diff --git a/scraper.py b/scraper.py
index 9a98cc8..756c2d9 100644
--- a/scraper.py
+++ b/scraper.py
@@ -23,12 +23,13 @@ logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO, format='%(asctime)s - %(levelname)s - %(
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 # Environment variables
-RABBITMQ_HOST = os.getenv("RABBITMQ_HOST", "rabbitq.thejobhub.xyz")
-RABBITMQ_PORT = int(os.getenv("RABBITMQ_PORT", "5672"))
-RABBITMQ_USER = os.getenv("RABBITMQ_USER", "guest")
-RABBITMQ_PASS = os.getenv("RABBITMQ_PASS", "guest")
-REDIS_HOST = os.getenv("REDIS_HOST", "redis-scrape.thejobhub.xyz")
-REDIS_PORT = int(os.getenv("REDIS_PORT", "6379"))
+RABBITMQ_HOST = os.getenv("RABBITMQ_HOST")
+RABBITMQ_PORT = os.getenv("RABBITMQ_PORT")
+RABBITMQ_USER = os.getenv("RABBITMQ_USER")
+RABBITMQ_PASS = os.getenv("RABBITMQ_PASS")
+REDIS_HOST = os.getenv("REDIS_HOST")
+REDIS_PORT = os.getenv("REDIS_PORT")
+
 
 class AshbyJobScraper:
     def __init__(
diff --git a/sender.py b/sender.py
index c836ba1..02b51ab 100644
--- a/sender.py
+++ b/sender.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+
 import csv
 import json
 import logging
@@ -9,7 +10,6 @@ import uuid
 from configparser import ConfigParser
 import pika
 import redis
-import os
 
 class Sender:
     def __init__(self, config_file='config.ini'):
@@ -17,13 +17,19 @@ class Sender:
         self.config.read(config_file)
         
         # RabbitMQ from env vars with fallbacks
-        self.rabbitmq_host = os.getenv("RABBITMQ_HOST", self.config.get('rabbitmq', 'url', fallback='rabbitq.thejobhub.xyz'))
-        self.rabbitmq_port = int(os.getenv("RABBITMQ_PORT", self.config.get('rabbitmq', 'port', fallback='5672')))
-        self.username = os.getenv("RABBITMQ_USER", self.config.get('rabbitmq', 'username', fallback='guest'))
-        self.password = os.getenv("RABBITMQ_PASS", self.config.get('rabbitmq', 'password', fallback='guest'))
+        self.rabbitmq_host = os.getenv("RABBITMQ_HOST")
+        self.rabbitmq_port = os.getenv("RABBITMQ_PORT")
+        self.username = os.getenv("RABBITMQ_USER")
+        self.password = os.getenv("RABBITMQ_PASS")
         self.queue_name = self.config.get('rabbitmq', 'queue_name', fallback='job_queue')
-        self.directory = self.config.get('files', 'directory', fallback='/var/jobs/csv')
-        self.log_file = self.config.get('logging', 'log_file', fallback='/var/logs/sender.log')
+        self.directory = self.config.get('files', 'directory', fallback=os.path.join(os.path.expanduser("~"), "jobs", "csv"))
+        
+        # Cross-platform log path: use user's home directory
+        default_log_dir = os.path.join(os.path.expanduser("~"), ".web_scraping_project", "logs")
+        os.makedirs(default_log_dir, exist_ok=True)
+        default_log_file = os.path.join(default_log_dir, "sender.log")
+        self.log_file = self.config.get('logging', 'log_file', fallback=default_log_file)
+        
         self.virtual_host = self.config.get('rabbitmq', 'virtual_hash', fallback='/')
         self.batch_size = 500
         self.retry_attempts = 5  # Increased for robustness
@@ -31,10 +37,13 @@ class Sender:
         self.check_interval = 30  # More frequent polling
 
         # Redis for deduplication
-        redis_host = os.getenv("REDIS_HOST", "redis-scrape.thejobhub.xyz")
-        redis_port = int(os.getenv("REDIS_PORT", "6379"))
+        redis_host = os.getenv("REDIS_HOST")
+        redis_port = os.getenv("REDIS_PORT")
         self.redis_client = redis.Redis(host=redis_host, port=redis_port, db=1, decode_responses=True)
 
+        # Ensure log directory exists before configuring logging
+        log_dir = os.path.dirname(self.log_file)
+        os.makedirs(log_dir, exist_ok=True)
         logging.basicConfig(filename=self.log_file, level=logging.INFO, format='%(asctime)s - %(levelname)s - %(message)s')
         self.logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)