diff --git a/lib/parfait/list.rb b/lib/parfait/list.rb
index 2f4a22ce..cdda6644 100644
--- a/lib/parfait/list.rb
+++ b/lib/parfait/list.rb
@@ -140,6 +140,14 @@ module Parfait
       end
       return true
     end
+
+    # above, correct, implementation causes problems in the machine object space
+    # because when a second empty (newly created) list is added, it is not actually
+    # added as it exists already. TODO, but hack with below identity function
+    def == other
+      self.object_id == other.object_id
+    end
+
     #many basic List functions can not be defined in ruby, such as
     # get/set/length/add/delete
     # so they must be defined as CompiledMethods in Builtin::Kernel
diff --git a/lib/register/assembler.rb b/lib/register/assembler.rb
index 2903eee2..b517296e 100644
--- a/lib/register/assembler.rb
+++ b/lib/register/assembler.rb
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ module Register
       begin
         link
         all= @machine.objects.sort{|a,b| a.position <=> b.position}
+        # debugging loop accesses all positions to force an error if it's not set
         all.each do |objekt|
           puts "Linked #{objekt.class}(#{objekt.object_id.to_s(16)}) at #{objekt.position.to_s(16)} / #{objekt.word_length.to_s(16)}"
           objekt.position
diff --git a/lib/virtual/positioned.rb b/lib/virtual/positioned.rb
index fee12094..0b9fac92 100644
--- a/lib/virtual/positioned.rb
+++ b/lib/virtual/positioned.rb
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@ require_relative "type"
 module Positioned
   def position
     if @position.nil?
-      str = "IN machine #{Virtual.machine.objects.include?(self)}\n"
-      raise str + "position not set for #{self.class} at #{word_length} for #{self.inspect[0...100]}"
+      str = "IN machine #{Virtual.machine.objects.include?(self)}, at #{self.object_id.to_s(16)}\n"
+      raise str + "position not set for #{self.class} len #{word_length} for #{self.inspect[0...100]}"
     end
     @position
   end