diff --git a/app.py b/app.py
index f32817d..e3a6dec 100644
--- a/app.py
+++ b/app.py
@@ -20,11 +20,15 @@ import logging
 import socket
 import json
 from tools import sanity_check
-from dotenv import load_dotenv
-load_dotenv()
-
-SERMON_DB = os.getenv("KJV_SERMON_DB")
-SECRET_API_KEY = os.getenv("KJV_SECRET_API_KEY")
+try:
+    from dotenv import load_dotenv
+    load_dotenv()
+    SERMON_DB = os.getenv("KJV_SERMON_DB")
+    SECRET_API_KEY = os.getenv("KJV_SECRET_API_KEY")
+except:
+    KJV_SERMON_DB="./data/sermons.db"
+    # this does not do anything unless sermon_analyzer.py is running in tcp socket mode as a separate process
+    KJV_SECRET_API_KEY="testing"
 
 sequential_purge_delta: timedelta = timedelta(days=90)
 timestamp_runtime: datetime = datetime.now().strftime("%d%b%y-%H:%M")
diff --git a/install.sh b/install.sh
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
diff --git a/uninstall.sh b/uninstall.sh
old mode 100644
new mode 100755