diff --git a/lib/Log.h b/lib/Log.h
index 05676775..70ccf6ed 100644
--- a/lib/Log.h
+++ b/lib/Log.h
@@ -69,10 +69,10 @@ public:
             StopWatch.Stop();
             GridTime now = StopWatch.Elapsed();
             StopWatch.Start();
-            stream << BLACK <<std::setw(10) << std::left << log.topName << BLACK<< " : ";
-            stream << log.COLOUR <<std::setw(10)  << log.name << BLACK << " : ";
-	    stream << YELLOW<< now <<BLACK << " : " ;
-	    stream << log.COLOUR;
+            stream << BLACK <<std::setw(8) << std::left << log.topName << BLACK<< " : ";
+            stream << log.COLOUR <<std::setw(11)  << log.name << BLACK << " : ";
+            stream << YELLOW <<std::setw(6) << now <<BLACK << " : " ;
+            stream << log.COLOUR;
             return stream;
         } else { 
             return devnull;
diff --git a/lib/lattice/Lattice_base.h b/lib/lattice/Lattice_base.h
index 8812a975..d97b1204 100644
--- a/lib/lattice/Lattice_base.h
+++ b/lib/lattice/Lattice_base.h
@@ -55,7 +55,13 @@ extern int GridCshiftPermuteMap[4][16];
 // Basic expressions used in Expression Template
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
-class LatticeBase {};
+class LatticeBase
+{
+public:
+    virtual ~LatticeBase(void) = default;
+    GridBase *_grid;
+};
+    
 class LatticeExpressionBase {};
 
 template<class T> using Vector = std::vector<T,alignedAllocator<T> >;               // Aligned allocator??
@@ -88,8 +94,6 @@ template<class vobj>
 class Lattice : public LatticeBase
 {
 public:
-
-    GridBase *_grid;
     int checkerboard;
     Vector<vobj> _odata;
     
@@ -177,8 +181,8 @@ PARALLEL_FOR_LOOP
   }
   //GridFromExpression is tricky to do
   template<class Op,class T1>
-    Lattice(const LatticeUnaryExpression<Op,T1> & expr):    _grid(nullptr){
-
+    Lattice(const LatticeUnaryExpression<Op,T1> & expr) {
+    _grid = nullptr;
     GridFromExpression(_grid,expr);
     assert(_grid!=nullptr);
 
@@ -199,7 +203,8 @@ PARALLEL_FOR_LOOP
     }
   };
   template<class Op,class T1, class T2>
-  Lattice(const LatticeBinaryExpression<Op,T1,T2> & expr):    _grid(nullptr){
+  Lattice(const LatticeBinaryExpression<Op,T1,T2> & expr) {
+    _grid = nullptr;
     GridFromExpression(_grid,expr);
     assert(_grid!=nullptr);
 
@@ -220,7 +225,8 @@ PARALLEL_FOR_LOOP
     }
   };
   template<class Op,class T1, class T2, class T3>
-  Lattice(const LatticeTrinaryExpression<Op,T1,T2,T3> & expr):    _grid(nullptr){
+  Lattice(const LatticeTrinaryExpression<Op,T1,T2,T3> & expr) {
+    _grid = nullptr;
     GridFromExpression(_grid,expr);
     assert(_grid!=nullptr);
 
@@ -240,7 +246,8 @@ PARALLEL_FOR_LOOP
     // Constructor requires "grid" passed.
     // what about a default grid?
     //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-    Lattice(GridBase *grid) : _grid(grid), _odata(_grid->oSites()) {
+    Lattice(GridBase *grid) : _odata(grid->oSites()) {
+        _grid = grid;
     //        _odata.reserve(_grid->oSites());
     //        _odata.resize(_grid->oSites());
     //      std::cout << "Constructing lattice object with Grid pointer "<<_grid<<std::endl;
@@ -248,6 +255,8 @@ PARALLEL_FOR_LOOP
         checkerboard=0;
     }
 
+    virtual ~Lattice(void) = default;
+    
     template<class sobj> strong_inline Lattice<vobj> & operator = (const sobj & r){
 PARALLEL_FOR_LOOP
         for(int ss=0;ss<_grid->oSites();ss++){
diff --git a/lib/parallelIO/NerscIO.h b/lib/parallelIO/NerscIO.h
index 9c280397..79572539 100644
--- a/lib/parallelIO/NerscIO.h
+++ b/lib/parallelIO/NerscIO.h
@@ -213,37 +213,38 @@ class NerscIO : public BinaryIO {
   static inline void truncate(std::string file){
     std::ofstream fout(file,std::ios::out);
   }
+  
+  #define dump_nersc_header(field, s)\
+  s << "BEGIN_HEADER"      << std::endl;\
+  s << "HDR_VERSION = "    << field.hdr_version    << std::endl;\
+  s << "DATATYPE = "       << field.data_type      << std::endl;\
+  s << "STORAGE_FORMAT = " << field.storage_format << std::endl;\
+  for(int i=0;i<4;i++){\
+    s << "DIMENSION_" << i+1 << " = " << field.dimension[i] << std::endl ;\
+  }\
+  s << "LINK_TRACE = " << std::setprecision(10) << field.link_trace << std::endl;\
+  s << "PLAQUETTE  = " << std::setprecision(10) << field.plaquette  << std::endl;\
+  for(int i=0;i<4;i++){\
+    s << "BOUNDARY_"<<i+1<<" = " << field.boundary[i] << std::endl;\
+  }\
+  \
+  s << "CHECKSUM = "<< std::hex << std::setw(10) << field.checksum << std::dec<<std::endl;\
+  s << "ENSEMBLE_ID = "     << field.ensemble_id      << std::endl;\
+  s << "ENSEMBLE_LABEL = "  << field.ensemble_label   << std::endl;\
+  s << "SEQUENCE_NUMBER = " << field.sequence_number  << std::endl;\
+  s << "CREATOR = "         << field.creator          << std::endl;\
+  s << "CREATOR_HARDWARE = "<< field.creator_hardware << std::endl;\
+  s << "CREATION_DATE = "   << field.creation_date    << std::endl;\
+  s << "ARCHIVE_DATE = "    << field.archive_date     << std::endl;\
+  s << "FLOATING_POINT = "  << field.floating_point   << std::endl;\
+  s << "END_HEADER"         << std::endl;
+  
   static inline unsigned int writeHeader(NerscField &field,std::string file)
   {
     std::ofstream fout(file,std::ios::out|std::ios::in);
   
     fout.seekp(0,std::ios::beg);
-    fout << "BEGIN_HEADER"      << std::endl;
-    fout << "HDR_VERSION = "    << field.hdr_version    << std::endl;
-    fout << "DATATYPE = "       << field.data_type      << std::endl;
-    fout << "STORAGE_FORMAT = " << field.storage_format << std::endl;
-
-    for(int i=0;i<4;i++){
-      fout << "DIMENSION_" << i+1 << " = " << field.dimension[i] << std::endl ;
-    }
-    // just to keep the space and write it later
-    fout << "LINK_TRACE = " << std::setprecision(10) << field.link_trace << std::endl;
-    fout << "PLAQUETTE  = " << std::setprecision(10) << field.plaquette  << std::endl;
-    for(int i=0;i<4;i++){
-      fout << "BOUNDARY_"<<i+1<<" = " << field.boundary[i] << std::endl;
-    }
-
-    fout << "CHECKSUM = "<< std::hex << std::setw(10) << field.checksum << std::dec<<std::endl;
-
-    fout << "ENSEMBLE_ID = "     << field.ensemble_id      << std::endl;
-    fout << "ENSEMBLE_LABEL = "  << field.ensemble_label   << std::endl;
-    fout << "SEQUENCE_NUMBER = " << field.sequence_number  << std::endl;
-    fout << "CREATOR = "         << field.creator          << std::endl;
-    fout << "CREATOR_HARDWARE = "<< field.creator_hardware << std::endl;
-    fout << "CREATION_DATE = "   << field.creation_date    << std::endl;
-    fout << "ARCHIVE_DATE = "    << field.archive_date     << std::endl;
-    fout << "FLOATING_POINT = "  << field.floating_point   << std::endl;
-    fout << "END_HEADER"         << std::endl;
+    dump_nersc_header(field, fout);
     field.data_start = fout.tellp();
     return field.data_start;
 }
diff --git a/lib/serialisation/BaseIO.h b/lib/serialisation/BaseIO.h
index 3c49692f..6deb17f5 100644
--- a/lib/serialisation/BaseIO.h
+++ b/lib/serialisation/BaseIO.h
@@ -49,6 +49,24 @@ namespace Grid {
     return v;
   }
   
+  // output to streams for vectors
+  template < class T >
+  inline std::ostream & operator<<(std::ostream &os, const std::vector<T> &v)
+  {
+    os << "[";
+    for (auto &x: v)
+    {
+      os << x << " ";
+    }
+    if (v.size() > 0)
+    {
+      os << "\b";
+    }
+    os << "]";
+    
+    return os;
+  }
+  
   class Serializable {};
   
   // static polymorphism implemented using CRTP idiom
@@ -154,23 +172,6 @@ namespace Grid {
     r.read(s, output);
   }
   
-  template < class T >
-  inline std::ostream& operator << (std::ostream& os, const std::vector<T>& v)
-  {
-    os << "[";
-    for (auto &x: v)
-    {
-      os << x << " ";
-    }
-    if (v.size() > 0)
-    {
-      os << "\b";
-    }
-    os << "]";
-    
-    return os;
-  }
-  
   // Writer template implementation ////////////////////////////////////////////
   template <typename T>
   Writer<T>::Writer(void)