         _outStream = new ObjectOutputStream(_outBuffer);
         _inStream = new ObjectInputStream();
 
-        // create our message writer
-        _writer = new Timer(1);
-        _writer.addEventListener(TimerEvent.TIMER, sendPendingMessages);
-
         _portIdx = 0;
         logonToPort();
     }

    {
        logonToPort(true);
        
        // well that's great! let's logon
        postMessage(new AuthRequest(_client.getCredentials(), _client.getVersion(),
                                    _client.getBootGroups()));

        // start up our writer thread now that we know we're ready to write
        _writer.start();
    }

    /**

        }

        var host :String = _client.getHostname();
        var pport :int = ports[0];
        var ppidx :int = Math.max(0, ports.indexOf(pport));
        var port :int = (ports[(_portIdx + ppidx) % ports.length] as int);
