diff --git a/ruby/builtins.rb b/ruby/builtins.rb
index 61b4b60..03bb2de 100644
--- a/ruby/builtins.rb
+++ b/ruby/builtins.rb
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ class Shell
       # only supports one variable and doesn't support quoting
       name, *value_parts = args.first.strip.split('=')
       if name.nil? || name.empty?
-        logger.warn "#{RED}[ERROR]#{CLEAR} Invalid export command"
+        logger.warn "#{red('[ERROR]')} Invalid export command"
       else
         ENV[name] = value_parts.join('=').gsub(/\$\w+/) { |m| ENV[m[1..]] || '' }
       end
diff --git a/ruby/colours.rb b/ruby/colours.rb
index 118e7b4..9489e68 100644
--- a/ruby/colours.rb
+++ b/ruby/colours.rb
@@ -7,13 +7,13 @@ class Shell
     RED = "\033[1;31m".freeze
     WHITE = "\033[1;37m".freeze
     CLEAR = "\033[0;m".freeze
-  end
 
-  def self.included(other)
-    Colours.constants.each do |sym|
-      next if sym == :CLEAR
-      other.define_method(sym.to_s.downcase) do |text|
-        "#{Colours.const_get(sym)}#{text}#{CLEAR}"
+    def self.included(mod)
+      Colours.constants.each do |sym|
+        next if sym == :CLEAR
+        mod.define_method(sym.to_s.downcase) do |*text|
+          "#{Colours.const_get(sym)}#{text.join}#{CLEAR}"
+        end
       end
     end
   end
diff --git a/ruby/job_control.rb b/ruby/job_control.rb
index 975730a..fcb1e15 100644
--- a/ruby/job_control.rb
+++ b/ruby/job_control.rb
@@ -19,19 +19,20 @@ class Shell
         if pid.nil?
           # no-op
         elsif (job = @jobs_by_pid[pid])
-          puts "\n#{YELLOW}#{job.id}#{CLEAR}: " \
-               "#{WHITE}(pid #{pid})#{CLEAR} "  \
-               "#{GREEN}#{job.cmd}#{CLEAR} "    \
-               "#{job.args.inspect}"
+          time = Time.now.strftime('%T')
+          job_text = yellow('job ', job.id, ' exited')
+          args = job.args.inspect
+          puts "\n[#{time}] #{job_text} #{white('(pid ', pid, ')')}: #{green(job.cmd)} #{args}"
         else
-          warn "\n#{YELLOW}[WARN]#{CLEAR} No job found for child with PID #{pid}"
+          warn "\n#{yellow('[WARN]')} No job found for child with PID #{pid}"
         end
+        Readline.refresh_line
       end
     end
 
     def exec_command(cmd, args, background: false)
       unless (path = resolve_executable(cmd))
-        warn "#{RED}[ERROR]#{CLEAR} command not found: #{cmd}"
+        warn "#{red('[ERROR]')} command not found: #{cmd}"
         return -2
       end
 
@@ -48,12 +49,12 @@ class Shell
           $CHILD_STATUS.exitstatus
         rescue Errno::ECHILD => e
           # FIXME: why does this happen? doesn't seem to be a real problem
-          logger.verbose "#{YELLOW}#{e.message}#{CLEAR} but child was just forked 🧐"
+          logger.verbose "#{yellow(e.message)} but child was just forked 🧐"
           0
         end
       end
     rescue StandardError => e
-      warn "#{RED}[ERROR]#{CLEAR} #{e.message} #{e.inspect}"
+      warn "#{red('[ERROR]')} #{e.message} #{e.inspect}"
       -5
     end
 
diff --git a/ruby/logger.rb b/ruby/logger.rb
index 07c8ab7..54720d0 100644
--- a/ruby/logger.rb
+++ b/ruby/logger.rb
@@ -19,16 +19,16 @@ class Shell
     end
 
     def log(message)
-      @logs << Log.new(:info, "#{WHITE}[INFO]#{CLEAR} #{message}")
+      @logs << Log.new(:info, "#{white('[INFO]')} #{message}")
     end
     alias info log
 
     def warn(message)
-      @logs << Log.new(:warning, "#{YELLOW}[WARN]#{CLEAR} #{message}")
+      @logs << Log.new(:warning, "#{yellow('[WARN]')} #{message}")
     end
 
     def error(message)
-      @logs << Log.new(:error, "#{RED}[ERROR]#{CLEAR} #{message}")
+      @logs << Log.new(:error, "#{red('[ERROR]')} #{message}")
     end
 
     def verbose(message)
diff --git a/ruby/main.rb b/ruby/main.rb
index 7aeca42..3134380 100755
--- a/ruby/main.rb
+++ b/ruby/main.rb
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ class Shell
     status = 0
     loop do
       print_logs
-      print "#{RED}#{status}#{CLEAR} " unless status.zero?
+      print "#{red(status)} " unless status.zero?
       line = Readline.readline(prompt(Dir.pwd), add_to_history)
       Readline::HISTORY.pop if line.nil? || line.strip.empty?
       status = process_command(line)
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ class Shell
 
   # Looks like this: /path/to/somewhere%
   def prompt(pwd)
-    "#{BLUE}#{pwd}#{WHITE}% #{CLEAR}"
+    "#{blue(pwd)}#{white('%')} #{CLEAR}"
   end
 
   def parse_options(args)
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ class Shell
       when '-v', '--verbose'
         options[:verbose] = true
       else
-        logger.warn "#{RED}[ERROR]#{CLEAR} Unknown argument: #{arg}"
+        logger.warn "#{red('[ERROR]')} Unknown argument: #{arg}"
         exit 1
       end
     end
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ class Shell
       @job_control.exec_command(cmd, args)
     end
   rescue Errno => e
-    warn "#{RED}[ERROR]#{CLEAR} #{e.message}"
+    warn "#{red('[ERROR]')} #{e.message}"
     -1
   end
 end