diff --git a/R/jdbc.r b/R/jdbc.r
index 319e68b..08d739a 100644
--- a/R/jdbc.r
+++ b/R/jdbc.r
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ setClass("AthenaDriver", representation("JDBCDriver", identifier.quote="characte
 Athena <- function(identifier.quote='`') {
   drv <- JDBC(driverClass="com.amazonaws.athena.jdbc.AthenaDriver",
               system.file("AthenaJDBC41-1.0.1.jar", package="metis"),
-              identifier.quote="'")
+              identifier.quote=identifier.quote)
   return(as(drv, "AthenaDriver"))
 }
 
@@ -23,8 +23,10 @@ setMethod(
 
   def = function(drv,
                  provider = "com.amazonaws.athena.jdbc.shaded.com.amazonaws.auth.EnvironmentVariableCredentialsProvider",
-                 conn_string = 'jdbc:awsathena://athena.us-east-1.amazonaws.com:443/',
-                 schema_name, ...) {
+                 region = "us-east-1",
+                 schema_name = "default", ...) {
+
+     conn_string = sprintf('jdbc:awsathena://athena.%s.amazonaws.com:443/', region)
 
     if (!is.null(provider)) {
 
@@ -35,8 +37,7 @@ setMethod(
 
     } else {
 
-      jc <- callNextMethod(drv,
-                       'jdbc:awsathena://athena.us-east-1.amazonaws.com:443/',
+      jc <- callNextMethod(drv, conn_string,
                        s3_staging_dir=Sys.getenv("AWS_S3_STAGING_DIR"),
                        schema_name=schema_name,
                        user = Sys.getenv("AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID"),
@@ -85,7 +86,7 @@ setMethod(
   def = function(conn, statement, ...) {
     r <- dbSendQuery(conn, statement, ...)
     on.exit(.jcall(r@stat, "V", "close"))
-    dplyr::tbl_df(fetch(r, -1, block=256))
+    dplyr::tbl_df(fetch(r, -1, block=1000))
   }
 
 )
diff --git a/R/metis.r b/R/metis.r
index 221fce3..743e172 100644
--- a/R/metis.r
+++ b/R/metis.r
@@ -11,11 +11,15 @@
 #' For `simple` == `FALSE` the expectation is that you're working with a managed
 #' `~/.aws/credentials` file.
 #'
+#' There's a high likelihood of params changing in the near term as I work this out, but I'm
+#' not very keen on parameter-izing things like id/secret.
+#'
 #' @md
-#' @param default_schema def sch
-#' @param simple simple
+#' @param default_schema def schema
+#' @param region AWS region (Ref: <http://docs.aws.amazon.com/general/latest/gr/rande.html#athena>)
+#' @param simple pickup id/secret only or use temp token? (this will become more robust)
 #' @export
-athena_connect <- function(default_schema, simple=FALSE) {
+athena_connect <- function(default_schema = "default", region = "us-east-1", simple=FALSE) {
 
   athena_jdbc <- Athena()
 
@@ -35,11 +39,11 @@ athena_connect <- function(default_schema, simple=FALSE) {
     Sys.unsetenv("AWS_SESSION_TOKEN")
     Sys.setenv(AWS_SESSION_TOKEN = aws_profile$aws_session_token)
 
-    con <- dbConnect(athena_jdbc, schema_name = default_schema)
+    con <- dbConnect(athena_jdbc, schema_name = default_schema, region = region)
 
   } else {
 
-    con <- dbConnect(athena_jdbc, provider = NULL, schema_name = default_schema)
+    con <- dbConnect(athena_jdbc, provider = NULL, schema_name = default_schema, region = region)
 
   }
 
diff --git a/README.Rmd b/README.Rmd
index 6e5adcb..4fdab4a 100644
--- a/README.Rmd
+++ b/README.Rmd
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ connecitons from "just working" with `dplyr` v0.6.0+ and also get around the [`f
 
 It will also support more than the vanilla id/secret auth mechism (it currently support the default basic auth and temp token auth, the latter via environment variables).
 
+This package includes the `AthenaJDBC41-1.0.1.jar` JAR file out of convenience but that will likely move to a separate package as this gets closer to prime time.
+
 See the **Usage** section for an example.
 
 The following functions are implemented:
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9a5778f..e1a31b7 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ The goal will be to get around enough of the "gotchas" that are preventing raw R
 
 It will also support more than the vanilla id/secret auth mechism (it currently support the default basic auth and temp token auth, the latter via environment variables).
 
+This package includes the `AthenaJDBC41-1.0.1.jar` JAR file out of convenience but that will likely move to a separate package as this gets closer to prime time.
+
 See the **Usage** section for an example.
 
 The following functions are implemented:
diff --git a/man/athena_connect.Rd b/man/athena_connect.Rd
index de9ef71..c929a6e 100644
--- a/man/athena_connect.Rd
+++ b/man/athena_connect.Rd
@@ -4,12 +4,15 @@
 \alias{athena_connect}
 \title{Make a JDBC connection to Athena}
 \usage{
-athena_connect(default_schema, simple = FALSE)
+athena_connect(default_schema = "default", region = "us-east-1",
+  simple = FALSE)
 }
 \arguments{
-\item{default_schema}{def sch}
+\item{default_schema}{def schema}
 
-\item{simple}{simple}
+\item{region}{AWS region (Ref: \url{http://docs.aws.amazon.com/general/latest/gr/rande.html#athena})}
+
+\item{simple}{pickup id/secret only or use temp token? (this will become more robust)}
 }
 \description{
 Handles the up-front JDBC config
@@ -24,4 +27,7 @@ defined (a good place is \code{~/.Renviron}):
 
 For \code{simple} == \code{FALSE} the expectation is that you're working with a managed
 \code{~/.aws/credentials} file.
+
+There's a high likelihood of params changing in the near term as I work this out, but I'm
+not very keen on parameter-izing things like id/secret.
 }
diff --git a/man/dbConnect-AthenaDriver-method.Rd b/man/dbConnect-AthenaDriver-method.Rd
index 1204874..2ef5c68 100644
--- a/man/dbConnect-AthenaDriver-method.Rd
+++ b/man/dbConnect-AthenaDriver-method.Rd
@@ -7,8 +7,7 @@
 \usage{
 \S4method{dbConnect}{AthenaDriver}(drv,
   provider = "com.amazonaws.athena.jdbc.shaded.com.amazonaws.auth.EnvironmentVariableCredentialsProvider",
-  conn_string = "jdbc:awsathena://athena.us-east-1.amazonaws.com:443/",
-  schema_name, ...)
+  region = "us-east-1", schema_name = "default", ...)
 }
 \description{
 AthenaJDBC