diff --git a/src/app/index.coffee b/src/app/index.coffee
index 937acc168a..7fa0a9ec7b 100644
--- a/src/app/index.coffee
+++ b/src/app/index.coffee
@@ -58,7 +58,10 @@ get '/', (page, model, next) ->
 
     model.ref '_user', user
     scoring.setModel(model)
-    scoring.cron(userObj)
+    try
+      scoring.cron userObj
+    catch e # always random errors, dont' crash the server
+      console.error e
 
     model.set userPath, userObj #unless _.isEqual(user.get(), userObj)
 
diff --git a/src/app/scoring.coffee b/src/app/scoring.coffee
index ef2ed32763..b9cd1db345 100644
--- a/src/app/scoring.coffee
+++ b/src/app/scoring.coffee
@@ -196,10 +196,8 @@ cron = (userObj) ->
   lastCron = userObj.lastCron
   daysPassed = helpers.daysBetween(today, lastCron)
   if daysPassed > 0
-    todoTally = 0
-    userObj.history ?= {}; userObj.history.todos ?= []; userObj.history.exp ?= []
-
     # Tally each task
+    todoTally = 0
     _.each userObj.tasks, (taskObj) ->
       #FIXME remove broken tasks
       if taskObj.id? # a task had a null id during cron, this should not be happening
@@ -230,6 +228,7 @@ cron = (userObj) ->
             todoTally += absVal
 
     # Finished tallying
+    userObj.history ?= {}; userObj.history.todos ?= []; userObj.history.exp ?= []
     userObj.history.todos.push { date: today, value: todoTally }
     # tally experience
     expTally = userObj.stats.exp