diff --git a/nuxt.config.js b/nuxt.config.js
index dcab424..6a960cb 100644
--- a/nuxt.config.js
+++ b/nuxt.config.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 const webpack = require('webpack');
-const serverport = 3711
+const nuxtPort = process.env.PORT || 3000
+
 export default {
 	head: {
 		title: 'OrisOxin',
@@ -74,7 +75,8 @@ export default {
 		proxy: true
 	},
 	proxy: {
-		'/api': { target: `http://0.0.0.0:${serverport}` }
+		// SSR axios requests must hit the same Nuxt process that hosts serverMiddleware (/api).
+		'/api': { target: `http://127.0.0.1:${nuxtPort}` }
 	},
 	router: {
 		linkActiveClass: 'active-link',
diff --git a/pages/_lang/index.vue b/pages/_lang/index.vue
index 3e8b4c3..bbe958b 100644
--- a/pages/_lang/index.vue
+++ b/pages/_lang/index.vue
@@ -1030,7 +1030,8 @@ export default {
         blogPosts: blogPosts.data
       }
     } catch (e) {
-      error({ status: 500, message: 'there is a problem here' })
+      console.error('Homepage asyncData failed:', e.message || e)
+      error({ statusCode: 500, message: 'there is a problem here' })
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/server/database.js b/server/database.js
index a9679ee..a142253 100644
--- a/server/database.js
+++ b/server/database.js
@@ -13,9 +13,9 @@ mongoose.plugin(schema => {
   })
 })
 
-mongoose.connect('mongodb://root:e9a15xftSaqNgR1fNMSUEHVqYDVh5XiDSW8Dt9sG1UyHvOE6nSTtQguaO4vor4Fp@noxkpqjq8ufxq969ut0v5p3m:27017/orisoxin?directConnection=true&authSource=admin', {
-  // mongoose.connect('mongodb://root:asrerb6udsf13sdfb6@srv-captain--danak-mongo-2:27017/orisoxin?authSource=admin', {
-// mongoose.connect('mongodb://localhost:27017/OrisOxin', {
+const mongoUri = process.env.MONGODB_URI || 'mongodb://root:e9a15xftSaqNgR1fNMSUEHVqYDVh5XiDSW8Dt9sG1UyHvOE6nSTtQguaO4vor4Fp@noxkpqjq8ufxq969ut0v5p3m:27017/orisoxin?directConnection=true&authSource=admin'
+
+mongoose.connect(mongoUri, {
   useNewUrlParser: true,
   useUnifiedTopology: true,
   useFindAndModify: false,