diff --git a/Taskfile b/Taskfile
index 9eeaa50..211d1e8 100755
--- a/Taskfile
+++ b/Taskfile
@@ -12,8 +12,7 @@ refresh_sqlx_db() {
   rm -f some_user.db
   for migration in migrations/each_user/*.sql; do
     echo "Applying $migration..."
-    echo "BEGIN TRANSACTION;$(cat "$migration");COMMIT TRANSACTION;"\
-      | sqlite3 some_user.db
+    sqlite3 some_user.db < "$migration"
   done
 }
 
diff --git a/e2e/custom-expects.ts b/e2e/custom-expects.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 9b169e0..0000000
--- a/e2e/custom-expects.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,37 +0,0 @@
-import { expect, type Locator } from '@playwright/test';
-expect.extend({
-  async toBeAbove(self: Locator, other: Locator) {
-    const name = 'toBeAbove';
-    let pass: boolean;
-    let matcherResult: any;
-		let selfY: number | null = null;
-		let otherY: number | null = null;
-    try {
-      selfY = (await self.boundingBox())?.y ?? null;
-      otherY = (await self.boundingBox())?.y ?? null;
-      pass = selfY !== null && otherY !== null && (selfY < otherY);
-    } catch (e: any) {
-      matcherResult = e.matcherResult;
-      pass = false;
-    }
-
-    if (this.isNot) {
-      pass =!pass;
-    }
-
-    const message = () => this.utils.matcherHint(name, undefined, undefined, { isNot: this.isNot }) +
-          '\n\n' +
-          `Locator: ${self}\n` +
-          `Expected: above ${other} (y=${this.utils.printExpected(otherY)})\n` +
-          (matcherResult ? `Received: y=${this.utils.printReceived(selfY)}` : '');
-
-    return {
-      message,
-      pass,
-      name,
-      expected: (this.isNot ? '>=' : '<') + otherY,
-      actual: selfY,
-    };
-
-  }
-});
diff --git a/e2e/pages/contact.spec.ts b/e2e/pages/contact.spec.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 25f0798..0000000
--- a/e2e/pages/contact.spec.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,64 +0,0 @@
-import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';
-import { login, verifyCreateUser, todate } from './util';
-
-test.beforeEach(async ({ page }) => {
-  await login(page);
-  await verifyCreateUser(page, { names: ['Test Testerson'] });
-  await expect(page.locator('#alpine-loaded')).not.toHaveAttribute('x-cloak');
-});
-
-test('manual-freshen date is editable', async ({ page }) => {
-  await page.getByRole('link', { name: /edit/i }).click();
-  await expect(page.getByRole('textbox', { name: /freshened/i })).toBeVisible();
-});
-
-test('last-contact date on display resolves journal mentions and manual-freshen', async ({ page }) => {
-  const today = new Date().toISOString().split("T")[0];
-  const todayRe = new RegExp(today.substring(0, today.length - 1) + ".");
-  const entryDate = page.getByPlaceholder(todayRe);
-  const entryBox = page.getByPlaceholder(/new entry/i);
-  await entryDate.fill("2025-05-05");
-  await entryBox.fill("[[Test Testerson]]");
-  await page.getByRole('button', { name: /add entry/i }).click();
-  await page.reload();
-  await expect(page.locator('#fields')).toContainText("freshened2025-05-05");
-});
-
-test.skip("groups wrap nicely", async ({ page }) => {
-  await page.getByRole('link', { name: /edit/i }).click();
-  await expect(page.locator('#alpine-loaded')).not.toHaveAttribute('x-cloak');
-
-  const groupBox = page.getByPlaceholder(/group name/i);
-  await groupBox.fill('this is a long group name');
-	await page.getByRole('button', { name: /save/i }).click();
-  await expect(page.locator('#alpine-loaded')).not.toHaveAttribute('x-cloak');
-
-	// TODO: this drives to the right location but i can't figure out how to assert
-	// that the text is all on one line. Manual inspection looks good at time of writing.
-});
-
-test('allow marking as hidden', async ({ page }) => {
-
-});
-
-test('allow exempting from stale', async ({ page }) => {
-
-});
-
-test('something is fucky with lives_with insertion triggering mention generation', async ({ page }) => {
-
-});
-
-test('bullet points in free text display well', async ({ page }) => {
-
-});
-
-/*
-home: contact list scrolls in screen, not off screen
-home: clicking off contact list closes it
-home: contact list is sorted ignoring case
-home: contact list should scroll to current contact in center of view
-journal: saving journal entry should stay in edit
-journal: sometimes editing entries fucks up mentions (probably another $1/$2 error)
-journal: bullet points don't display
-*/
diff --git a/e2e/pages/home.spec.ts b/e2e/pages/home.spec.ts
index 13b9fa1..7d70bbb 100644
--- a/e2e/pages/home.spec.ts
+++ b/e2e/pages/home.spec.ts
@@ -1,26 +1,28 @@
 import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';
 import { login, verifyCreateUser, todate } from './util';
 
-test.beforeEach(async ({ page }) => {
-	await login(page);
-});
-
 test('can log out', async ({ page }) => {
+	await login(page);
+
 	await page.getByText("Logout").click();
 	await expect(page.getByLabel("Username")).toBeVisible();
 });
 
 test('has no contacts', async ({ page }) => {
+	await login(page);
+
 	await expect(page.getByRole("navigation").getByRole("link")).toHaveCount(0);
 });
 
 test('can add contacts', async ({ page }) => {
+	await login(page);
 	await verifyCreateUser(page, { names: ['John Contact'] });
 	await verifyCreateUser(page, { names: ['Jack Contact'] });
 	await expect(page.getByRole("navigation").getByRole("link")).toHaveCount(2);
 });
 
 test('shows "never" for unfreshened contacts', async ({ page }) => {
+	await login(page);
 	await verifyCreateUser(page, { names: ['John Contact'] });
 	await page.getByRole('link', { name: 'Mascarpone' }).click();
 
@@ -28,6 +30,7 @@ test('shows "never" for unfreshened contacts', async ({ page }) => {
 });
 
 test('shows the date for fresh contacts', async ({ page }) => {
+	await login(page);
 	await verifyCreateUser(page, { names: ['John Contact'] });
 	await page.getByRole('link', { name: /edit/i }).click();
 	await page.getByRole('button', { name: /fresh/i }).click();
@@ -37,6 +40,7 @@ test('shows the date for fresh contacts', async ({ page }) => {
 });
 
 test('sidebar is sorted alphabetically', async ({ page }) => {
+	await login(page);
 	await verifyCreateUser(page, { names: ['Zulu'] });
 	await verifyCreateUser(page, { names: ['Alfa'] });
 	await verifyCreateUser(page, { names: ['Golf'] });
diff --git a/e2e/playwright.config.ts b/e2e/playwright.config.ts
index 1065269..f1295d4 100644
--- a/e2e/playwright.config.ts
+++ b/e2e/playwright.config.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 import { defineConfig, devices } from '@playwright/test';
-import 'custom-expects';
 
 // purposefully not using ??: we want to replace empty empty string with default
 const BASE_URL = process.env.BASE_URL || 'http://localhost:3000';
diff --git a/migrations/each_user/0012_contact_fresh_type.sql b/migrations/each_user/0012_contact_fresh_type.sql
index 7a5f8bb..a9685ef 100644
--- a/migrations/each_user/0012_contact_fresh_type.sql
+++ b/migrations/each_user/0012_contact_fresh_type.sql
@@ -1,12 +1,5 @@
--- foreign_keys can only up/down outside of transactions
--- so we first pre-commit the one started by sqlx...
-COMMIT TRANSACTION;
 
--- turn off foreign keys...
 PRAGMA foreign_keys=OFF;
-
--- start our own transaction...
-BEGIN TRANSACTION;
 create table if not exists new_contacts (
 	id integer primary key autoincrement,
 	birthday text,
@@ -23,12 +16,4 @@ insert into new_contacts (
 drop table contacts;
 alter table new_contacts rename to contacts;
 PRAGMA foreign_key_check;
-
--- commit our own transaction...
-COMMIT TRANSACTION;
-
--- put our own pragmas back...
 PRAGMA foreign_keys=ON;
-
--- and start a dummy transaction so sqlx's COMMIT doesn't explode
-BEGIN TRANSACTION;
diff --git a/src/web/contact/mod.rs b/src/web/contact/mod.rs
index 525090c..8eea1b0 100644
--- a/src/web/contact/mod.rs
+++ b/src/web/contact/mod.rs
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ mod get {
         let entries: Vec<JournalEntry> = sqlx::query_as(
             "select distinct j.id, j.value, j.date from journal_entries j
             join mentions m on j.id = m.entity_id
-            where m.entity_type = $1 and (m.url = '/contact/'||$2 or m.url in (
+            where m.entity_type = $1 and (m.url = '/contact/'||$1 or m.url in (
                 select '/group/'||slug from groups
                 where contact_id = $2
             ))
@@ -87,11 +87,6 @@ mod get {
         .fetch_all(pool)
         .await?;
 
-        let freshened = std::cmp::max(
-            contact.manually_freshened_at.map(|when| when.date_naive()),
-            entries.get(0).map(|entry| entry.date),
-        );
-
         let phone_numbers: Vec<PhoneNumber> = sqlx::query_as!(
             PhoneNumber,
             "select * from phone_numbers where contact_id = $1",
@@ -146,8 +141,8 @@ mod get {
                     }
                     label { "freshened" }
                     div {
-                        @if let Some(freshened) = freshened {
-                            (freshened.to_string())
+                        @if let Some(when) = &contact.manually_freshened_at {
+                            (when.date_naive().to_string())
                         } @else {
                             "(never)"
                         }
diff --git a/src/web/mod.rs b/src/web/mod.rs
index bfee974..66ab59c 100644
--- a/src/web/mod.rs
+++ b/src/web/mod.rs
@@ -102,7 +102,6 @@ impl Layout {
                             (content)
                         }
                     }
-                    template #alpine-loaded x-cloak {}
                 }
             }
         }
diff --git a/static/contact.css b/static/contact.css
index 765ff62..d725284 100644
--- a/static/contact.css
+++ b/static/contact.css
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ main {
 #groups {
   display: flex;
   flex-direction: column;
-  width: fit-content;
+  width: min-content;
 }
 
 #text_body {