diff --git a/lib/canvas/paint_controller.dart b/lib/canvas/paint_controller.dart
index f17472f..3fb4964 100644
--- a/lib/canvas/paint_controller.dart
+++ b/lib/canvas/paint_controller.dart
@@ -31,20 +31,26 @@ class PaintController extends ChangeNotifier {
   }
 
   double _calcAngleDependentWidth(Point pt1, Point pt2, double basetickness) {
-    double dx = pt2.point.dx - pt1.point.dx;
-    double dy = pt2.point.dy - pt1.point.dy;
+    final delta = pt2.point - pt1.point;
+    final normalizedDelta =
+        delta / sqrt(delta.dx * delta.dx + delta.dy * delta.dy);
 
-    // todo those deltas to small to get an accurate direction!
-
-    double alpha = atan(dx / dy);
-    // alpha has range from 0 - 2pi
-    // we want 0.5 -1;
-
-    alpha /= (2 * pi * 2);
+    double alpha = asin(normalizedDelta.dy);
+    // range [-pi,pi]
+    alpha += (3 * pi / 4);
+    // range [0,inf]
+    alpha = alpha % (2 * pi);
+    // range [0,2pi]
+    alpha -= pi;
+    // range [-pi,pi]
+    alpha = alpha.abs();
+    // range [0,pi]
+    alpha /= pi;
+    // range [0,1]
     alpha += .5;
+    // range [.5,1.5]
 
-    basetickness * alpha;
-    return basetickness;
+    return basetickness * alpha;
   }
 
   void pointDownEvent(Offset offset, PointerDownEvent e) async {
@@ -121,9 +127,11 @@ class PaintController extends ChangeNotifier {
           if (pts.last.point == offset) return;
 
           double newWidth = _calcTiltedWidth(5.0, event.tilt);
-          if (strokes.last.points.length > 1) {
+          if (pts.length > 1) {
             newWidth = _calcAngleDependentWidth(
-                pts.last, pts[pts.length - 2], newWidth);
+                pts.last,
+                pts[pts.length - (pts.length > 5 ? 5 : pts.length - 1)],
+                newWidth);
           }
 
           Point p = Point(offset, newWidth);
diff --git a/lib/context/file_change_notifier.dart b/lib/context/file_change_notifier.dart
index 9ac292c..84c5aba 100644
--- a/lib/context/file_change_notifier.dart
+++ b/lib/context/file_change_notifier.dart
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ class FileChangeNotifier extends ChangeNotifier {
       return NoteTileData(name, filename, lastmodified);
     }).toList();
     dta.sort(
-      (a, b) => a.lastModified.isAfter(b.lastModified) ? -1 : 1,
+      (a, b) => a.lastModified.compareTo(b.lastModified),
     );
     notifyListeners();
     tiledata = dta;
diff --git a/lib/savesystem/note_file.dart b/lib/savesystem/note_file.dart
index bd041f4..f87501a 100644
--- a/lib/savesystem/note_file.dart
+++ b/lib/savesystem/note_file.dart
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import 'dart:io';
 
+import 'package:flutter/widgets.dart';
 import 'package:sqflite/sqflite.dart';
 
 import 'path.dart';
@@ -19,7 +20,7 @@ class NoteFile {
     _db = await openDatabase(
       path,
       onCreate: (db, version) async {
-        Batch batch = db.batch();
+        final batch = db.batch();
 
         batch.execute('DROP TABLE IF EXISTS strokes;');
         batch.execute('DROP TABLE IF EXISTS points;');
@@ -43,7 +44,11 @@ class NoteFile {
 
   Future<void> close() async {
     // shrink the db file size
-    await _db.execute('VACUUM');
-    await _db.close();
+    if (_db.isOpen) {
+      await _db.execute('VACUUM');
+      await _db.close();
+    } else {
+      debugPrint('db file unexpectedly closed before shrinking');
+    }
   }
 }