diff --git a/custom_logger.go b/custom_logger.go
index 6b57b99..f380616 100644
--- a/custom_logger.go
+++ b/custom_logger.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package simplelog
 
 import (
 	"log"
+	"log/slog"
 	"os"
 
 	"github.com/mattn/go-isatty"
@@ -16,8 +17,11 @@ type CustomLogger struct {
 	handlers []Handler
 }
 
+var ourCustomLogger *slog.Logger
+
 func init() {
-	slog.SetDefaultLogger(NewCustomLogger())
+	ourCustomLogger = NewCustomLogger()
+	slog.SetDefault(ourCustomLogger)
 }
 
 func NewCustomLogger() *CustomLogger {
diff --git a/relp_handler.go b/relp_handler.go
index 1ed3623..183686f 100644
--- a/relp_handler.go
+++ b/relp_handler.go
@@ -90,13 +90,6 @@ func (r *RELPHandler) connectToRELPServer() (net.Conn, error) {
 		}
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	conn, err = net.Dial("tcp", net.JoinHostPort(host, port))
-	if err != nil {
-		if relpDebug {
-			log.Printf("Failed to connect to RELP server at %s: %v", net.JoinHostPort(host, port), err)
-		}
-		return nil, err
-	}
 	if relpDebug {
 		log.Printf("Successfully connected to RELP server at %s", net.JoinHostPort(host, port))
 	}
@@ -166,7 +159,7 @@ func (r *RELPHandler) processFailedEvents() {
 func (r *RELPHandler) sendEventToRELPServer(event Event) error {
 	jsonData, err := json.Marshal(event)
 	if err != nil {
-	    return fmt.Errorf("error marshaling event: %v", err)
+		return fmt.Errorf("error marshaling event: %v", err)
 	}
 	_, err = r.conn.Write(jsonData)
 	if err != nil {