diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index c987cb50..f59e1c1a 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -16,3 +16,4 @@ config.json
 venv/
 
 tmp/
+printer/printer_jobs.db
diff --git a/printer/log_saver.py b/printer/log_saver.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..23693228
--- /dev/null
+++ b/printer/log_saver.py
@@ -0,0 +1,148 @@
+import sqlite3
+import subprocess
+import datetime
+import time
+import logging
+import random
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+
+@dataclass
+class PrinterJob:
+    timestamp: str
+    job_id: str
+
+logging.basicConfig(
+    # in mondo we trust
+    format="%(asctime)s.%(msecs)03dZ %(levelname)s:%(name)s:%(message)s",
+    datefmt="%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S",
+    level=logging.INFO,
+)
+
+DEBUG = True
+QUERY_CMD = "lpstat -o HP_LaserJet_p2015dn_Right"
+running_print_jobs = set()
+mydb = sqlite3.connect("printer_jobs.db")
+mycursor = mydb.cursor()
+sql = '''
+CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS entries(
+    date        TEXT NOT NULL, 
+    job_id      TEXT NOT NULL, 
+    p_status    TEXT CHECK (p_status IN ('PRINTING', 'PENDING', 'COMPLETED', 'FAILED')) NOT NULL,
+    PRIMARY KEY (date, job_id)
+)'''
+mycursor.execute(sql)
+
+
+def print_db():
+    sql_query = "SELECT * FROM entries"
+    mycursor.execute(sql_query)
+    for x in mycursor.fetchall():
+        logging.info(x)
+
+def get_time_and_id(line):
+    cleaned_output = line.strip().split(" ")
+    job_id = cleaned_output[0]
+    
+    output_dt = cleaned_output[:-7:-1]
+    output_dt_str = " ".join(output_dt[::-1]).strip()
+    date_obj = datetime.datetime.strptime(output_dt_str, "%a %b %d %H:%M:%S %Y")
+    date_str = date_obj.strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
+    return PrinterJob(timestamp=date_str, job_id=job_id)
+
+def call_lpstat_popen(cmd):
+    p = subprocess.Popen(cmd, shell=True, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE, text=True)
+    p.wait()
+
+    if p.returncode != 0: 
+        raise subprocess.CalledProcessError(p.returncode, cmd)
+    
+    output = p.stdout.read().strip()
+    if len(output) == 0:
+        return None
+    
+    # 2 things at once; add new jobs to new one while also retrieving current job_ids
+    return output.split("\n")
+
+def update_completed_jobs(current_jobs):
+    global running_print_jobs
+
+     # everything in the previous run that IS NOT in the current run
+    completed_jobs = running_print_jobs.difference(current_jobs)    
+    for job_id in completed_jobs:
+        sql_update = '''
+        UPDATE entries SET p_status = 'COMPLETED' WHERE job_id = ?
+        '''
+        mycursor.execute(sql_update, job_id)
+        mydb.commit()
+
+    logging.info(f"\nthis is the running jobs {running_print_jobs}\nand this is the current jobs {current_jobs}")
+    running_print_jobs.update(running_print_jobs - completed_jobs)
+
+
+
+
+def query_printer_jobs(cmd):
+    #logging.info(date_str + " " + job_id)
+    jobs = call_lpstat_popen(cmd)
+    current_jobs = set()
+    if not jobs:
+        # that means we are done in some way
+        # TODO: should i add code here to remove everything in sqlite database since no jobs?
+        update_completed_jobs(current_jobs)
+        return
+
+    global running_print_jobs
+
+    for job in jobs:
+        print_job_dataclass = get_time_and_id(job)
+        job_id = print_job_dataclass.job_id
+        timestamp = print_job_dataclass.timestamp
+                
+        current_jobs.add(job_id)
+
+        if job_id in running_print_jobs:
+            continue
+
+        running_print_jobs.add(job_id) 
+        sql_insert = '''
+        INSERT INTO entries (date, job_id, p_status) VALUES (?, ?, 'PRINTING')
+        '''
+        mycursor.execute(sql_insert, (timestamp, job_id))
+        mydb.commit()
+
+        update_completed_jobs(current_jobs)
+
+
+    if DEBUG:
+        print_db()
+
+def test_job_ids():
+    x = random.randint(1,1)
+    MOCK_CMD  = f"echo HP_LaserJet_p2015dn_Right-{x} root              5120   {datetime.datetime.now().strftime('%a %b %d %H:%M:%S %Y')}"
+    DONE_CMD = ""
+    for n in range(x):
+        query_printer_jobs(MOCK_CMD)
+        time.sleep(1)
+    query_printer_jobs(DONE_CMD)
+
+def simulate_printer_jobs():
+    
+    test_job_ids()
+    # time.sleep(0.5)
+    # test_job_ids()
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    # This will run the query_printer_jobs function every second
+    # and print the job id and date from the database.
+    if DEBUG:
+        simulate_printer_jobs()
+    else:
+        while True:     
+            try:
+                query_printer_jobs(QUERY_CMD)
+                time.sleep(1)
+            except Exception as e:
+                logging.error(f"Error querying printer jobs: {e}")
+                break
+
+