref=objref.val, objstore_address=address(IP_ADDRESS, objstore2_port)), TIMEOUT_SECONDS)
-      result = orchpy.pull(objref, worker2)
-      self.assertEqual(result, data)
+    # for data in ["h", "h" * 10000, 0, 0.0]:
+    #   objref = worker.push(data, worker1)
+    #   response = objstore1_stub.DeliverObj(orchestra_pb2.DeliverObjRequest(objref=objref.val, objstore_address=address(IP_ADDRESS, objstore2_port)), TIMEOUT_SECONDS)
+    #   result = worker.pull(objref, worker2)
+    #   self.assertEqual(result, data)
 
     services.cleanup()
 
diff --git a/test/shell.py b/test/shell.py
index 13c58ee18..adb608eb5 100644
--- a/test/shell.py
+++ b/test/shell.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ TIMEOUT_SECONDS = 5
 parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='Parse addresses for the worker to connect to.')
 parser.add_argument("--scheduler-address", default="127.0.0.1:10001", type=str, help="the scheduler's address")
 parser.add_argument("--objstore-address", default="127.0.0.1:20001", type=str, help="the objstore's address")
-parser.add_argument("--worker-address", default="127.0.0.1:40001", type=str, help="the worker's address")
+parser.add_argument("--worker-address", default="127.0.0.1:30001", type=str, help="the worker's address")
 
 @orchpy.distributed([str], [str])
 def print_string(string):