diff --git a/internal/pqueue/pqueue.go b/internal/pqueue/pqueue.go
index 1e28ed822..21edaf5f6 100644
--- a/internal/pqueue/pqueue.go
+++ b/internal/pqueue/pqueue.go
@@ -2,11 +2,12 @@ package pqueue
 
 import (
 	"container/heap"
+	"time"
 )
 
 type Item struct {
 	Value    interface{}
-	Priority int64
+	Priority time.Time
 	Index    int
 }
 
@@ -23,7 +24,7 @@ func (pq PriorityQueue) Len() int {
 }
 
 func (pq PriorityQueue) Less(i, j int) bool {
-	return pq[i].Priority < pq[j].Priority
+	return pq[i].Priority.Before(pq[j].Priority)
 }
 
 func (pq PriorityQueue) Swap(i, j int) {
@@ -60,14 +61,14 @@ func (pq *PriorityQueue) Pop() interface{} {
 	return item
 }
 
-func (pq *PriorityQueue) PeekAndShift(max int64) (*Item, int64) {
+func (pq *PriorityQueue) PeekAndShift(max time.Time) (*Item, time.Duration) {
 	if pq.Len() == 0 {
 		return nil, 0
 	}
 
 	item := (*pq)[0]
-	if item.Priority > max {
-		return nil, item.Priority - max
+	if item.Priority.After(max) {
+		return nil, item.Priority.Sub(max)
 	}
 	heap.Remove(pq, 0)
 
diff --git a/internal/pqueue/pqueue_test.go b/internal/pqueue/pqueue_test.go
index 1eca107ba..946b3261a 100644
--- a/internal/pqueue/pqueue_test.go
+++ b/internal/pqueue/pqueue_test.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"runtime"
 	"sort"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 )
 
 func equal(t *testing.T, act, exp interface{}) {
@@ -24,7 +25,7 @@ func TestPriorityQueue(t *testing.T) {
 	pq := New(c)
 
 	for i := 0; i < c+1; i++ {
-		heap.Push(&pq, &Item{Value: i, Priority: int64(i)})
+		heap.Push(&pq, &Item{Value: i, Priority: time.Unix(int64(i), 0)})
 	}
 	equal(t, pq.Len(), c+1)
 	equal(t, cap(pq), c*2)
@@ -44,7 +45,7 @@ func TestUnsortedInsert(t *testing.T) {
 	for i := 0; i < c; i++ {
 		v := rand.Int()
 		ints = append(ints, v)
-		heap.Push(&pq, &Item{Value: i, Priority: int64(v)})
+		heap.Push(&pq, &Item{Value: i, Priority: time.Unix(int64(v), 0)})
 	}
 	equal(t, pq.Len(), c)
 	equal(t, cap(pq), c)
@@ -52,8 +53,8 @@ func TestUnsortedInsert(t *testing.T) {
 	sort.Ints(ints)
 
 	for i := 0; i < c; i++ {
-		item, _ := pq.PeekAndShift(int64(ints[len(ints)-1]))
-		equal(t, item.Priority, int64(ints[i]))
+		item, _ := pq.PeekAndShift(time.Unix(int64(ints[len(ints)-1]), 0))
+		equal(t, item.Priority, time.Unix(int64(ints[i]), 0))
 	}
 }
 
@@ -63,7 +64,7 @@ func TestRemove(t *testing.T) {
 
 	for i := 0; i < c; i++ {
 		v := rand.Int()
-		heap.Push(&pq, &Item{Value: "test", Priority: int64(v)})
+		heap.Push(&pq, &Item{Value: "test", Priority: time.Unix(int64(v), 0)})
 	}
 
 	for i := 0; i < 10; i++ {
@@ -73,7 +74,7 @@ func TestRemove(t *testing.T) {
 	lastPriority := heap.Pop(&pq).(*Item).Priority
 	for i := 0; i < (c - 10 - 1); i++ {
 		item := heap.Pop(&pq)
-		equal(t, lastPriority < item.(*Item).Priority, true)
+		equal(t, lastPriority.Before(item.(*Item).Priority), true)
 		lastPriority = item.(*Item).Priority
 	}
 }
diff --git a/internal/quantile/quantile.go b/internal/quantile/quantile.go
index 4aa01be31..8363c893a 100644
--- a/internal/quantile/quantile.go
+++ b/internal/quantile/quantile.go
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ func (q *Quantile) Result() *Result {
 	return &result
 }
 
-func (q *Quantile) Insert(msgStartTime int64) {
+func (q *Quantile) Insert(msgStartTime time.Time) {
 	q.Lock()
 
 	now := time.Now()
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ func (q *Quantile) Insert(msgStartTime int64) {
 		q.moveWindow()
 	}
 
-	q.currentStream.Insert(float64(now.UnixNano() - msgStartTime))
+	q.currentStream.Insert(float64(now.Sub(msgStartTime).Nanoseconds()))
 	q.Unlock()
 }
 
diff --git a/nsqd/channel.go b/nsqd/channel.go
index 606387267..8a3a1a951 100644
--- a/nsqd/channel.go
+++ b/nsqd/channel.go
@@ -340,7 +340,7 @@ func (c *Channel) TouchMessage(clientID int64, id MessageID, clientMsgTimeout ti
 		newTimeout = msg.deliveryTS.Add(c.ctx.nsqd.getOpts().MaxMsgTimeout)
 	}
 
-	msg.pri = newTimeout.UnixNano()
+	msg.pri = newTimeout
 	err = c.pushInFlightMessage(msg)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -431,7 +431,7 @@ func (c *Channel) StartInFlightTimeout(msg *Message, clientID int64, timeout tim
 	now := time.Now()
 	msg.clientID = clientID
 	msg.deliveryTS = now
-	msg.pri = now.Add(timeout).UnixNano()
+	msg.pri = now.Add(timeout)
 	err := c.pushInFlightMessage(msg)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -441,7 +441,7 @@ func (c *Channel) StartInFlightTimeout(msg *Message, clientID int64, timeout tim
 }
 
 func (c *Channel) StartDeferredTimeout(msg *Message, timeout time.Duration) error {
-	absTs := time.Now().Add(timeout).UnixNano()
+	absTs := time.Now().Add(timeout)
 	item := &pqueue.Item{Value: msg, Priority: absTs}
 	err := c.pushDeferredMessage(item)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -531,7 +531,7 @@ func (c *Channel) addToDeferredPQ(item *pqueue.Item) {
 	c.deferredMutex.Unlock()
 }
 
-func (c *Channel) processDeferredQueue(t int64) bool {
+func (c *Channel) processDeferredQueue(t time.Time) bool {
 	c.exitMutex.RLock()
 	defer c.exitMutex.RUnlock()
 
@@ -562,7 +562,7 @@ exit:
 	return dirty
 }
 
-func (c *Channel) processInFlightQueue(t int64) bool {
+func (c *Channel) processInFlightQueue(t time.Time) bool {
 	c.exitMutex.RLock()
 	defer c.exitMutex.RUnlock()
 
diff --git a/nsqd/guid.go b/nsqd/guid.go
index 89ba83e9e..9aaae3e06 100644
--- a/nsqd/guid.go
+++ b/nsqd/guid.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ package nsqd
 import (
 	"encoding/hex"
 	"errors"
+	"math/rand"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
 )
@@ -36,55 +37,22 @@ type guid int64
 type guidFactory struct {
 	sync.Mutex
 
-	nodeID        int64
-	sequence      int64
-	lastTimestamp int64
-	lastID        guid
+	nodeID int64
+	randng *rand.Rand
 }
 
 func NewGUIDFactory(nodeID int64) *guidFactory {
 	return &guidFactory{
 		nodeID: nodeID,
+		randng: rand.New(rand.NewSource(time.Now().UnixNano() ^ nodeID)),
 	}
 }
 
 func (f *guidFactory) NewGUID() (guid, error) {
 	f.Lock()
-
-	// divide by 1048576, giving pseudo-milliseconds
-	ts := time.Now().UnixNano() >> 20
-
-	if ts < f.lastTimestamp {
-		f.Unlock()
-		return 0, ErrTimeBackwards
-	}
-
-	if f.lastTimestamp == ts {
-		f.sequence = (f.sequence + 1) & sequenceMask
-		if f.sequence == 0 {
-			f.Unlock()
-			return 0, ErrSequenceExpired
-		}
-	} else {
-		f.sequence = 0
-	}
-
-	f.lastTimestamp = ts
-
-	id := guid(((ts - twepoch) << timestampShift) |
-		(f.nodeID << nodeIDShift) |
-		f.sequence)
-
-	if id <= f.lastID {
-		f.Unlock()
-		return 0, ErrIDBackwards
-	}
-
-	f.lastID = id
-
+	id := f.randng.Int63()
 	f.Unlock()
-
-	return id, nil
+	return guid(id), nil
 }
 
 func (g guid) Hex() MessageID {
diff --git a/nsqd/in_flight_pqueue.go b/nsqd/in_flight_pqueue.go
index 4ad1b491b..52de1e15b 100644
--- a/nsqd/in_flight_pqueue.go
+++ b/nsqd/in_flight_pqueue.go
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 package nsqd
 
+import "time"
+
 type inFlightPqueue []*Message
 
 func newInFlightPqueue(capacity int) inFlightPqueue {
@@ -55,14 +57,14 @@ func (pq *inFlightPqueue) Remove(i int) *Message {
 	return x
 }
 
-func (pq *inFlightPqueue) PeekAndShift(max int64) (*Message, int64) {
+func (pq *inFlightPqueue) PeekAndShift(max time.Time) (*Message, time.Duration) {
 	if len(*pq) == 0 {
 		return nil, 0
 	}
 
 	x := (*pq)[0]
-	if x.pri > max {
-		return nil, x.pri - max
+	if x.pri.After(max) {
+		return nil, x.pri.Sub(max)
 	}
 	pq.Pop()
 
@@ -72,7 +74,7 @@ func (pq *inFlightPqueue) PeekAndShift(max int64) (*Message, int64) {
 func (pq *inFlightPqueue) up(j int) {
 	for {
 		i := (j - 1) / 2 // parent
-		if i == j || (*pq)[j].pri >= (*pq)[i].pri {
+		if i == j || (*pq)[j].pri.After((*pq)[i].pri) {
 			break
 		}
 		pq.Swap(i, j)
@@ -87,10 +89,10 @@ func (pq *inFlightPqueue) down(i, n int) {
 			break
 		}
 		j := j1 // left child
-		if j2 := j1 + 1; j2 < n && (*pq)[j1].pri >= (*pq)[j2].pri {
+		if j2 := j1 + 1; j2 < n && (*pq)[j1].pri.After((*pq)[j2].pri) {
 			j = j2 // = 2*i + 2  // right child
 		}
-		if (*pq)[j].pri >= (*pq)[i].pri {
+		if (*pq)[j].pri.After((*pq)[i].pri) {
 			break
 		}
 		pq.Swap(i, j)
diff --git a/nsqd/in_flight_pqueue_test.go b/nsqd/in_flight_pqueue_test.go
index 1f6572c6a..4dd0c530e 100644
--- a/nsqd/in_flight_pqueue_test.go
+++ b/nsqd/in_flight_pqueue_test.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"math/rand"
 	"sort"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/nsqio/nsq/internal/test"
 )
@@ -14,7 +15,7 @@ func TestPriorityQueue(t *testing.T) {
 	pq := newInFlightPqueue(c)
 
 	for i := 0; i < c+1; i++ {
-		pq.Push(&Message{clientID: int64(i), pri: int64(i)})
+		pq.Push(&Message{clientID: int64(i), pri: time.Unix(int64(i), 0)})
 	}
 	test.Equal(t, c+1, len(pq))
 	test.Equal(t, c*2, cap(pq))
@@ -34,7 +35,7 @@ func TestUnsortedInsert(t *testing.T) {
 	for i := 0; i < c; i++ {
 		v := rand.Int()
 		ints = append(ints, v)
-		pq.Push(&Message{pri: int64(v)})
+		pq.Push(&Message{pri: time.Unix(int64(v), 0)})
 	}
 	test.Equal(t, c, len(pq))
 	test.Equal(t, c, cap(pq))
@@ -42,8 +43,8 @@ func TestUnsortedInsert(t *testing.T) {
 	sort.Ints(ints)
 
 	for i := 0; i < c; i++ {
-		msg, _ := pq.PeekAndShift(int64(ints[len(ints)-1]))
-		test.Equal(t, int64(ints[i]), msg.pri)
+		msg, _ := pq.PeekAndShift(time.Unix(int64(ints[len(ints)-1]), 0))
+		test.Equal(t, int64(ints[i]), msg.pri.Unix())
 	}
 }
 
@@ -53,8 +54,8 @@ func TestRemove(t *testing.T) {
 
 	msgs := make(map[MessageID]*Message)
 	for i := 0; i < c; i++ {
-		m := &Message{pri: int64(rand.Intn(100000000))}
-		copy(m.ID[:], fmt.Sprintf("%016d", m.pri))
+		m := &Message{pri: time.Unix(int64(rand.Intn(100000000)), 0)}
+		copy(m.ID[:], fmt.Sprintf("%016d", m.pri.Unix()))
 		msgs[m.ID] = m
 		pq.Push(m)
 	}
@@ -75,7 +76,7 @@ func TestRemove(t *testing.T) {
 	lastPriority := pq.Pop().pri
 	for i := 0; i < (c - 10 - 1); i++ {
 		msg := pq.Pop()
-		test.Equal(t, true, lastPriority <= msg.pri)
+		test.Equal(t, true, lastPriority.Before(msg.pri))
 		lastPriority = msg.pri
 	}
 }
diff --git a/nsqd/message.go b/nsqd/message.go
index 77ee4c79d..f1d4c2082 100644
--- a/nsqd/message.go
+++ b/nsqd/message.go
@@ -18,13 +18,13 @@ type MessageID [MsgIDLength]byte
 type Message struct {
 	ID        MessageID
 	Body      []byte
-	Timestamp int64
+	Timestamp time.Time
 	Attempts  uint16
 
 	// for in-flight handling
 	deliveryTS time.Time
 	clientID   int64
-	pri        int64
+	pri        time.Time
 	index      int
 	deferred   time.Duration
 }
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ func NewMessage(id MessageID, body []byte) *Message {
 	return &Message{
 		ID:        id,
 		Body:      body,
-		Timestamp: time.Now().UnixNano(),
+		Timestamp: time.Now(),
 	}
 }
 
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ func (m *Message) WriteTo(w io.Writer) (int64, error) {
 	var buf [10]byte
 	var total int64
 
-	binary.BigEndian.PutUint64(buf[:8], uint64(m.Timestamp))
+	binary.BigEndian.PutUint64(buf[:8], uint64(m.Timestamp.UnixNano()))
 	binary.BigEndian.PutUint16(buf[8:10], uint16(m.Attempts))
 
 	n, err := w.Write(buf[:])
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ func decodeMessage(b []byte) (*Message, error) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid message buffer size (%d)", len(b))
 	}
 
-	msg.Timestamp = int64(binary.BigEndian.Uint64(b[:8]))
+	msg.Timestamp = time.Unix(0, int64(binary.BigEndian.Uint64(b[:8])))
 	msg.Attempts = binary.BigEndian.Uint16(b[8:10])
 	copy(msg.ID[:], b[10:10+MsgIDLength])
 	msg.Body = b[10+MsgIDLength:]
diff --git a/nsqd/nsqd.go b/nsqd/nsqd.go
index 2a6b4b0b4..769e80976 100644
--- a/nsqd/nsqd.go
+++ b/nsqd/nsqd.go
@@ -623,7 +623,7 @@ func (n *NSQD) queueScanWorker(workCh chan *Channel, responseCh chan bool, close
 	for {
 		select {
 		case c := <-workCh:
-			now := time.Now().UnixNano()
+			now := time.Now()
 			dirty := false
 			if c.processInFlightQueue(now) {
 				dirty = true
diff --git a/nsqd/protocol_v2.go b/nsqd/protocol_v2.go
index 54cd526a9..770244384 100644
--- a/nsqd/protocol_v2.go
+++ b/nsqd/protocol_v2.go
@@ -180,9 +180,11 @@ func (p *protocolV2) Exec(client *clientV2, params [][]byte) ([]byte, error) {
 	case bytes.Equal(params[0], []byte("REQ")):
 		return p.REQ(client, params)
 	case bytes.Equal(params[0], []byte("PUB")):
-		return p.PUB(client, params)
+		a, b := p.PUB(client, params)
+		return a, b
 	case bytes.Equal(params[0], []byte("MPUB")):
-		return p.MPUB(client, params)
+		a, b := p.MPUB(client, params)
+		return a, b
 	case bytes.Equal(params[0], []byte("DPUB")):
 		return p.DPUB(client, params)
 	case bytes.Equal(params[0], []byte("NOP")):
@@ -793,7 +795,6 @@ func (p *protocolV2) PUB(client *clientV2, params [][]byte) ([]byte, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, protocol.NewFatalClientErr(err, "E_BAD_MESSAGE", "PUB failed to read message body")
 	}
-
 	if err := p.CheckAuth(client, "PUB", topicName, ""); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -822,7 +823,6 @@ func (p *protocolV2) MPUB(client *clientV2, params [][]byte) ([]byte, error) {
 		return nil, protocol.NewFatalClientErr(nil, "E_BAD_TOPIC",
 			fmt.Sprintf("E_BAD_TOPIC MPUB topic name %q is not valid", topicName))
 	}
-
 	if err := p.CheckAuth(client, "MPUB", topicName, ""); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -846,6 +846,7 @@ func (p *protocolV2) MPUB(client *clientV2, params [][]byte) ([]byte, error) {
 
 	messages, err := readMPUB(client.Reader, client.lenSlice, topic,
 		p.ctx.nsqd.getOpts().MaxMsgSize, p.ctx.nsqd.getOpts().MaxBodySize)
+
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -859,7 +860,6 @@ func (p *protocolV2) MPUB(client *clientV2, params [][]byte) ([]byte, error) {
 	}
 
 	client.PublishedMessage(topicName, uint64(len(messages)))
-
 	return okBytes, nil
 }
 
@@ -909,7 +909,6 @@ func (p *protocolV2) DPUB(client *clientV2, params [][]byte) ([]byte, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, protocol.NewFatalClientErr(err, "E_BAD_MESSAGE", "DPUB failed to read message body")
 	}
-
 	if err := p.CheckAuth(client, "DPUB", topicName, ""); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -990,7 +989,6 @@ func readMPUB(r io.Reader, tmp []byte, topic *Topic, maxMessageSize int64, maxBo
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, protocol.NewFatalClientErr(err, "E_BAD_MESSAGE", "MPUB failed to read message body")
 		}
-
 		messages = append(messages, NewMessage(topic.GenerateID(), msgBody))
 	}
 
diff --git a/nsqd/protocol_v2_test.go b/nsqd/protocol_v2_test.go
index e8f7d1ff6..a1de56e73 100644
--- a/nsqd/protocol_v2_test.go
+++ b/nsqd/protocol_v2_test.go
@@ -1468,7 +1468,7 @@ func TestReqTimeoutRange(t *testing.T) {
 	channel.deferredMutex.Unlock()
 
 	test.NotNil(t, pqItem)
-	test.Equal(t, true, pqItem.Priority >= minTs)
+	test.Equal(t, true, pqItem.Priority.UnixNano() >= minTs)
 }
 
 func TestClientAuth(t *testing.T) {