diff --git a/conky.conf b/conky.conf
index 0511ea3..a3875e6 100644
--- a/conky.conf
+++ b/conky.conf
@@ -39,10 +39,11 @@ conky.config = {
 
 conky.text = 
 [[\
-RAM:${lua_parse fmt %3.0f%% ${memperc}} \
-Swap:${lua_parse fmt %3.0f%% ${swapperc}} \
-CPU:${lua_parse fmt %3.0f%% ${cpu cpu0}} \
+RAM:${lua_parse printf %3.0f%% ${memperc}} \
+Swap:${lua_parse printf %3.0f%% ${swapperc}} \
+CPU:${lua_parse printf %3.0f%% ${cpu cpu0}} \
 / ${fs_used /}/${fs_size /} \
+${loadavg} \
 ${top name 1} ${top pid 1} ${top cpu 1} ${top mem 1} \
-Net: ${lua_parse fmt2 %10s▲%10s▼ ${upspeed wlp4s0} ${downspeed wlp4s0}}
+Net: ${lua_parse printf %10s▲%10s▼ ${upspeed wlp4s0} ${downspeed wlp4s0}} \
 ]];
diff --git a/scripts.lua b/scripts.lua
index 9e9831e..5fd84c8 100644
--- a/scripts.lua
+++ b/scripts.lua
@@ -2,13 +2,127 @@ function trim(s)
     return (s:gsub("^%s*(.-)%s*$", "%1"))
 end
 
-function conky_fmt(format, a)
-    return string.format(format, tonumber(trim(conky_parse(a))))
+function split_fmt(f)
+    if not type(f) == "string" then
+        io.stderr:write("ERROR!  Argument '" .. format .. "' is not a string.")
+        return nil
+    end
+
+    local ret = {}
+    local curr = ""
+    local in_spec = false
+    for char in string.gmatch(f, ".") do
+        if in_spec then
+            if string.match(char, '[cdEefgiouXx]') then
+                curr = curr .. char
+                table.insert(ret, curr)
+                in_spec = false
+                curr = ""
+            elseif string.match(char, '[qs]') then
+                if string.match(curr, '^%%[0-9]*$') then
+                    curr = curr .. char
+                    table.insert(ret, curr)
+                    in_spec = false
+                    curr = ""
+                else
+                    io.stderr:write("Invalid format:  '" .. curr .. char .. "'\n")
+                    return nil
+                end
+            elseif string.match(char, '[0-9%.]') then
+                curr = curr .. char
+            elseif string.match(char, '%%') then
+                if string.match(curr, '^%%') then
+                    curr = curr .. char
+                    table.insert(ret, curr)
+                    in_spec = false
+                    curr = ""
+                else
+                    io.stderr:write("Invalid format:  '" .. curr .. char .. "'\n")
+                    return nil
+                end
+            else
+                io.stderr:write("Invalid format:  '" .. curr .. char .. "'\n")
+                return nil
+            end
+        else
+            if char == '%' then
+                in_spec = true
+                if curr ~= "" then
+                    table.insert(ret, curr)
+                end
+                curr = char
+            else
+                curr = curr .. char
+            end
+        end
+    end
+    if curr ~= "" then
+        table.insert(ret, curr)
+    end
+    return ret
 end
 
-function conky_fmt2(format, a, b)
-    as = conky_parse(a)
-    bs = conky_parse(b)
-
-    return string.format(format, as, bs)
+function table_length(t)
+    local count = 0
+    for _ in pairs(t) do
+        count = count + 1
+    end
+    return count
+end
+
+function count_formats(formats)
+    if type(formats) ~= 'table' then
+        io.stderr:write("ERROR!  formats is not a table.\n")
+        return nil
+    end
+
+    local count = 0
+    for i,v in ipairs(formats) do
+        if string.match(v, '^%%') and not string.match(v, '%%$') then
+            count = count + 1
+        end
+    end
+    return count
+end
+
+function is_fmt_spec(str)
+    return string.match(str, "^%%")
+end
+
+
+function conky_printf(format, ...)
+    formats = split_fmt(format)
+    values = {...}
+
+    if count_formats(formats) ~= table_length(values) then
+        io.stderr:write("ERROR!  Number of format specifiers to printf doesn't match the number of values passed.\n")
+        return nil
+    end
+
+    local parsed_values = {}
+    for i,v in ipairs(values) do
+        parsed_values[i] = conky_parse(v)
+    end
+    for i,fs in ipairs(formats) do
+        if is_fmt_spec(fs) then -- we have a format specifier
+            if string.match(fs, '[dEefgiouXx]$') then -- we have a numeric format specifier, convert value to number
+                parsed_values[i] = tonumber(trim((parsed_values[i])))
+            end
+        end
+    end
+    local formatted_output = ""
+    local idx = 1
+    for i,fs in ipairs(formats) do
+        if is_fmt_spec(fs) then
+            if not string.match(fs, '%%$') then
+                formatted_output = formatted_output .. string.format(fs, parsed_values[idx])
+                idx = idx + 1
+            else
+                formatted_output = formatted_output .. '%'
+            end
+        else
+            formatted_output = formatted_output .. fs
+        end
+    end
+    return formatted_output
 end