diff --git a/racket/syndicate/examples/actor/flink.rkt b/racket/syndicate/examples/actor/flink.rkt
index afb9046..756fb35 100644
--- a/racket/syndicate/examples/actor/flink.rkt
+++ b/racket/syndicate/examples/actor/flink.rkt
@@ -1,12 +1,6 @@
 #lang syndicate
 
-(require (only-in racket/set
-                  set
-                  set-count
-                  set-empty?
-                  set-first
-                  set-remove
-                  set-add))
+(require racket/set)
 (require (only-in racket/list
                   partition
                   empty?
@@ -18,6 +12,7 @@
                   string-trim))
 (require (only-in racket/sequence
                   sequence->list))
+(require (only-in racket/function const))
 
 (module+ test
   (require rackunit))
@@ -53,15 +48,17 @@ perform a task.
 The resources available to a TM are its associated TaskRunners (TRs). TaskRunners
 assert their presence with (task-runner ID)
 
-a Status is one of
-  - IDLE, when the TR is not executing a task
-  - (executing ID), when the TR is executing the task with the given ID
-  - OVERLOAD, when the TR has been asked to perform a task before it has
-    finished its previous assignment. For the purposes of this model, it indicates a
-    failure in the protocol; like the exchange between the JM and the TM, a TR
-    should only receive tasks when it is IDLE.
 |#
-(assertion-struct task-runner (id status))
+(assertion-struct task-runner (id))
+#|
+a Status is one of
+- IDLE, when the TR is not executing a task
+- (executing ID), when the TR is executing the task with the given ID
+- OVERLOAD, when the TR has been asked to perform a task before it has
+finished its previous assignment. For the purposes of this model, it indicates a
+failure in the protocol; like the exchange between the JM and the TM, a TR
+should only receive tasks when it is IDLE.
+|#
 (define IDLE 'idle)
 (define OVERLOAD 'overload)
 (struct executing (id) #:transparent)
@@ -180,18 +177,9 @@ The JobManager then performs the job and, when finished, asserts (job-finished I
 (define (spawn-task-runner)
   (define id (gensym 'task-runner))
   (spawn #:name id
-   (field [status IDLE])
-   (define (idle?) (equal? IDLE (status)))
-   (assert (task-runner id (status)))
-   (begin/dataflow
-     (log "task-runner ~v state is: ~a" id (status)))
+   (assert (task-runner id))
    ;; Task (TaskStateDesc -> Void) -> Void
    (define (perform-task tsk job-id on-complete! update-status!)
-     (unless (idle?)
-       (error "tried to perform a task when not idle"))
-     ;; since we currently finish everything in one turn, these changes to status aren't
-     ;; actually visible.
-     (status RUNNING)
      (match-define (task tid desc) tsk)
      (match desc
        [(map-work data)
@@ -199,10 +187,9 @@ The JobManager then performs the job and, when finished, asserts (job-finished I
         (on-complete! wc)]
        [(reduce-work left right)
         (define wc (hash-union left right #:combine +))
-        (on-complete! wc)])
-     (status IDLE))
+        (on-complete! wc)]))
    (on-start
-    (task-performer id idle? perform-task))))
+    (task-performer id (const #t) perform-task))))
 
 ;; (Hash String Nat) String -> (Hash String Nat)
 (define (word-count-increment h word)
@@ -244,27 +231,25 @@ The JobManager then performs the job and, when finished, asserts (job-finished I
    (log "Task Manager (TM) ~a is running" id)
    (during (job-manager-alive)
      (log "TM learns about JM")
-     (define/query-set task-runners (task-runner $id _) id
+     (define/query-set task-runners (task-runner $id) id
        #:on-add (log "TM learns about task-runner ~a" id))
-     ;; I wonder just how inefficient this is
-     (define/query-set idle-runners (task-runner $id IDLE) id
-       #:on-add (log "TM learns that task-runner ~a is IDLE" id)
-       #:on-remove (log "TM learns that task-runner ~a is NOT IDLE" id))
-     (assert (task-manager id (set-count (idle-runners))))
-     (field [busy-runners (list)])
+     (field [busy-runners (set)])
+     (define/dataflow idle-runners
+       (set-count (set-subtract (task-runners) (busy-runners))))
+     (assert (task-manager id (idle-runners)))
      (define (can-accept?)
-       (not (set-empty? (idle-runners))))
+       (positive? (idle-runners)))
+     (define (select-runner)
+       (define runner (for/first ([r (in-set (task-runners))]
+                                  #:unless (set-member? (busy-runners) r))
+                        r))
+       (busy-runners (set-add (busy-runners) runner))
+       runner)
      (define (perform-task tsk job-id on-complete! update-status!)
        (match-define (task task-id desc) tsk)
-       (define runner (set-first (idle-runners)))
-       ;; n.b. modifying a query set is questionable
-       ;; but if we wait for the IDLE assertion to be retracted, we might assign multiple tasks to the same runner.
-       ;; Could use the busy-runners field to avoid that
-       (idle-runners (set-remove (idle-runners) runner))
+       (define runner (select-runner))
        (log "TM assigns task ~a to runner ~a" task-id runner)
-       ;; TODO - since we're both adding and removing from this set I'm not sure TRs
-       ;; need to be making assertions about their idleness
-       (on-stop (idle-runners (set-add (idle-runners) runner)))
+       (on-stop (busy-runners (set-remove (busy-runners) runner)))
        (on-start
         (task-assigner tsk job-id runner
                       (lambda () (update-status! OVERLOAD))