diff --git a/podman_compose.py b/podman_compose.py
index 3295bc32..2852ad1b 100755
--- a/podman_compose.py
+++ b/podman_compose.py
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@
 import asyncio.subprocess
 import signal
 
+from multiprocessing import cpu_count
+
 import shlex
 from asyncio import Task
 
@@ -31,6 +33,12 @@
 # import fnmatch
 # fnmatch.fnmatchcase(env, "*_HOST")
 
+
+from tqdm.asyncio import tqdm
+# TODO: we need a do-nothing fallback for tqdm
+#except ImportError:
+#    tqdm = asyncio
+
 import yaml
 from dotenv import dotenv_values
 
@@ -1158,29 +1166,28 @@ def flat_deps(services, with_extends=False):
 
 
 class Podman:
-    def __init__(self, compose, podman_path="podman", dry_run=False, semaphore: asyncio.Semaphore = asyncio.Semaphore(sys.maxsize)):
+    def __init__(self, compose, podman_path="podman", dry_run=False):
         self.compose = compose
         self.podman_path = podman_path
         self.dry_run = dry_run
-        self.semaphore = semaphore
 
     async def output(self, podman_args, cmd="", cmd_args=None):
-        async with self.semaphore:
-            cmd_args = cmd_args or []
-            xargs = self.compose.get_podman_args(cmd) if cmd else []
-            cmd_ls = [self.podman_path, *podman_args, cmd] + xargs + cmd_args
-            log(cmd_ls)
-            p = await asyncio.subprocess.create_subprocess_exec(
-                *cmd_ls,
-                stdout=asyncio.subprocess.PIPE,
-                stderr=asyncio.subprocess.PIPE
-            )
+        # NOTE: do we need pool.output? like pool.run
+        cmd_args = cmd_args or []
+        xargs = self.compose.get_podman_args(cmd) if cmd else []
+        cmd_ls = [self.podman_path, *podman_args, cmd] + xargs + cmd_args
+        log(cmd_ls)
+        p = await asyncio.subprocess.create_subprocess_exec(
+            *cmd_ls,
+            stdout=asyncio.subprocess.PIPE,
+            stderr=asyncio.subprocess.PIPE
+        )
 
-            stdout_data, stderr_data = await p.communicate()
-            if p.returncode == 0:
-                return stdout_data
-            else:
-                raise subprocess.CalledProcessError(p.returncode, " ".join(cmd_ls), stderr_data)
+        stdout_data, stderr_data = await p.communicate()
+        if p.returncode == 0:
+            return stdout_data
+        else:
+            raise subprocess.CalledProcessError(p.returncode, " ".join(cmd_ls), stderr_data)
 
     def exec(
         self,
@@ -1199,12 +1206,7 @@ async def run(
         podman_args,
         cmd="",
         cmd_args=None,
-        log_formatter=None,
-        *,
-        # Intentionally mutable default argument to hold references to tasks
-        task_reference=set()
-    ) -> int:
-        async with self.semaphore:
+        log_formatter=None) -> int:
             cmd_args = list(map(str, cmd_args or []))
             xargs = self.compose.get_podman_args(cmd) if cmd else []
             cmd_ls = [self.podman_path, *podman_args, cmd] + xargs + cmd_args
@@ -1225,16 +1227,9 @@ async def format_out(stdout):
                 p = await asyncio.subprocess.create_subprocess_exec(
                     *cmd_ls, stdout=asyncio.subprocess.PIPE, stderr=asyncio.subprocess.PIPE
                 )  # pylint: disable=consider-using-with
-
-                # This is hacky to make the tasks not get garbage collected
-                # https://github.com/python/cpython/issues/91887
                 out_t = asyncio.create_task(format_out(p.stdout))
-                task_reference.add(out_t)
-                out_t.add_done_callback(task_reference.discard)
-
                 err_t = asyncio.create_task(format_out(p.stderr))
-                task_reference.add(err_t)
-                err_t.add_done_callback(task_reference.discard)
+                
 
             else:
                 p = await asyncio.subprocess.create_subprocess_exec(*cmd_ls)  # pylint: disable=consider-using-with
@@ -1273,6 +1268,34 @@ async def volume_ls(self, proj=None):
         volumes = output.splitlines()
         return volumes
 
+class Pool:
+    def __init__(self, podman: Podman, parallel):
+        self.podman: Podman = podman
+        self.semaphore = asyncio.Semaphore(parallel) if isinstance(parallel, int) else parallel
+        self.tasks = []
+
+    def create_task(self, coro, *, name=None, context=None):
+        return self.tasks.append(asyncio.create_task(coro, name=name, context=context))
+
+    def run(self, *args, name=None, **kwargs):
+        return self.create_task(self._run_one(*args, **kwargs), name=name)
+
+    async def _run_one(self, *args, **kwargs) -> int:
+        async with self.semaphore:
+            return await self.podman.run(*args, **kwargs)
+
+    async def join(self, *, desc="joining enqueued tasks") -> int:
+        if not self.tasks: return 0
+        ls = await tqdm.gather(*self.tasks, desc=desc)
+        failed = [ i for i in ls if i != 0]
+        del self.tasks[:]
+        count = len(failed)
+        if count>1:
+            log(f"** EE ** got multiple failures: [{count}] failures")
+        if failed:
+            log(f"** EE ** retcode: [{failed[0]}]")
+            return failed[0]
+        return 0
 
 def normalize_service(service, sub_dir=""):
     if "build" in service:
@@ -1469,6 +1492,7 @@ def dotenv_to_dict(dotenv_path):
 class PodmanCompose:
     def __init__(self):
         self.podman = None
+        self.pool = None
         self.podman_version = None
         self.environ = {}
         self.exit_code = None
@@ -1529,7 +1553,8 @@ async def run(self):
                 if args.dry_run is False:
                     log(f"Binary {podman_path} has not been found.")
                     sys.exit(1)
-        self.podman = Podman(self, podman_path, args.dry_run, asyncio.Semaphore(args.parallel))
+        self.podman = Podman(self, podman_path, args.dry_run)
+        self.pool = Pool(self.podman, args.parallel)
 
         if not args.dry_run:
             # just to make sure podman is running
@@ -1553,6 +1578,7 @@ async def run(self):
             self._parse_compose_file()
         cmd = self.commands[cmd_name]
         retcode = await cmd(self, args)
+        print("retcode", retcode)
         if isinstance(retcode, int):
             sys.exit(retcode)
 
@@ -1934,7 +1960,7 @@ def _init_global_parser(parser):
         parser.add_argument(
             "--parallel",
             type=int,
-            default=os.environ.get("COMPOSE_PARALLEL_LIMIT", sys.maxsize)
+            default=os.environ.get("COMPOSE_PARALLEL_LIMIT", 2*cpu_count())
         )
 
 
@@ -2101,7 +2127,7 @@ async def compose_systemd(compose, args):
 
 
 @cmd_run(podman_compose, "pull", "pull stack images")
-async def compose_pull(compose, args):
+async def compose_pull(compose: PodmanCompose, args):
     img_containers = [cnt for cnt in compose.containers if "image" in cnt]
     if args.services:
         services = set(args.services)
@@ -2111,7 +2137,13 @@ async def compose_pull(compose, args):
         local_images = {cnt["image"] for cnt in img_containers if is_local(cnt)}
         images -= local_images
 
-    await asyncio.gather(*[compose.podman.run([], "pull", [image]) for image in images])
+    images_process = tqdm(images, desc="pulling images")
+    for image in images_process:
+        # images_process.set_postfix_str(image)
+        compose.pool.run([], "pull", [image])
+        # uncomment to see how progress work
+        # await asyncio.sleep(1)
+    return await compose.pool.join(desc="waiting pull")
 
 
 @cmd_run(podman_compose, "push", "push stack images")
@@ -2191,27 +2223,20 @@ async def build_one(compose, args, cnt):
 
 
 @cmd_run(podman_compose, "build", "build stack images")
-async def compose_build(compose, args):
-    tasks = []
+async def compose_build(compose: PodmanCompose, args):
 
     if args.services:
         container_names_by_service = compose.container_names_by_service
         compose.assert_services(args.services)
-        for service in args.services:
+        for service in tqdm(args.services, desc="building"):
             cnt = compose.container_by_name[container_names_by_service[service][0]]
-            tasks.append(asyncio.create_task(build_one(compose, args, cnt)))
+            compose.pool.create_task(build_one(compose, args, cnt))
 
     else:
-        for cnt in compose.containers:
-            tasks.append(asyncio.create_task(build_one(compose, args, cnt)))
-
-    status = 0
-    for t in asyncio.as_completed(tasks):
-        s = await t
-        if s is not None:
-            status = s
+        for cnt in tqdm(compose.containers, desc="building"):
+            compose.pool.create_task(build_one(compose, args, cnt))
 
-    return status
+    return await compose.pool.join("waiting build")
 
 
 async def create_pods(compose, args):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
@@ -2366,15 +2391,13 @@ def get_volume_names(compose, cnt):
 
 
 @cmd_run(podman_compose, "down", "tear down entire stack")
-async def compose_down(compose, args):
+async def compose_down(compose: PodmanCompose, args):
     excluded = get_excluded(compose, args)
     podman_args = []
     timeout_global = getattr(args, "timeout", None)
     containers = list(reversed(compose.containers))
 
-    down_tasks = []
-
-    for cnt in containers:
+    for cnt in tqdm(containers, "stopping ..."):
         if cnt["_service"] in excluded:
             continue
         podman_stop_args = [*podman_args]
@@ -2384,8 +2407,9 @@ async def compose_down(compose, args):
             timeout = str_to_seconds(timeout_str)
         if timeout is not None:
             podman_stop_args.extend(["-t", str(timeout)])
-        down_tasks.append(asyncio.create_task(compose.podman.run([], "stop", [*podman_stop_args, cnt["name"]]), name=cnt["name"]))
-    await asyncio.gather(*down_tasks)
+        compose.pool.run([], "stop", [*podman_stop_args, cnt["name"]], name=cnt["name"])
+        
+    await compose.pool.join(desc="waiting to be stopped")
     for cnt in containers:
         if cnt["_service"] in excluded:
             continue
@@ -2407,7 +2431,7 @@ async def compose_down(compose, args):
             .splitlines()
         )
         for name in names:
-            await compose.podman.run([], "stop", [*podman_args, name])
+            compose.podman.run([], "stop", [*podman_args, name])
         for name in names:
             await compose.podman.run([], "rm", [name])
     if args.volumes:
diff --git a/tests/short/docker-compose.yaml b/tests/short/docker-compose.yaml
index fdfc5fe0..c2886ed4 100644
--- a/tests/short/docker-compose.yaml
+++ b/tests/short/docker-compose.yaml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 version: "3"
 services:
     redis:
-      image: redis:alpine
+      image: docker.io/library/redis:alpine
       command: ["redis-server", "--appendonly yes", "--notify-keyspace-events", "Ex"]
       volumes:
         - ./data/redis:/data:z
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ services:
         - SECRET_KEY=aabbcc
         - ENV_IS_SET
     web:
-      image: busybox
+      image: docker.io/library/busybox
       command: ["/bin/busybox", "httpd", "-f", "-h", "/var/www/html", "-p", "8000"]
       working_dir: /var/www/html
       volumes:
@@ -21,19 +21,19 @@ services:
         - /run
         - /tmp
     web1:
-      image: busybox
+      image: docker.io/library/busybox
       command: ["/bin/busybox", "httpd", "-f", "-h", "/var/www/html", "-p", "8001"]
       working_dir: /var/www/html
       volumes:
         - ./data/web:/var/www/html:ro,z
     web2:
-      image: busybox
+      image: docker.io/library/busybox
       command: ["/bin/busybox", "httpd", "-f", "-h", "/var/www/html", "-p", "8002"]
       working_dir: /var/www/html
       volumes:
         - ~/Downloads/www:/var/www/html:ro,z
     web3:
-      image: busybox
+      image: docker.io/library/busybox
       command: ["/bin/busybox", "httpd", "-f", "-h", "/var/www/html", "-p", "8003"]
       working_dir: /var/www/html
       volumes: